Follow me. Oswald refers to three different instances where Jesus spoke to Peter about following him. Initially, Peter and his brother Andrew are fishing beside the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus says, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Scripture tells us that they left their nets "at once" and followed. The second time is before the crucifixion when Jesus tells his disciples that where he is going they cannot immediately follow, and Peter protests. The third time is recorded in the last chapter of John. Jesus has found the disciples fishing. He cooks breakfast for them and then has a sobering conversation with Peter where he asks, "Do you love me?" three times. After Peter's third yes, Jesus replies, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, 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. . . Follow me!"
Peter has changed between the first and second conversations. He has spent three years with this man, seen him perform miracles, walked on water with him, listened to his parables and their explanations, witnessed the transfiguration. Peter expresses real devotion when he says, "Lord, I will lay down my life for you." Oswald powerfully describes the even greater change that takes place between the second and third conversations: "Peter had denied Jesus with oaths and curses, he had come to the end of himself and all his self-sufficiency, there was not one strand of himself he would ever rely upon again, and in his destitution he was in a fit condition to receive an impartation from the risen Lord."
Not one strand of himself he would ever rely upon again. How at odds that God-dependence is with what is communicated to us in a hundred different ways every day from the world.
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