35. Death Defeated: The Resurrection We Can't Live Without

G'day, everyone.

I'm Dave Whittingham.

Welcome to Stories Of a Faithful God.

Wherever we're living in the world, there's a pain we all face.

A universal grief, an agony that it's impossible to run from.

The agony of death we face our own death, but we also face the agony of watching other people die.

Sometimes it happens so soon in life.

A child, sometimes with doctors and nurses racing around them, desperately trying to find a solution, desperately trying to find a new method or a new drug.

But in the end, they're unable to stop the tiny life slipping away into death.

Sometimes it happens in the prime of life.

Young people enjoying life, driving along on a road trip, listening to great music, laughing at some shared joke.

And then an animal jumps out or there's oil on the road, the tyres screech, the car turns, the tree stops it in its tracks, stops them in their journey through life.

Death can come to someone who's enjoying watching their children grow up.

It can come when things seem to be going really well, or when you thought things couldn't get any worse.

For those who make it to 70 or 80 or 90 years of life, even they can't escape that moment when the breathing's getting heavy, the heart rate's falling, the body's shutting down, and then everything stops.

And no matter how you've lived, there's always words that are left unsaid, hopes left unfulfilled, plans that couldn't be achieved.

For others, there's the funeral, the tears, the grief, and then the rest of life.

But only for a time.

Because death is the inevitable end for us all, unless the impossible is made possible.

I've preached at funerals where I've spoken about the impossible, about a man who beat death, who invites people to join him in his victory, to come with him into eternal life.

For some, their eyes are wide with joy.

They believe it to be true and they're filled with hope.

For so many, though, the skepticism hangs so thickly in the air you can almost taste.

Seems like you're intruding on their grief with unbelievable nonsense, with pie in the sky, nonsense that seems so far from the reality that they're experiencing.

And even as a follower of Jesus, I'm forced to ask again, is this believable?

Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

Am I living a lie in order to guard myself against the inevitable darkness?

And so I returned to the very first Easter.

On that day, no one believed.

No one.

Not Jesus.

Enemies, not his friends, not the people who'd seen him Raise dead people to life.

So what happened to make them believe the unbelievable?

Well, let's discover or rediscover these events as I present to you our next episode of stories of a Faithful God.

It's still dark on the morning of the first day of the week.

Mary Magdalene's made her way to the tomb of the one in whom she'd put her hope.

Those hopes had been dashed just a couple of days before.

She'd been among the small group of women who'd stood at the foot of the cross watching Jesus life ebb away, seeing the nails through his wrists and ankles, watching the blood dripping down, hearing his final cries before death, and then seeing his body slump for the last time as she stumbles through the darkness on this dark morning.

She isn't coming to the tomb to see a resurrection.

That thought hasn't even crossed her mind.

Like so many who've stood at the graves of people they love, she's coming to mourn and grieve.

As she arrives, she sees something completely unexpected.

The giant stone that had been rolled in front of the tomb has been removed.

This isn't what she'd hoped for or looked for.

It's so surprising, she turns around and runs.

She finds Peter and the one who John calls the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, in other words, John, speaking about himself.

When she gets to them, she says some words that are unexpected.

She says in John 22, they've taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they've put him.

Those words are unexpected for a few reasons.

If you're thinking that someone's made this story up, they're pretty unexpected.

If you're trying to start a new movement and show people how faithful your leaders are, you don't start this way.

You don't start by saying, well, they actually doubted this guy Jesus, who they're trying to convince you to trust.

You don't start by saying it never crossed their minds that Jesus could rise from the dead.

It doesn't really paint them in the best light.

The words are certainly unexpected for Peter and John.

They have assumed that it's all over, that their hopes died with Jesus, that their joy's been defeated by death, that their dreams are locked away in the tomb never to emerge.

They jump up.

They have to go and see this for themselves.

And I love this memory that John shares with us.

In verse four, he says the two men were running together and.

But the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first.

You can imagine him years later, as an older man with a smile on his face, remembering when he was young and his legs were strong and just for the record, just that bit stronger than his good friend Peter, he stoops down and he peers into the tomb.

With the light coming through the entranceway, he can see the linen cloths lying there.

The cloths that had been used to wrap up Jesus corpse just a couple of days before.

