We've made it to the end of the Gospel of John — nineteen weeks, start to finish — and the finale is John's closing word to us: don't look back in shame, don't look sideways in comparison. Eyes forward into eternity as we follow Christ.

We open on the beach at the charcoal fire — a word John uses only twice in the whole Gospel, and both times it matters. Peter denied Jesus three times around one charcoal fire; now Jesus asks him three times, "Do you love me?" I talk about why the smell of that fire probably brought it all rushing back, and about how Jesus deals with Peter's shame — not with "you lousy loser," but with love. "Do you love me? Then feed my sheep."

Then Peter turns around, sees John, and says, "What about him?" — and I get honest about the comparison trap, because this one hits me. Keeping up with the Joneses, the twenty-somethings who feel behind, the curated Instagram feeds. Jesus answers with what our English translations soften: "You. You follow me."

We close where John closes — with the vastness of the cosmic Christ, a story so big the world itself couldn't hold the books that would tell it — and with the song that keeps running through my head: Caedmon's Call's "Faith My Eyes." Because we end this series right where we began it: believing is seeing, and believing is life.

Scripture: John 21:15–25

In this message:

• The charcoal fire — used only twice in the Gospels, and why the smell of it mattered
• Peter's reinstatement: three questions for three denials
• Why I don't make hay out of the agape/phileo wordplay (John's thesaurus)
• How Jesus deals with your shame: "Do you love me? Then feed my sheep."
• The comparison trap — and Jesus' sharpest answer in the Gospel: "You. You follow me."
• The cosmic Christ, the Grand Canyon, and the story with no end
• Closing out 19 weeks in John: believing is seeing, believing is life

Thank you for persevering through this whole series with me. Jonah is next — and I can't wait.

— Daniel

Listen to more messages:
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