John 21:1-23
Whether we like to acknowledge it or not, the fact is that we are all broken people and we all fail in our Christian lives, at times. Some people can hide their failures pretty effectively, but even the most adept among us at spiritual subterfuge still know within themselves the reality of their own shortcomings.
It’s precisely because of this aforementioned fact that we can never allow ourselves to look down on others while perched in a high branch of our own self-righteousness. Certainly, we don’t excuse the sinfulness of ourselves or others. However, we do humbly recognize that everybody struggles in similar ways to us in their journey of following Christ. And, we all need grace in those moments when we “blow it,” to help restore us to the pathway of righteousness and usefulness.
One of the most colossal failures ever recorded in history took place during the time of Jesus’ arrest and subsequent trials when Peter denied the Lord three times. What if you were Peter and your worst failures were written on the pages of scripture for all people of all time to read repeatedly? None of us would ever voluntarily expose ourselves to such scrutiny of our weaknesses. However, God used this Apostle’s spiritual collapse at a crucial moment in time to teach us an important lesson about God’s grace.
Few men in history have been as privileged as Peter, the apostle of Christ. From the beginning, when Jesus called His disciples to follow Him, Peter was first to respond (Luke 5:1-10; Matthew 4:18-21; Mark 1:16-20). If you remember the story, he, along with at least three others (Andrew, James & John), had been fishing all night with very little success. Jesus came to the shore of Galilee that next morning and a crowd of people gathered to hear Him teach. Seeing two boats, He got into the one belonging to Peter and asked him to push off from the shore so that He could teach the people more easily. Once Christ was finished speaking, He told Peter to launch out into the deep water so they could catch fish. Of course, Peter was reluctant (Luke 5:5) because they had already been out all night without any success. Nevertheless, Peter did as he was instructed, let down his net and caught so many fish that he could not handle them alone. Even though another boat came alongside to help him, both boats nearly sank under the enormous weight of fish that were caught that morning. Immediately, Peter bowed down to Jesus, calling Him Lord! When they finally got back to shore, Jesus called these men to follow Him with the promise that He would make them to become fishers of men. According to Matthew and Mark, It was Peter that was the first to be called to this new vocation (Matthew 4:18-21; Mark 1:16-20). It takes an incredible faith to leave your lifelong livelihood to follow Jesus...and Peter was just such a man!
His privilege didn’t end there, though! On another occasion, Jesus had fed five thousand with five loaves and two fish (Matthew 14:21-34). Afterwards, He sent the disciples on ahead of Him across the Sea of Galilee while He went away to pray. Between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. that morning, the boat was in grave danger due to a sudden storm that had arisen on the sea. In those early morning hours, unable to make headway toward the shore, Jesus came walking to them on the water. The disciples were frightened at first, thinking that He was possibly a ghost. But, once they knew it was Him, Peter asked permission to do something that no one else had ever done or has ever been able to do since. He asked Jesus to invite him out onto the water with Him and Jesus agreed. Peter stepped over the side of the boat and for a time, walked on the water. When he became frightened by the raging storm around him, he began to sink and cried out for Jesus to save him...which He did. If it takes a great faith to leave your lifelong livelihood to follow Jesus, it takes an even greater act of faith to get out of a boat and walk on water.
On yet another occasion, Jesus was walking with His disciples near Caesarea Philippi when He asked the men a question about what people were saying about Him. He wanted to know, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (Matthew 16:13-19) There were several answers that came from among them, but only Peter spoke up with the profound answer, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” In other words, Peter recognized that Jesus is God’s Own Son, both God and man! From that point he stopped being known as Simon and became known by his nickname, Peter.
Just consider Peter’s privilege thus far: he was the first to follow Jesus, the first to step out in faith to walk on water, and the first to understand the real Person of Christ!
There are other occasions mentioned in the Gospels that further our understanding of Peter’s privileged status with Christ. One of these was when Jesus took him, along with James and John, to the Mount of Transfiguration where He was transfigured before their very eyes. Mark, the Gospel writer, says that Jesus’ clothes shown “exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.” For a few brief moments Peter (with James and John) was allowed to see the divine glory of Christ shining through the exterior of His earthly humanity.
Later, it was Peter, James and John again that were invited into the Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus when He prayed on the night He was arrested and taken away to be crucified. Though none of these three men could stay awake that evening, Peter was there with Jesus at that crucial moment in history, while redemption’s plan was beginning to unfold, to see and possibly hear Jesus pray.
These stories and others like them draw a picture for us of a man that was on the inner circle of Jesus’ followers. Without question he was a leader among equals when it came to the twelve apostles. This is clearly seen in the fact that in the listing of these disciples his name always comes first. He was an impetuous man that rarely thought of consequences...only possibilities. His bold personality and faith were such that he was willing to attempt things that other men would never have even thought of trying. He was daring, sometimes brash, straight-talking and always brimming with self-confidence!