That doesn't make any sense.

If the body's been stolen, why would someone take the trouble to unwrap the body?

For whatever reason, John doesn't go into the tomb.

Peter though, doesn't hesitate.

When he arrives, he heads straight inside.

He sees the same thing that John's just seen, the linen cloths lying there.

Being closer though, he notices every detail.

Verse seven tells us the wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths, but was folded up in a separate place by itself.

Another detail that makes no sense at all.

If the body's been stolen, why would the thieves bother to not only keep the different pieces separate, but even fold them up and place them neatly?

Thieves aren't generally known for their gentleness and care.

Well, John, perhaps helped by the courage of his friend, now goes into the tomb as well.

He sees the different cloths, the way they've been removed, separated and folded.

And remarkably, he believes, he didn't believe before this.

He wasn't expecting a resurrection, even though all the evidence was there, laid out before them.

It was there in the years they've spent with Jesus.

But even before that, the evidence was actually right there in front of them.

This should have been their expectation because that's the expectation that the Old Testament gives.

As John explains why this is the first time that he believes, he says in verse nine.

For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead.

Even though John believes he still hasn't grasped the full picture of God's big plans, the whole of the Bible hasn't come together in his mind yet in his understanding, God's complete word, starting from Genesis is still a bit of a mystery for him.

That'll all change soon though.

Soon their eyes will be opened.

They'll realise that Jesus is the piece of the puzzle that once you've locked it into place, explains everything else in God's plan.

For now though, the disciples return to the place where they're staying.

Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene's come back to the tomb.

For her still, there's no belief or understanding that Jesus is alive.

There's simply the extra Pain that not only has Jesus been killed, but his body's been stolen away as well.

She's left to stand weeping outside an empty tomb.

As she's crying, she bends down to look inside the tomb.

Suddenly she's given a remarkable privilege that the men didn't get there.

Sitting where Jesus body had been lying, she sees two angels, one where the head used to be and one at the feet.

This must be shocking enough.

But then they ask, what in the circumstances seems like a bizarre question.

In verse 12 they ask, Woman, why are you crying?

Her answer seems like a pretty obvious one and it's totally in line with her current belief system.

She replies, because they've taken away my Lord and I don't know where they've put Him.

Her tears make sense.

They fit the situation as she understands it.

The only problem is they don't fit the situation as it actually is.

There are hints towards what's actually happening apart from the missing body.

There's a suggestion that something strange is going on by the fact that she's just spoken to angels and yet she's so overwhelmed by grief.

This doesn't seem to impact her.

She turns away from them and things suddenly get even weirder because there, standing in front of her is Jesus, her lord, her king.

Except she doesn't recognise him.

Again, this is one of those small details that John never would have put in if it wasn't true, if he was making it up.

Jesus has just done the most remarkable thing in the universe.

He's conquered the grave, defeated death.

And the first person to see him, one of his closest friends and followers who stayed with him even as he was dying on the cross, doesn't recognise him.

A made up story wouldn't have that.

It would have her rushing to meet him.

In reality though, she's so overwhelmed with grief and she has zero expectation that Jesus will rise again that she doesn't bother to look at him properly.

He asks her in verse 15, woman, why are you crying?

Who is it that you're seeking?

When you believe that something's impossible, you try and cast around for an explanation that you can believe.

They're in a garden.

So Mary believes that this must be the gardener.

Desperate to get Jesus body back, she replies, sir, if you've carried him away, tell me where you've put him and I'll take him away.

Gently, Jesus looks at her and says a single word.

Mary.

It's like when you've bought someone a special gift and you'll think you'll quietly slip it in front of them as a surprise, but they're kind of distracted and it's getting awkward, so you have to drop a little hint that they need to have a look.

Well, Mary does look around, and for the first time she looks at him carefully as she wipes away the tears, as she takes in the detail as recognition sets in.

Suddenly the unlooked for becomes reality, the unbelievable becomes rock hard belief.

The shock and joy well up and she yells out, teacher.

Naturally, her inclination is to grab him, hold him, feel the reality of him standing there not as a ghost, not as a vision, but as a living, breathing human.

More than that, after everything that's happened, she doesn't want to let him go.

He could disappear at any moment and she can't stand the thought of that.

