As I shared in my last blog, I love Easter and the resurrection hope that it provides to the believer. So, it is without shame or hesitation that I confess I am still thinking about it now even though we are past the date on the calendar. Because of this you all get to engage with another blog post on the topic.

A week ago, on Good Friday, I had the opportunity to lead many of you through a Stations of the Cross event at our church. If you were there, you might recall that at the very beginning of our time together I shared a quote by Søren Kierkegaard to help us consider how we viewed the Jesus. He writes:

What then, is the difference between an admirer or a follower? A follower is or strives to be what he admires. An admirer, however, keeps himself personally detached. He fails to see that what is admired involves a claim upon him, and thus he fails to be or strive to be what he admires.

Kierkegaard states that Jesus didn’t ask for people to admire Him, He asked for people to follow Him. As I have continued to reflect on this thought, the Holy Spirit brought to mind the Apostle Peter and how Jesus interacted with him throughout the gospels.

The passage the Spirit specifically brought me to was John 21:15-19 which shows Jesus restoring Peter to ministry.

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶ Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” ¹⁷ The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

What stuck out to me were those last two words…Follow me! These are the first words spoken by Jesus to Peter when He first calls him to be a disciple and here, they are some of the last words of the gospels. Interspersed throughout the gospels there are other commands by Jesus to follow Him but it is these two in particular that got me thinking. While Jesus meant the same thing both times that He commanded Peter to follow Him, Peter did not see them the same.

These two “Follow me” calls are given to two very different Peters. The first Peter follows Jesus as someone admire; a wise rabbi to learn from but not a model to emulate. The rest of the gospels demonstrate this attitude by Peter (and the rest of the disciples as well) as we see his confusion even in the upper room as Jesus tries to wash Peter’s feet. The idea of following Jesus as a humble servant rather than a conquering Messiah was lost on him.

Not long after this foot washing, Jesus is arrested, tried, executed. In the face of this, Peter denies even knowing Jesus and running away. The man he admired was gone and he was certainly not going to follow at this point. It is clear that Peter’s denial of Jesus hurt him deeply…his remorse is genuine. Scripture continues to tell us that then Jesus is resurrected and there is celebration amongst His disciples as they realize that He has conquered death.

It is some time after Jesus’s resurrection that we read the passage above. Much is written on the way Jesus offers forgiveness to Peter through asking Peter if he loves Him but it is the repeated command to “Follow me” that is humbling. It is only after Peter comes to grips with the incredible amount of forgiveness, he has received that he can truly appreciate what it means to follow Jesus. Until Peter experienced the full extent of his need for forgiveness and then receiving it there was no compelling motivation within him to follow Jesus as a true follower rather than an unaffiliated admirer. For Peter, reconciliation involved a commitment to follow.

The same holds true for us, my friends. It is easy to admire Jesus, especially at Easter, but the call of the gospel is greater than this. Jesus is to be followed, not admired; the gospel is to be followed, not admired. Understanding the level of forgiveness that Easter stands for means our response must be love of the one we want to follow, King Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. If we are unwilling or unable to understand that depth of forgiveness, we will never do anything more than admire Jesus. As He explained to Simon the Pharisee,

⁴¹ “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.  ⁴⁴ Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

This woman was a follower of Jesus because she understood the depths of His forgiveness to her. Peter moved from an admirer to a follower of Jesus once he understood the depths of His forgiveness to him. Do you understand how much you have been forgiven? The price that Jesus paid for my sins and yours is indescribably large…is your love for Him similar? If we truly desire to fulfill the commandments as Jesus instructed, to love God and love our neighbors, then we cannot settle for admiring Jesus…we must follow after Him in every way. Blessings to you all and remember He is still risen indeed!