Maybe it was because of his high visibility and bold personality that God chose him as the final illustration in John's Gospel to show the outworking of God’s grace toward future failures among Christ-followers. It is true that by grace alone Peter had been chosen to be a follower of Jesus. But, most people would think that after his public denials of Christ that little else remained for him in the way of usefulness, except to return to his fishing trade to make a living and take care of his family. Surely, no future leadership capacity could ever be entrusted to a man that exhibited such disloyalty at the most critical time in the life of Jesus.
Let’s remember the scene on the night of Jesus’ betrayal by Judas. The disciples, with Jesus, had finished the Passover observance, during which time Christ had instituted the Lord’s Supper. As they were leaving the Upper Room, Jesus told them that all of them would stumble and be scattered because of what was about to happen to Him that night (Matthew 26:30-35). Peter strongly objected to Jesus’ revelation and declared that even if all the others abandoned Him that he would never be guilty of such disloyalty. Jesus responded to him by explaining that by the time the rooster crowed the next morning, he would have denied Him three times. Again, with strong emotion, Peter declared that if he had to die with Christ he would never deny Christ. When Jesus was arrested later that night it was Peter that tried to defend Him at first by wielding his sword and cutting off the ear of the High Priest’s servant (John 18:10). Jesus, however, had him put away his sword, healed the ear of the servant, and then allowed Himself to be led away to six unjust trials that ultimately led to His crucifixion/resurrection.
At first, all the disciples forsook Him. Peter and John, however, apparently reconsidered their decisions and tried to get as close as possible to the unfolding Jewish trials that night by gaining access to the High Priest’s courtyard. Peter’s first denial came as he was given entrance into the courtyard of the High Priest’s house where Jesus was being held (John 18:15-17). Once inside, he stood there warming himself by the charcoal fire with the others, which led to being asked two more times about his association with Jesus. Again, both times Peter further denied having any relationship to Jesus...the last time with cursing and swearing (Mark 14:71). While he was speaking his last denial the rooster crowed (Luke 22:60), just as Jesus had predicted. Luke says that at his third denial, Jesus “turned and looked at Peter” (Luke 22:61), who then “went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:60-62).
I can’t even imagine the depth of his guilt and shame after doing what he had so pompously said he would NEVER do...deny Him! And did you notice, even though Peter had left his nets and boat, walked on water, declared that Jesus was the Son of God, been on the inner circle of the disciples...he had never forgotten how to “cuss” and swear like a sailor?
The agony of those ensuing hours as Jesus was tried, crucified and later buried in a tomb, must have been almost unbearable for him to endure. What purpose did his life have now? How could he ever show his face in public again? Who would ever trust a man like him? How could such a proud man be humbled so low?
All of this is what makes the story in John 21:1-23 so incredibly beautiful because it provides the background of dark hues against which the bright colors of God's grace are so vibrantly contrasted!
I think most of us would have probably forgotten Peter and left him in his miserable shame, if we had been treated as Jesus was treated. Few of us would desire to extend grace or forgiveness to such a man that had proven so publicly disloyal. Besides, now that Christ had risen from the grave and proven to be all that He claimed to be, why would He ever desire Peter's services again? It must have seemed as if his shame could never be wiped away!
However, God is a God of grace and He desired to write a different ending to the story of Peter's life than the one we read at the moment of his colossal spiritual failure in the courtyard of the High Priest.
After Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the risen Christ instructed His disciples (including Peter) to meet Him in Galilee. Because the men didn’t know exactly when Jesus would arrive, they decided to go back to doing what they knew best: fishing.
It was after another night of catching nothing that they noticed someone on the shore of Galilee early that morning Who was cooking a breakfast meal. When the Man on the shore called out to them, He told them to cast their nets on the other side of their boat and they would be filled with fish. They did as they were instructed and could not draw in the net because of the multitude of fish they had caught. Immediately, John recognized that it was Jesus on the shore. The ever impetuous Peter quickly pulled his outer coat around him and jumped into the water to swim to Jesus. The others soon got the boat and nets, full of fish, to shore where Peter helped them to count their number (153).
After breakfast that morning, the story narrows to focus on a conversation that Jesus had with Peter in the presence of the other disciples. It involved a repeated question that Jesus asked him that must have been as painful to experience as having open-heart surgery without anesthesia.
Standing near another charcoal fire that morning, Peter heard Jesus ask him the same penetrating question three times, “Do you love me?” Each time he responded by saying, “You know that I love You.” Some people make much of the different Greek words Jesus/Peter used for “love” in asking and answering the questions. There may be some importance to those nuanced meanings, but for our purposes, we simply need to see what Jesus was doing by asking these questions that day.