Jesus comforts her, letting her know that the time of his going away hasn't arrived yet.

He says in verse 17, don't cling to me, since I have not yet ascended to the Father.

Instead of holding onto him, he wants her to share some good news, some exciting, startling, thrilling news.

His words happen so quickly it's easy to kind of skip over them and miss out on how amazing they are.

All through the Gospel, Jesus has been talking about his amazing relationship with His Father.

They shared glory together before the world began.

The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father.

The Son obeys the Father fully and completes everything the Father gives him to do.

The Father responds to the requests of His Son, even sending His Spirit when asked.

Together, Father and Son will make their home in believers by this Spirit.

This is the closest, most fantastic, most perfect relationship in all the universe.

And now, because of Jesus resurrection, it's a relationship that his believers can share in.

He talks about how he's about to return to His Father, but not just His Father.

Listen to what he tells Mary.

He says, don't cling to me since I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and to your God.

Jesus has won a place for his people in the family of God.

This is what John told us right back at the beginning of the gospel.

In chapter one, verses 10 and 11, he said about Jesus, he was in the world and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize Him.

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive Him.

But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God because of Jesus work, because of the Father's plan, sin is no longer a barrier to God.

This infection in us where we rebel and rebel and rebel against the good and perfect God, where we earn our way so completely into death, it isn't a problem anymore.

Jesus has taken our guilt on the cross.

He's defeated our death at the resurrection.

As he's raised from the grave, he's overcome our weakness not to make us just slaves or servants, but to make us his brothers and sisters, to make us children of the living God, to give us a privilege we could never earn on our own.

It can only be accepted as a free, undeserved gift.

It's accepted simply by believing in the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

And now Mary does believe in joy and wonder.

She races off to find the disciples.

She bursts into the room and she announces, I have seen the Lord.

And she tells them everything he said to her.

The hours of the day pass.

Who knows what the disciples are thinking to themselves as they gather together.

Whatever it is, whatever they think has happened, whatever they believe, they're still living in fear.

By that evening, they're all gathered together and they've locked the doors.

John tells us they're still afraid of the Jews, still afraid that the ones who killed Jesus are gonna kill them.

They're still afraid of death.

Their defences seem pretty weak.

It's hard to imagine that locked doors would be too strong a barrier for some armed guards.

Perhaps if the soldiers come knocking, it'd give the disciples enough time to sneak out the back.

But if the lock is a minor barrier for soldiers, it does nothing to stop the one who's burst through the gates of death itself.

Suddenly, Jesus is standing among them and almost as if he's giving a cheery g'day after going away for the weekend.

He says in verse 19, peace be with you.

Of course, the peace that Jesus offers is much more than a nice greeting.

When they last had dinner with Jesus, he'd spoken about the peace he gives, which is like no other.

In chapter 14, verse 27, he'd said these words.

He'd said, peace, I leave with you.

My peace I give to you.

I do not give to you as the world gives.

Don't let your heart be troubled or fearful.

They had been troubled, though they'd been afraid.

They didn't understand how great the peace that Jesus gives is.

Later on, in 1633, he'd said, I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.

You will have suffering in this world.

Be courageous.

I have conquered the world again.

Though they hadn't understood, they Aren't courageous.

They're hiding behind locked doors.

Now, though Jesus is showing them the power of his words.

The peace he gives is the peace of a conqueror, the peace of a king who's crushed his enemies.

He's defeated death.

He's overcome the world that put him to death.

If you want peace, Jesus is the one to give it.

But is it really Him?

Is he really alive?

Has he really conquered the grave?

Well, he doesn't leave them wondering.

In verse 20, we're told, having said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

As they rejoice, Jesus gives them a remarkable privilege.

A privilege you might not expect for disciples who cower behind locked doors.

The privilege of joining him in his mission, of continuing the task the Father had given to his son.

In verse 21, he says to them, peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, I also send you.

Just like Jesus had invited them into the family of God, he's also inviting them into the family mission.

And they're going to be equipped for that mission by the family spirit.

In verse 22, we're told after saying this, he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit.

If you forgive the sins of any, they have forgiven them.

If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

You can do a lot of bad things with Jesus words there.

One of the horrible ways his words have been used is to say, if you want to be forgiven, you have to go to a human priest.

