Alive - by Dave Smith

and had said, ‘Lord, who is going to betray you?’) 21 When Peter saw
him, he asked, ‘Lord, what about him?’
22
Jesus answered, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that
to you? You must follow me.’ 23 Because of this, the rumour spread among
the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that
he would not die; he only said, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I
return, what is that to you?’
(John 21:15–23)
Jesus began by helping Peter to face up to what had happened. He
did this utilising both symbols and words. For example, Jesus had
been cooking fish on a fire of burning coals (literally a ‘charcoal fire’).
The only other place that this word is used in the New Testament is
earlier in John’s Gospel when Peter warmed himself by the ‘charcoal
fire’ – and then denied Jesus (John 18:18). Also, Jesus seemed to
have deliberately addressed him as ‘Simon, son of John’ – not Peter,
the ‘rock’ – highlighting his failure to act in a ‘rock-like’ way. Finally,
Jesus asked Peter the same question in three slightly different ways
– ‘do you love me?’ – as a reminder of how Peter had denied him
three times. No wonder Peter ‘was hurt’.
Now, it’s important to realise that Jesus wasn’t being deliberately
‘hurtful’: he was not reminding Peter of his past failure to make him
feel worse, but to help him get better! If you’ve ever received
counselling, as I have, you’ll be aware that buried pain doesn’t just go
away – it stays there, often largely hidden, causing internal damage
and ready to pop again when we least expect it. Hence the
importance of facing up to what’s gone on, especially in the care of
an experienced counsellor – even if that can seem especially painful
at the time. Just as Alcoholics Anonymous start by helping an
alcoholic face the facts of their addiction, so Jesus helped Peter to