John 21:6b-10

So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other...

John 18:24-27

Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had...

Epiphany 3 B: Following Jesus Today

Dear Partner in Preaching, I’ve always found this passage both inspiring and vexing. I find it inspiring because of the decisiveness and immediacy of the response of the four disciples mentioned in today’s reading. But I also find it a tad vexing because it seems to set the bar so high. Leave everything…to follow an itinerant preacher into an unknown future…immediately. To be honest, I find it hard to imagine doing as these four did, and I wonder if our folks might feel the same. And that might not be a bad place to start: asking our folks if they can imagine picking up and leaving everything to follow Jesus. If you do that, make...

John 1:43

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Here is the essence of the Christian life. Following Jesus. Doing what you see him doing. Treating others as you see him treating people. Trying to have, as the Apostle Paul says elsewhere, the same...

John 1:15

(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) Again with John. 🙂 John the Baptist looms large in all the gospels, particularly in the early part of the story. We know him best as the...