A priest gives forgiveness, A priest gives absolution.

But that flies in the face of everything else.

John's told us about forgiveness.

John 3:36 says, the one who believes in the Son has eternal life.

But the one who rejects his Son will not see life.

Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

Belief in Jesus.

It's been the consistent message throughout the whole gospel.

And we'll hear it again very soon.

So what do we make of it when Jesus tells these disciples, receive the Holy Spirit.

If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.

If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

Well, it's about proclaiming the message of Jesus.

Proclaiming the message that believing in Jesus brings forgiveness.

Rejecting Jesus leads to condemnation.

That's why they receive the Spirit.

He empowers them to proclaim this message.

If you go and read through the Book of Acts where this promise comes to fruition.

When they receive the Spirit, what do they immediately do?

They tell people about Jesus.

People get all excited about the fact that they miraculously do it in other languages, but that's just so they can tell more people.

All through Acts you see the phrase and they were filled with the spirit.

And every single time that they are filled with the spirit, they start telling people about Jesus.

And everyone who believes that message is forgiven by God.

Everyone who rejects it is still in their sin.

Jesus told his disciples that they were going to do greater things than him.

Well, now's the time.

Jesus has invited a small number of people to salvation during his earthly ministry.

They are going to invite the world and they'll do it by calling people to belief in Jesus.

And yet not even all of them believe.

One of them, Thomas, isn't there with them when he comes back after Jesus has gone, they can't wait to tell him we've seen the Lord.

Thomas response is one that so many people have resonated with throughout the last 2,000 years.

A response which seems on the surface so logical.

Put simply, people don't rise from the dead.

And if you want me to believe otherwise, you've got to come up with some rock hard evidence.

In verse 25 he says, if I don't see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails and put my hand into his side, I will never ever believe.

And it's not like Thomas is some weak willed, half baked disciple.

When Jesus decided to go to Lazarus grave down in Jerusalem where people wanted to kill him, Thomas had said these words.

He said, let's go too, so that we may die with him.

This is a man who's been willing to give up his life for Jesus.

But then Jesus gave up his life.

And the thing about death is that it's forever, right?

That's the power of grief.

The sadness comes because we know that there's no help, no light at the end of the tunnel, no reunion.

No matter how far into the future you look, it's over.

And for the other disciples to say, yeah, but this is different.

It's ludicrous.

And so Thomas refuses to believe unless he sees Jesus himself.

This is not a great start to their ministry of proclamation.

How can they tell the world about a risen Jesus when even one of their own won't believe?

A week goes by and nothing's changed for any of them.

Despite most of them seeing Jesus alive.

They're still scared, they're still hiding.

The doors are locked again.

Except this time Thomas is with them.

He hasn't changed his mind though.

They haven't been able to convince him that they really saw Jesus alive.

Suddenly, Jesus is there again with the same greeting.

Peace be with you.

Not only can Jesus come through locked doors, he knows what's said behind closed doors.

And so he turns straight to Thomas.

He doesn't tell him to get out.

He isn't harsh or unkind.

Instead, he helps Thomas in his weakness.

In verse 27, he says, Put your finger here and look at my hands.

Reach out your hand and put it into my side.

Don't be faithless, but believe.

Suddenly Thomas doesn't need to do the grisly exploration of Jesus words.

He doesn't need to go poking around in the spear and nail holes.

He can see with his own eyes that the other disciples weren't mistaken or lying.

Suddenly he believes.

And his belief is full.

For Thomas, so many things come together in an instant.

Suddenly he realises that this man who he's seen heal the sick, feed the crowds, raise the dead, he's more than just a man.

He's more than just an earthly lord and master.

Suddenly he comes to the conclusion that the whole gospel has been leading us to.

Right at the start, John told us that Jesus is God, the Son, one with the eternal God.

And then he laid out all the evidence in front of us, line by line, word by word, miracle by miracle.

And now all that evidence which Thomas has seen suddenly comes into sharp focus.

He responds to Jesus with words that previously would have been unthinkable to say about any man.

He says in verse 28, my Lord and my God.

Jesus has given Thomas an experience that's helped him over the line of belief that's taken him from unbeliever to believer.