For each of the three times Peter publicly denied the Lord, Jesus asked him publicly if he loved Him. On this occasion, Peter was not his usual self-confident, straight-talking personality, because now he better realized his own fallibility. Instead of declaring his “love” outright, as he might have done before his colossal failure, he simply deferred to the omniscience of the Lord Who knew his heart better than he knew it himself. With each of the questions and answers, God in His grace was restoring Peter and re-commissioning him to useful service to Christ. In other words, the man that most everybody else would have written off...Jesus sought to restore!
This reminds us of a powerful scripture in the writings of Paul about the greatness of God’s grace:
"Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more..." (Romans 5:20 NKJV)
Peter's failure and restoration serve as a perpetual reminder that God's grace is greater than any sin or failure that has ever happened in our lives! What we learn from this scene is that when we find ourselves cut down by our own shortcomings, the grace of God is always there to catch us, forgive us, and restore us to future usefulness. Grace should never be used as an excuse to go on living in sin or for overlooking our failures, but it is a safety net that lets us serve and live with a sense of eternal security!
Joseph B. Strauss was the lead engineer in the building of the Golden Gate Bridge. As part of some of his innovative safety efforts he had a large net constructed at considerable cost that was placed beneath the floor of the bridge to catch men that accidentally fell or were blown off the bridge while working on it. There were nineteen men whose lives were saved by the net and it allowed the workers to move more quickly due to the security they felt having the net present.
If you can think of the grace of God as a “safety net” of sorts, you can get a picture of how God’s grace truly operates. No matter how far you may fall, His “safety net” is always there to catch you. This doesn’t mean we can live our lives with wreckless abandon or careless concern, but it means that when we fall we are not abandoned to our own demise. Lovingly, patiently, graciously, God is there to catch us and work for our restoration that we might bring Him glory and find greater usefulness in His service.
There are a few things to remember as you consider what Jesus said to Peter on the shore of Galilee following His resurrection.
- No one is perfect...everyone fails.
None of us are immuned to letting Jesus down...not even the people that were closest to Him during His earthly ministry. Peter saw all the miracles of Jesus. He was there to hear Him teach. He saw His power and His compassion on many occasions. He was even on the inner circle of the followers of Jesus...but he denied Him three times publicly...with cursing and swearing!
Despite what we think of ourselves or what we think of the believers around us, we are all just human. There are none of us that are perfect and we all fail Christ at times.
Maybe the thing for us to realize is that continuing to beat ourselves up for our failures doesn’t do anything to aid our restoration. What we must do is cast ourselves on the grace of God and seek His forgiveness...the One Who is the giver of life and forgiveness.
Neither does beating others up when they fail reflect the spirit of Christ or the grace of Christ that has been shown to us in our failures.
- Jesus is still your Friend, even when you fail Him.
Peter had denied Christ in the most egregious way and yet, Jesus enjoyed watching him catch fish that early morning. He cooked breakfast for him and invited him to a morning meal with Him.
The same goes for each of us when we fail Him. The Savior that died for you still loves you. You have been caught in the “safety net” of His grace, no matter the height from which you have fallen. He still wants to have fellowship with you and restore you to usefulness for Him.
- Sin has consequences you cannot simply excuse.
Often the consequences of our sin go beyond ourselves and affect people around us and/or dear to us. Even more importantly, sin creates a wound in our relationship with Christ that can only be healed through His gracious forgiveness. Peter had to be dealt with about what had happened so that he could move on. Not until you confront your failure and confess it, will you ever be able to move past it.
Your greatest need after a fall is to seek God’s cleansing for your spiritual collapse. And, if our fall has affected others, to seek their forgiveness, as well.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
- Jesus still has a purpose and a mission for your life.
No failure has been more read or analyzed than Peter’s denial of the Lord. But, with Christ’s gracious reinstatement of him, he was also given a three-part affirmation: “Feed my sheep.”
Peter was still valuable to Christ’s cause and still would become a great leader in the days ahead in spite of his colossal failure.
If you don’t think this is so, just fast forward a number of days and see 120 followers of Jesus waiting and praying in a room in Jerusalem. When the day of Pentecost arrives, these disciples of Christ were powerfully indwelt and filled by the Holy Spirit.
When Peter stands up to preach that morning in Jerusalem, he declares Jesus to be the Messiah, Who had been crucified, buried, raised and now, ascended back to the Father. When he finished his sermon there were 3,000 people that responded to be saved and baptized.
The man that three times denied Jesus was the very first person to declare Him to the masses in Jerusalem.
Now, for all time, Peter stands as a testimony to the amazing grace of God that never gives up on His children...no matter how far they have fallen. And, because of God’s grace...failure is never really final, unless you want it to be!
It’s time for you to get up, get right and get moving again to fulfill the purpose Christ has for you to accomplish!
