"Will You Let Me Follow You?" John 21: 15-19; Acts 9: 36-43

Second week of the sermon series on questions we might ask the resurrected Christ.  The story is a familiar one in which Jesus asks Peter three times, "Do you love me?"  You have probably heard enough sermons on this passage to know that Jesus uses two  different words for "love" in the three times he asks Peter, "Do you love me."  Traditionally, this was seen as a Jesus revealing different levels of love, but recent scholarship suggests that these Greek words often were used interchangeably.  I may not spend much time on that, but it's an interesting aspect of the text.

The charcoal fire in the scene reminds us that the last time Peter was around a charcoal fire, that would be on the night of Jesus' arrest, he had been asked three times if he was one of Jesus' disciples.  As you recall, three times he denied knowing Christ.

I am interested in the question that does not get asked by Peter -- "Jesus, will you let me lead your people?"  Or, "Jesus, are you letting me back in the game?"  For Peter, leading God's people to Christ and doing Christ's ministry has become who he is.  His denial of Christ takes him out of the game, at least he may think it does.  But, Christ invites him back in the game.

When I was coaching soccer, and as I have observed coaching through the years, I have noticed that some coaches pull you out immediately when you make a mistake.  Other coaches let you play through the mistakes.

A colleague shared this Peanuts cartoon with me when he heard me talking about this text.  not sure if it fits, but I find it interesting:  About thirty years ago, a Sunday Peanuts showed Snoopy, sitting atop his doghouse with his trusty typewriter, working once again on his great American novel. The only words in the strip are those from Snoopy’s Smith-Corona:
“Do you love me?” she asked.
“Of course”, he said.
“Do you really love me?” she asked.
“Of course”, he said.
“Do you really REALLY love me?” she asked.
“No”, he said.
“Do you love me?” she asked.
“Of course”, he said.
So she asked no more.

what intrigues you about this passage?