The man was pleasantly surprised to hear his teenage daughter answer the telephone and then hang up after only 20 minutes. When she had hung up, he congratulated her and then asked which one of her friends had been so cooperative in keeping the conversation so brief. She replied, “Oh, that wasn’t a friend, it was a wrong number.”
The man writes, “Their faults are nearly all errors of exaggeration. They overdo in cases of love and in all other things. They imagine that they know everything and stubbornly stand on their point. They like to crack jokes, for joking is their most suitable tool of diversion.” You say, “That perfectly describes the youth of today. They are extreme in their exaggeration – whether it’s the number of earrings they wear or their location, or their tattoos, or their incessant texting. And they think they know everything. At age four they know all the questions, and at 20 they think they know all the answers. And stubbornness, you’d better believe they’re stubborn. It’s probably George Will writing, he’s that insightful.”
No, actually it’s Aristotle. He wrote it 2300 years ago. Though times have changed, there’s a lot about youth that hasn’t. George Bernard Shaw once said, “Youth is a wonderful thing, it’s a shame it’s wasted on the young.” But I would remind you that history is filled with some remarkable achievements of the young. Pascal wrote his first great work on projective geometry at 16. Tennyson concluded his first volume at 18. Joan of Arc completed all of her works and was burned at the stake by age 19. Romulus founded the city of Rome at 20. Alexander the Great conquered the world by 23.
In the final chapter of John’s gospel, he says that Jesus turns to Peter and says, “I tell you the truth, when you were young you dressed yourself and you walked where you desired. But when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not wish to go.” But here Jesus’ point is greater than numerical age. His point is spiritual maturity.
Now this translation is a little bit different from the NIV. Actually it’s different from the KJV and the NKJV, also. The ESV comes closest. A literal translation of the Greek text is most useful in communicating what Jesus is saying to Peter. Three years earlier Jesus had called Peter to come and follow Him. He had said, “Come, follow me, and I will make you a ‘fisher of men.’ Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” And here in these final verses of John’s gospel Jesus reiterates that call, but this time He adds some important detail. Why? Because until now Peter would never have been able to understand it. It’s only after walking with Jesus and falling badly that any one of us can ever really know what walking with Him entails.
This Sunday is our third message on the Hope we find in the transformed life. We’ve looked at the hope of our healing and the hope of our calling, and this week we turn to the hope of a future. The thesis this Sunday is that when the Holy Spirit transforms your life there are new characteristics that show up, chief among them is a growing sense of Hope.
Think of it. Into a culture that is lost, dying, and increasing in hopelessness day by day, the Holy Spirit comes and empowers a host of transformed lives marked by an ever-increasing level of Hope.
In preparation for Sunday’s message you may wish to consider the following:
1. How does Jesus address the purpose of a disciple in this text?
2. What lessons is Jesus teaching about maturing in Him?
3. What do you make of Jesus’ call in that culture?
4. What is the parallel between what Jesus says in verses 18 & 19 and Peter’s
betrayals in the courtyard? (See Matthew 26:69-75)
5. How does the “catch” in verse 10 relate to verses 15-22? Where’s the hope
in this?
6. What is the relationship between the breakfast Jesus provides and His
instructions to Peter in verses 15 and 17?
7. What is Jesus’ problem with Peter’s attention to John?
8. What is the principle product of keeping your attention on Jesus?
9. What is the usefulness of sin in the life of the Christian?
10. What was the last song Whitney Houston sang publicly? What is the tie-in to
Peter and us in this text?
See you Sunday.