But it's an experience that almost every other believer for the last 2000 years, apart from about 500 people, hasn't had.

And Jesus refers to that.

He says something counterintuitive.

He says all those other people are actually happier than Thomas.

He says in verse 29, because you have seen me, you have believed.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.

How many times have people longed to be in that room with Thomas?

Longed to see and touch and hear Jesus in the flesh, longed to be physically present with him and even possibly resenting the fact that we weren't there.

And yet Jesus is saying to us who believe all these years later, we're blessed.

We actually have something really good that Thomas missed out on.

Does that mean that belief really is what the critics say?

Blind faith, blind trust, A leap in the dark by fools who don't want to face reality?

Not at all.

John's entire gospel has been about laying out the evidence for who Jesus is.

Like an expert lawyer, he's summoned the witnesses, relayed the events, offered the reasonable explanation.

He's given us Jesus words, his actions, his power.

We've seen how people have responded to him.

We've seen their motives, the contradictions of their evil arguments, the consistency of Jesus words and actions with God's word in the Old Testament.

People say it's foolish to believe in the resurrection of Jesus, but it's foolish to have all the evidence laid out in front of you and ignore it.

It's no more foolish to believe in the resurrection than to believe in anything you didn't see in the past, but for which there is overwhelming evidence.

John could have given us more evidence.

He could have written page after page after page.

He could have filled whole libraries with every moment of every day of every year that he spent with Jesus.

But he's given us enough.

Enough to believe, enough to receive life.

In verse 30, he tells us Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.

But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah or Christ the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The gospel could have ended there.

But 2,000 years before the makers of Marvel Movies ever thought of it, John decided he needed to add a post credits scene.

He wants to clarify some really important things for us about Jesus, about Peter and about himself.

He starts by telling us that Jesus appeared again to the disciples.

He wants to ram home that Jesus really did come back to life.

This time the appearance happens around the Sea of Tiberias, another name for the Sea of Galilee.

As the proclamation is about to burst outwards from Jerusalem, so the disciples have moved away from Jerusalem.

A few of them are by the lake.

Chapter 21, verse 2 tells us there's Simon Peter, Thomas called Twin Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee's sons and two others of his disciples.

The sons of Zebedee are James and John.

The author, Peter, being one of the great conversationalists of history, says, I'm going fishing.

Not to be outdone by this remarkable speech, the others reply, we're coming with you.

They fish through the night.

But as is the lot for so many frustrated fishermen, they don't catch a single thing.

As the sun starts to come up over the horizon, Jesus is standing there on the shore.

Though they can't see him clearly enough to recognise him yet, they're close enough to the shore, though, for Jesus to call out to them.

Friends.

Jesus calls, you don't have any fish, do you?

That's the question that every fisherman really loves to be asked.

After an entire night without any success, summoning up all their skill in speech making, they call back, no.

Jesus replies with some advice.

Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you'll find some.

Now, I'm not a fisherman, but when I've heard people give fishermen advice about whether they can get a better catch, they usually say, go to another location.

They don't usually say, well, just cast your line over the other side of the boat.

But this stranger on the shore seems pretty confident and perhaps the men figure they've got nothing to lose, so they cast the net over the other side of the boat.

John tells us that they can't actually haul the net in because it's filled with so many fish.

This is nothing short of miraculous.

It prompts something in John.

He suddenly realises who it is who's standing there on the shore.

It's the Lord, he says.

Peter's head whips around.

He's not missing out on seeing Jesus again.

He.

He had stripped off his outer clothing and now he ties it round himself and he plunges into the sea, desperate to get back to land before Jesus leaves.

They're about a hundred yards from the shore.

The other disciples have to drag the net through the water as they row back.

When they get to land, there's a charcoal fire already burning with fish cooking on it.

And there's some bread as well.

Jesus has already provided for them, but he also tells them to bring some of the fish they've caught.

Peter goes back to the boat to help and they haul the net ashore.

It's full of large fish, 153 of them.

That's obviously an unheard of catch for them.

Enough for John, an experienced fisherman, to tell us in verse 11, even though there were so many, the net was not torn.

And Jesus says, come and have some breakfast.

By this time there's no doubt, there's no question about who's talking to them.

In verse 12, John tells us none of the disciples dared ask him, who are you?

