“Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress
yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will
stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead
you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what
kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he
said to him, “Follow me.” John 21:18–19
On this, the third time that Jesus appeared to His disciples, Jesus
enters into a threefold discourse with Peter. Each time that Jesus
asks Peter if he loves Him, Peter responds that he does. And Jesus
responds back each time, “Feed my lambs,” “Tend my sheep,” and
“Feed my sheep.” The passage quoted above concludes Jesus’
discourse with Peter using very powerful language. Jesus tells
Peter that when he grows old, “someone else will dress you and lead
you where you do not want to go.” This was Jesus' way of saying to
Peter that he would ultimately express his love of Jesus by dying
for Him. As we know, tradition states that Peter was ultimately
crucified. And at Peter’s request, he was crucified upside down
because he felt unworthy of dying in the exact same way Jesus
died.
As we consider this conversation between Jesus and Peter, it is
clear that Jesus' understanding of love is very different from the
way many others understand it today. Jesus was not only telling
Peter that he would die for Jesus, but Jesus was clearly offering
His approval of this act of love Peter would one day offer. Most
often when we love someone, we would do all we can to keep them
from any such fate. In fact, when a loved one suffers, we often
will do all we can to look for a way to relieve them of that
suffering. So which approach is most loving?
Clearly, Jesus sees suffering differently than most of us. For
Jesus, suffering is not opposed to love when the suffering is
freely embraced for a higher purpose. Suffering in and of itself is
of no value. But when suffering is embraced sacrificially out of
love for another, it is able to take on tremendous power. And when
Jesus offered His clear support to Peter who would one day die out
of love for Jesus, Jesus was focusing upon the eternal merit that
would be won by Peter’s cross. The fact that Jesus did not shy away
from Peter’s future sacrificial suffering is one of the clearest
signs of Jesus’ more perfect love for Peter.
Reflect, today, upon your attitude toward the sufferings that your
loved ones endure. Do you find that your primary goal is to rid
them of their sufferings? Or do you understand that even their
sufferings have the potential to become a source of their own
holiness and the source of grace for others? Strive to see
suffering as Jesus sees it. Look at the sacrificial love that is
made possible when your loved ones unite their sufferings to the
Cross of Christ and try to commit yourself to the mission of
helping them embrace that sacred gift of love.
My most compassionate Jesus, in Your great love for us all, You
desire that we unite our sufferings to Your Cross so that all
suffering shares in Your redemptive love. Give me the grace I need
to not only embrace my own sufferings in life out of love for You
but to also help those whom I love to live sacrificially by
embracing the crosses they carry out of love. Jesus, I trust in
You.
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Featured images above: Crucifixion of Saint Peter By Luca
Giordano, via Wikimedia Commons
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