Comparisons

Deuteronomy 29:29              Psalm 52                   James 1:22-27                      John 21:20-25

Comparisons

Have you ever challenged anyone on some or other point of unwise behaviour only to have them reply, “But everyone else is doing it”? Or perhaps they tried to justify their behaviour with mismatched comparisons. For instance, suggesting to someone that they might need to curb their drinking habits only to have them say, “But you have a glass of wine with your dinner.” Never mind that we are talking glasses versus bottles here…you do it and that justifies my overdoing it. And you know, the strangest thing about it all is that it makes perfect sense to the other person. 

And yet, how often don’t we apply this kind of logic to our walk with Jesus? Never mind what the Scriptures say, everyone else is doing it, therefore it must be fine for me to do it. And I’m not just referring to the latest obsession with human sexuality. One of my personal pet peeves is when someone tries to justify their behaviour by saying, “Oh, but that’s the Old Testament” as if that settles the matter. If one follows through with that kind of logic we end up in the same space as the modern revisionists. If God’s Word has changed, then God must have changed too and from that point on the slide just get steeper and more slippery. 

We have been so brainwashed over the years that we have forgotten that God’s Word speaks to us all regardless of our own particular set of circumstances. We do not hold to a system of situation ethics where right or wrong is determined by context or culture. Either God’s Word is authoritative for all, or it is not authoritative at all. All of God’s Word is inspired by him…and all of God’s Word is profitable for those who claim to follow him. Just because cultural winds of change blow all around us, doesn’t mean we have to bend with them. 

Another form of this kind of faulty logic is what we could call a degree of comparison. Well, yes, I’m not perfect, but at least I’m better than most. As if the Lord of all creation ought to be satisfied with our token religion. In many ways we have been distracted from following our holy God by comparing ourselves to our fellow travellers or even the onlookers along the way…simply because it is easier to examine the way others live rather than examining the way we live…then we can shift the spotlight of the Word away from ourselves on to others.

But another, possibly even more common form of comparison, has to do with our sense of equality or fairness. It is this kind of comparison made by Peter in our Gospel lesson for today. 

If you recall, the Lord had just told Peter that he would be martyred for his faith and, uncharacteristically, this prediction was accepted by Peter without argument showing a wonderful progression and growth in his spiritual walk with Jesus. However, just as we are getting ready to applaud him for his maturity, Peter did something weird. He compared himself with John! Ok, so if I am going to suffer for my faith, what about him? If I’m going to have a hard time, well then so should he.

You see, we like the notion of share and share alike when it comes to sharing trials and sufferings. Fair is fair, right? But I can’t help wondering if Peter would still have asked the question had Jesus revealed a glorious future of ease and contentment for him. 

Now, I think there are two possible reasons for Peter’s comparison question. The first is that he wanted to be sure he was being treated fairly. No one likes being singled out as a lightning conductor. You see this kind of logic in its purest form in children…adults have usually learned the art of subtlety, but not always. The basic underlying question is why must I struggle while others have it easy? Why must I be poor while others are rich? Doesn’t God love me? Or does God love them more than me? What am I doing wrong? What did I do to deserve this? 

But these kinds of questions reveal that deep down inside, we might not trust God as we ought…or as much as we would like to think we do. And unfair God somehow implise a flawed God. But these kinds of questions may also reveal that we still believe in a merit-based theology…we deserve a good life…or, at least, as good as the next person.

I’ve often thought that some folks act more like mild socialists dressed up in church clothing. You know, we believe in overall equality as we strive, both financially and spiritually, to keep up with each other or compete with each other. But underlying this kind of behaviour is a belief that if I cannot be as blessed as others, then they ought not to be so blessed either. Otherwise, it’s just not fair! 

Hence Peter’s question: “Lord, what about this man?” Is he also going to get it in the neck? 

But God has made each one of us differently and he knows what it will take to make each one of us more like Jesus…some of us might just need a few more hard knocks than others. Besides, we are not all the same…while it is true that we are all equal as sinners in need of his saving grace, it is also true that every one of us is unique as God has equipped each one with different gifts to ensure that we are interdependent as his body. 

While we are all called to witness to his reality, we do so in different ways with different targets and different goals and yes, some of us may be called to bear witness through suffering.

The second reason why Peter might have asked this question is because of his own personal preoccupation with things that are not yet known. Like many before him and many after him, Peter had to learn that there are secret things that belong only to God – but the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever (Deuteronomy 29:29). Just because part of the future has been revealed, in this case his martyrdom, does not mean that all the future will be revealed with equal clarity. As Jesus had to remind his disciples just before the ascension: “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” 

But notice Jesus’ reply here to Simon Peter. "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!" Basically what Jesus was saying is that the affairs of others is no concern of ours…that we ought to be focussed on doing what we know we are called to do rather than measuring our performance against others. In one sense, this is like dealing with the log in our own eye before attempting to deal with the splinter in someone else’s eye.

Interestingly, this remark sparked off a first century rumour. Some thought that this meant John would not die until Jesus’ Second Coming. Today, some think that the words “until I come” refer to Jesus’ “coming” in judgement against apostate Jerusalem since John was the only Apostle to live beyond AD 70. In this case, this final section of his Gospel serves as an interlude or a transitional comment that leads into the book of the Revelation. So the Gospel John would be to Revelation what the Gospel of Luke is to Acts…volume one and volume two. 

Whether or not this is so does not change the point of Jesus’ reply, which is: Examine yourself and not others. Focus on your own walk, not the walk of others. We would do well to heed Paul’s warning in Romans 14:4: “Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.”

Not everyone understands things the same way and this kind of comparison implies that the one making the comparison believes their way is the only way. But this kind of comparison is not only unhealthy, it is immature and unwise because it stunts personal growth. So, it is best to mind our own affairs well and to let God deal with each one of his children in his way in his time. 

John then concluded his Gospel with a statement regarding the truth of his testimony as an eyewitness to the things he had written about. Most unbiased and unprejudiced people would recognise the validity of this kind of evidence. Besides, his Gospel was written and widely circulated during the lifetime of those who could have refuted it if they wished to, but as yet, the sands of the Middle East have not surrendered any such first century document.

John admits that his record is not exhaustive but selective because his goal was to present enough information to both regulate faith and to bring to faith those who read what he had written. In this sense, the Gospels are not biographies in the modern understanding of the term and those who get frustrated by the lack of information regarding our Lord’s childhood are missing the point. The Gospels were written so that we might believe in the one revealed in and through them. 

But it would be wrong of me to leave you with the impression that all comparisons are bad. If this were true, none of us would ever have role models or examples. What makes a comparison wrong is when it implies a lack of trust in Jesus due to a suspected lack of fairness or justice on his part or when it is used to excuse bad behaviour. 

But what makes comparison right? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Or, as the writer to the Hebrews said in 6:11-12: “And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” 

When we compare ourselves to Jesus with a view to imitating him…or when we compare ourselves to other believers who do imitate him to spur us on to live like them in faith and patience…then the comparison is good and yields good fruit. It is not born out of jealousy or suspicion of favouritism, but a genuine desire to live better lives.

So, may I end with this question. Which kind of comparison are you engaging in? 

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2025.