Because they knew it was the Lord.

They know because they can see him up close.

But they also know because of what's happened.

Jesus is the one who has power over the fish in the sea.

He can direct them into the net.

They also know because they've been miraculously fed before with fish and bread by this same person, by their Lord, by Jesus.

And now he hands over the fish he's been cooking and the bread.

He hands it over.

He physically picks it up and hands it to them.

He isn't a ghost or a vision or a hallucination.

They are sitting on the beach in the early morning with the physical living person of Jesus Christ, the one who had been dead, but who now really obviously is alive.

As they finish their breakfast, Jesus turns to Simon Peter.

There's a certain awkwardness here.

On the night before Jesus died, Peter had said he'd die for Jesus.

Then within a few hours, he was denying even knowing him.

Although Peter had been pre eminent among the disciples, there's a bit of a question mark hanging over his head now, both at the time that this is happening and also later when John's writing, Jesus asks Simon Peter, in verse 15, Simon, son of John, do ye love me?

More than these?

Peter's reply is firm, yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

Now Jesus could say, really?

You really love me?

Well, what was all that stuff about saying you never knew me?

That isn't what Jesus says.

Though he knew Peter would fail like we all do, he knew all of Peter's failings.

That's why Jesus died for Peter, so he could save him and forgive him and restore him.

And so, instead of anger and rebuke, Jesus responds with love and grace and generosity.

Giving Peter a loving command, he says to him, feed my lambs.

In other words, care for my people, teach them, help them.

What an amazing command.

What a gracious command for Jesus to invite Peter into such a wonderful shared ministry with him.

He really wants to emphasise it.

So in verse 16, we're told a second time he asked him, simon, son of John, do you love me?

Yes, Lord.

He said to him, you know that I love you, shepherd My sheep.

He told him again this astounding command, remember, Jesus is the good shepherd, the best shepherd, the shepherd who's died for his sheep.

The sheep belong to him.

He couldn't possibly care for his people more than he already does.

And yet he is inviting Peter into this remarkable privilege of shepherding with him.

In case Peter hasn't fully grasped the weight of it, and in case everyone else still has any lingering doubts about Peter, Jesus says a third time, simon, son of John, do you love me?

Peter's finding this all a bit overwhelming.

Jesus obviously knows what Peter's done in the past, but he's also obviously forgiven him.

And he also knows what's going on in Peter's heart.

In verse 17, we're told Peter was grieved that he asked him a third time, do you love me?

He said, lord, you know everything.

You know that I love you.

And for a third time, Jesus gives this command, feed my sheep.

This time, though, he adds something a little darker.

He says in verse 18, truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted.

But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don't want to go.

If you're not sure what that means, John spells it out for us.

Verse 19 says he said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God.

The implication is crucifixion.

Jesus is saying the terrible cost.

Peter is going to pay for feeding Jesus sheep.

Before, Peter had tried to lie to save himself from crucifixion.

Now he's going to serve Jesus knowing that that's the death he's heading for.

Except it isn't a terrible cost.

That isn't the way that Jesus frames it.

Instead of a cost, it's an honour.

Peter's going to glorify God through his death, just like Jesus glorified God through his death.

How would that death glorify God?

What honour does it bring to God?

Well, it shows the work of God in Peter's heart, the change God brings about in him.

Peter could easily avoid this death, just like he'd tried to before.

No Jesus, I don't know Jesus seen him alive.

What are you talking about?

Dead people don't come back to life.

That's not what Peter does, though.

He's going to go on for another 30 years.

Faithfully speaking, the good news about Jesus teaching people Jesus words, inviting people and helping people to believe, knowing that it's going to lead to this horrible death.

God's worthy of glory in that because it's his work that's made Peter that courageous.

It's worth making a quick little aside here as I'm making this episode.

The Catholics are preparing to elect a new Pope and their claim is that this new Pope will take what they call the throne of Peter.

They claim that Peter is the first Pope, he has the chief authority in the Church, and all the popes since then carry that same authority.

There's so much in the Bible that says that's wrong.

But here are a couple of quick things that this passage raises.

Firstly, Jesus is really specific about Peter's death.

That means his words really are specifically and only about Peter.

Otherwise you'd have to crucify Every single pope.

