Signatures

I can recognize my Grandmother’s handwriting whenever I see it, although she is no longer with us.  She wrote with a dipping pen and naturally tended toward the old-fashioned meanings of words.  For example, once I remember her stretching across the kitchen counter to look out the window, studying the sky and saying, “It’s commencing to rain.”  (Well, actually, if she were to describe herself at that moment, she probably would say she was “peering” out the window.)  However, even if none of that were true, I would still recognize her handwriting because it always was beautifully distinctive; it still is.  Bits of her handwriting are preserved on postcards and letters, inscribed inside the cover of handed-down books, or neatly penned on faded recipe cards.  In that way, she left part of herself for the rest of us.   

I understand that penmanship seems to be going out of style today.  I’m typing this on Word for Mac 14.4.2 and it looks like anyone else’s version of Word.   But there’s still something about my hand-written signature that is unique enough to serve as verification of my intention on contracts and other official documents.  Everyone I know – my children, my sister, my husband my friends – everyone writes with an unmistakable signature.  

And that’s what struck me this morning when I read John 21: 15-19.  Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?”  Three times asked.  Three times answered.  Tracing each layer makes the question more prominent until the answer becomes, finally, undeniable.   Then the direction, “Feed my sheep.”  It's as if Jesus were saying, OK then, here’s how to make your answer truly emphatic, here's how to press down so that your signature will show on many copies: feed my sheep.  

An aging cement sidewalk 
 with unsightly veins.

And lest Peter think post-resurrection life would be all lilies and roses, Jesus adds this prediction: “Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”  Yes, we nod in agreement.  No surprises here as we look back across history from our point in time.  Peter will be humbled by age, of course.  Aren't we all?  But Peter will undoubtedly also suffer many things as he preaches and teaches.  Surely, his life will dependent on the will and agenda of others, for good or evil.  We will be spectators as well as beneficiaries of that.  

At this point John steps in with an explanation.  John, the writer, has a tendency to do this, I think, so we don’t get all dreamy eyed or sad in poignant moments like this and miss the point.  He has already done much the same thing just a chapter earlier when describing the encounter between Jesus and Thomas. There he concludes, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20: 30-31)  This is John’s signature.  John underscores the lesson he doesn’t want us to miss. 

So, recognizing John’s style, I’m expecting some sort of insight and perhaps even a take-away to apply to my own life.  Here it comes:  “Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would …”  Now, I have to stop myself here and confess that sometimes I read too fast.  In fact, I read so fast that I even tend to fill-in the blanks, jumping to conclusions about where the author is going.  Do you do that?  Did you anticipate John’s next word was going to be “die”?  Did you guess this ending:  “Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would die”?

Sounds likely, sounds accurate, given all we know about the Roman culture of the time and the events that the early church would endure.  But my conclusion doesn’t sound much like Jesus, does it?  Whereas, John's conclusion does: “Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.” 

I ought to know by now, I think.  Surely I ought to recognize the signature of God who raised Jesus from the dead!  God’s signature is always large and always ends with a flourish.  Oh, God does seem to press down firmly on every necessary line, but then, God always finishes with a glorious up-swing.  Always.  From First Testament onward, "Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today." (Genesis 50:20)

After interrupting the flow of the conversation to insert that critical reminder for me, John returns to the scene and, in case I’m still stunned by the direction that this is going, he concludes with Jesus’ deeply-personal, ever-familiar, signature invitation for all of us, “Follow me!”  

Much Grace, 

PS