The text this morning is from the Gospel according to John, the 21st chapter:
After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, 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 lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! And Peter knew it. Thomas knew it. Nathaniel knew it. John and James and the other two disciples in the boat knew it, too. They had spent at least a little while watching and listening to the Risen Lord. But, Peter, at least so far as we know, hadn’t yet spoken to Him.
You have to put yourself in the mindset of Peter. Remember all the way back to Maundy Thursday night. What did he do? He denied his Lord. Three times. And in Peter’s mind, it seems, it was a denial of faith. After all, this is the man who said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,” and, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Peter had believed in Jesus, at least a little bit. He may not have understood everything, but he got some of it. He believed Jesus was the Messiah. But, Peter denied the man.
It wasn’t just a little lie. It wasn’t just a time where he said that he didn’t know that man, Jesus. His three denials were for him a falling away from faith. He walked away. After all, he had heard the Lord tell, many times, that one must deny himself and follow Jesus. He had also heard Jesus say that whoever denies Him before men, Jesus will deny before His Father who is in heaven.
Peter knew. That’s why he says that he’s going fishing. It’s not a hobby for Peter. He’s not heading out in his boat with its little outboard motor and a couple poles. He’s getting the band back together. He’s going to hire people to work, boats to go with, people to mend nets. He’s going back to his job, the one his Lord called him to abandon and follow after Him. Peter is going back because there’s nothing left for him, being an Apostle.
His friends, I think, feeling for him, feeling for this plight of his, decided to go with, to keep him company, or maybe even to join him. You gotta remember, things are still tense for this little band of disciples. Things aren’t the way that they were. