Keys of the Kingdom 1 – Cost Benefit Analysis

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my sheep." ... "Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish." This he spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, "Follow me." (John 21:15–19)

What would it do to your life to know Jesus had called you to follow Him straight into a martyr's death?

A Heavy Revelation: Follow Me to Your Death

What if Jesus said to you, "You're going to die a painful martyr's death," and then followed it with, "Follow me"? That is exactly what happens in John 21. Jesus predicts Peter's future death by crucifixion—a death by which Jesus says Peter will glorify God. It would come when he was older, but it would surely come.

How would you respond? I think I might respond the way Peter did. Turning around, Peter saw John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, following them, and he said, "But Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me." In other words: I'm not talking to John, Peter—I'm talking to you. The call is "follow me." The commission is "feed my sheep." And the outcome is "you will suffer and die by crucifixion."

A Contrast: The Boast and the Denial

It's striking to contrast this seaside chat with Peter before the crucifixion in Matthew 26. There Jesus told the disciples, "All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night." Peter answered, "Even if all are made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble." Jesus told him that this very night, before the rooster crowed, Peter would deny Him three times. Peter replied, "Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you." And all the disciples said the same.

What was the rest of the story? Just verses later, after Jesus was arrested, Peter sat in the courtyard. A servant girl said, "You also were with Jesus of Galilee." He denied it. Another girl pointed him out, and he denied it with an oath: "I do not know the man." A little later, those standing by said his Galilean accent betrayed him. Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know the man." Immediately a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered Jesus' words. He went out and wept bitterly.

He had been so confident—"Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you"—and yet before a young teenage girl, twice, he caved. Three times he denied his Lord.

The Rematch by the Sea

Now, after the death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus is with the disciples at the Sea of Galilee. Peter had said, "I'm going fishing," the great fisherman who never caught a fish without Jesus' help. They fished all night and caught nothing. In the morning a voice from the shore called out, "Have you caught any fish?" "No." "Cast the net on the other side." Suddenly there was a great catch—a powerful déjà vu—and Peter knew it was the Lord. He jumped into the water and swam ashore, where Jesus had breakfast prepared.

I suggest this conversation is a rematch. Three times Peter swore, "I do not know the man." Now three times Jesus asks, "Peter, do you love me?" In English it sounds like a redundant, broken-record exchange. But we miss something the Greek reveals.

Agape and Phileo

In English we use "love" glibly—I love tacos, I love my dog, I love my wife (hopefully in a different order than that). But Greek has several words for love, three of which appear in Scripture. Eros speaks of romantic love. Phileo speaks of brotherly affection—Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, carries that root. And agape speaks of a self-sacrificing love that lays down one's life with no hope of return, defined for us in 1 Corinthians 13.

In this exchange, Jesus says, "Peter, do you agape me?"—are you ready to lay down everything, to sacrifice everything, to follow me? Peter looks at Jesus and says, "Yes, Lord; you know that I phileo you." It's the very thing you never wanted to hear in sixth grade: "I really like you—like a brother." Twice Jesus asks, "Do you agape me?" and twice Peter answers, "I phileo you." The third time Jesus throws a change-up: "Peter, do you phileo me?" Peter was grieved, and answered, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Each time Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."

In honesty, remembering his failure, Peter could not say, "I'm ready to lay it all down." He simply said, "Lord, I do love you, but I'm not sure I'm there yet." And even so, Jesus said, "Follow me." Those were the same words Peter heard three and a half years earlier in that very spot, after another failed fishing trip, when Jesus first said, "Follow me, and I'll make you a fisher of men."

From Unfaithful to Ultra-Faithful

For three years Peter watched Jesus cast out demons, heal the sick, raise the dead, feed multitudes, and walk on water—he even walked on water himself. He and the others were sure Jesus was Messiah who would overthrow Rome and establish His kingdom, and they argued over who would be greatest in His cabinet. Then it was all dashed to pieces. Their King said they would all stumble, and they did. He died, and all their hopes lay in a cold tomb. They hid. But He rose, just as He said, and met them in Galilee.

What could change this unfaithful denier into an ultra-faithful martyr? About forty years after this conversation, far from Jerusalem in the city of Rome, Peter was crucified as a martyr. First point: an encounter with the risen Jesus changes everything. Peter knew Jesus before the resurrection, but now he meets the risen Jesus and has breakfast with a once-crucified, now-glorified Lord. The resurrection changed Peter, James, John, doubting Thomas, and Saul of Tarsus the persecutor who became a preacher. That challenges all of us with a question: have you had an encounter with the risen Jesus?

From Cowardly to Courageous

Look at the book of Acts. In Acts 2, the church is born; the Spirit is poured out, and Peter stands before the very crowd that had cried "Crucify Him" just weeks earlier—the crowd he had hidden among—and preaches. "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). When they were cut to the heart and asked what to do, he said, "Repent, and be baptized for the remission of your sins."

In Acts 4, after healing a lame man at the temple gate—"Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk"—Peter stands before the same council that crucified Jesus and declares, "by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead... there is no salvation in any other."

In Acts 5, after being warned to stop and even thrown in prison, the apostles are freed by an angel and go right back to preaching. Brought again before the council, the high priest says, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name?" Peter answers, "We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you murdered." They beat the apostles and let them go, and the apostles departed "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name," continuing daily to preach Jesus as the Christ.

Resurrection Diminishes Fear

How does that happen? Second point: the fear of suffering, pain, and death is diminished when the certainty of resurrection is realized. John 21 made the cost of discipleship clear to Peter. Jesus always accentuated that cost. In Luke 14 He said, "Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple," and called His hearers to "count the cost." In Matthew 10 He said they would be hated for His name's sake. In John 15:20 He said, "A servant is not greater than his master; if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you."

Why did Jesus do this? Because He did not want His disciples to be surprised by suffering. "All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." But here is our problem: for nearly 300 years the American experience has been benefit through the gospel, so we don't believe that text. Our experience runs against Scripture. So we must ask: was Jesus wrong, or is our experience non-normative? Jesus says normal Christianity is to suffer shame for His name.

Where the Cost Is Higher, the Commitment Is Greater

Why did Jesus tell His disciples they would suffer? Because of the commitment quotient. Third point: where the cost is higher, the commitment is greater. Commitment increases proportionally to cost.

We're beginning a new series in 1 Peter, which I'm calling "Keys of the Kingdom." Its themes—sanctification, submission, suffering, eternal salvation, and our witness in a hostile world—may have more application to 21st-century America than any other book we've studied in years. It was written about forty years after Peter's seaside conversation. By then Peter was old, just as Jesus said, living in Rome, the capital of the empire, under a madman emperor named Nero.

The Great Fire and the First Persecution

Tension against the rapidly growing Christian community in Rome was rising—largely because two problematic men, Paul and Peter, lived there, and even members of Caesar's household and the palace guard were becoming Christians. Nero wanted to remake Rome. On July 18, in A.D. 64, he sent men under cover of darkness to set the city ablaze. The Great Fire destroyed three-quarters of Rome, and it is said Nero played his lyre from a balcony as it burned, rejoicing that he could rebuild it his way. When the news began to spread that he was responsible, he blamed the Christians.

That launched the first politically motivated, nationally run persecution of Christians. Over the next four years, until his death in A.D. 68, Nero killed the leaders of the Christians piece by piece, including Peter and Paul. Peter, considering himself unworthy to die as his Master did, was crucified upside down; Paul was beheaded. Christians were dragged from their homes, beaten to death, wrapped in bloodied animal skins and thrown to beasts, covered in pitch and burned on stakes to light Nero's garden by night.

But this letter was written just months before all that—from Rome to believers a thousand miles east in Galatia, Pontus, and Cappadocia. Peter reminds them of the cost: "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:12–13).

Twenty-First-Century America Mirrors First-Century Rome

Why does this apply to us? Because more and more, 21st-century America mirrors first-century Rome. Fourth point: opposition to our faith is and will continue to increase. What we have known for 300 years in America is abnormal to Christian history. Pick up Fox's Book of Martyrs or The Voice of the Martyrs—freedom of religion and peace is non-normal Christianity. We've come to think abnormal is normal, and in nature abnormalities always get driven out.

So churchgoers—not necessarily Christians—are now doing a cost-benefit analysis. There used to be a great social benefit to identifying as a churchgoer. Politicians said, "I'm a Christian." People assumed a man was good because he had a dove or a fish on his business card. That social benefit is disappearing, and you feel it and don't like it, because it's abnormal to our culture even though it's normal to Christianity. So, for lack of a better phrase: suck it up. This is normative, and the opposition will increase.

Christianity Is Not Dying—It's Being Refined

You've all heard that Christianity is in decline in America; Pew Research has the numbers. But those numbers aren't quite what they seem. What's declining is nominal Christianity. The church is being refined. Those who came only for the social benefit are leaving and now identify as the "nones"—no religious affiliation. But the evangelical, gospel-preaching, Bible-believing church is growing, because where the cost is higher, the commitment is greater. We saw it in China in the last century, and everywhere persecution meets the church.

Increasingly, Christians are caricatured as anti-progress, anti-rights, anti-education, anti-science, anti-social-justice, pro-war, prejudiced, bigoted, and racist. These are mischaracterizations, but our beliefs taken out of context can be presented that way—and it's going to get worse.

That's why this passage matters. Peter knew something for certain that Jesus said to him in Matthew 16, after he confessed, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered, "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom." Society says the church is dying; Jesus says it is not. He gave Peter a bigger view: this world is not your home. So do not think the fiery trial strange, but rejoice that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may be glad with exceeding joy.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for Your great grace. Jesus, I thank You that You do not want us ignorant of the things we will face as Your followers, and so You have clearly told us, "In the world you will have suffering and trials, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Help us to be more than conquerors through You. With a vision of heaven, may the reality of the resurrection rest upon us, and may this world see Your glory revealed in us. In Jesus' name, amen.