Secondly, Peter never sought authority in the Church.

Instead, he simply sought to teach.

He knew he had a specific gift along with the other apostles, in that he was a witness of Jesus life.

That's something impossible for the popes to replicate.

Beyond that, though, his job of shepherding was a shared one.

In 1 Peter 5:1, he says, I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed.

Shepherd God's flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you.

Not out of greed for money, but eagerly, not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Peter is not the leader of the church.

That's Jesus, the chief shepherd.

Peter is a fellow elder, a fellow shepherd with all the other shepherds of Christ's church.

Anyway, I'll climb back off my hobby horse now and get on with the story.

After delivering the news of Peter's future death, Jesus says to him, follow me.

As they're walking along, Peter turns and he sees John following them for one last time.

We're reminded of John's close relationship with Jesus.

In verse 20, we're told Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, lord, who is the one that's going to betray youy?

Peter's obviously reflecting on Jesus words to him.

It's not every day someone tells you that you're going to be crucified.

And seeing John, who he's good friends with, he asks, Lord, what about him?

Jesus reply is no reply.

He tells Peter to be content with only knowing what Jesus has told him about his own future.

That in itself is a great privilege.

But beyond that, he needs to trust that Jesus has things sorted.

He can't expect to know everything that Jesus is planning or doing.

He needs to just simply get on with serving him.

Serving Jesus.

So Jesus says, if I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?

As for you, follow me.

From those words, a rumour starts to spread.

A rumour that seems to have taken hold by the time John writes his Gospel.

A rumour John's really keen to clear up.

He's already cleared up that Jesus really is alive.

He's cleared up that Peter really was graciously restored by Jesus.

You can't reject him because of what Peter said on the night Before Jesus died.

Now he wants to clear up this false rumour about himself.

In verse 23, John says, so this rumour spread to the brothers and sisters that this disciple would not die.

Yet Jesus did not tell him that he would not die.

But if I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?

In other words, Jesus didn't say anything about him not dying.

He simply said, I'm not going to tell you what his fate is.

Just as Peter reflected long and hard on the words Jesus gave him about his death, John's reflected long and hard about what Jesus has and hasn't said.

He's under no illusions that he's somehow been promised life without death in this world.

But does that matter?

Was that ever the goal of Jesus ministry?

Not at all.

Jesus has come to bring life.

Eternal life.

Not life that means no death in this world, but life that conquers death.

As Christians, as believers in Jesus, we follow Jesus in his life, death and resurrection.

We enter death knowing that death isn't the end, knowing that we don't look forward to becoming really happy ghosts, but rather that we'll be raised physically, bodily, fully to life, never to die again.

Just like Jesus, we can trust him because he's proven himself trustworthy.

We can have faith in him even in death, because he's proven himself to be faithful.

His resurrection means our resurrection and the resurrection of everyone who believes.

So we can live courageously knowing that we're not missing out on anything good in this life.

By following Jesus because he's the one who gives us true life, we can face death courageously, knowing that this is not the end.

We can face the deaths of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, grieving, but not grieving like people who have no hope, knowing that we will see our friends again.

Of course, so many people are facing death without that hope.

Sometimes they have a false hope, sometimes they have no hope.

They don't realise that they're already dead in sin and need Jesus to give them life for them.

What better gift can we give thanks than to take them to somewhere like John's Gospel?

A gospel written so that they can believe in Jesus and by believing, have life.

Thanks everyone for listening to this episode and this series.

That's the end of our series on John's Gospel.

I hope you've written, really enjoyed it.

If you have comments, send them in.

I'd love to hear from you.

Love to hear what you're thinking.

If you have questions, please send them in as well.

I'd love to hear from you think about your questions and answer them if I can.

I'm sorry for the delay in bringing out this episode.

Life gets complicated and I'd love to bring them out more regularly.

It just didn't happen this time.

Please forgive me, but looking forward to the next series that's going to be coming out, God willing, very soon, and we're going to be hearing more of stories of a faithful God.

We're going to be jumping back into the Old Testament.

So make sure that you're following the podcast on whatever app you're listening on.

If you haven't yet, please give it a review.

A five star rating would be really great.

It'd be helpful.

Be helpful for other people finding the show.

Keep trusting Jesus.

Bye for now.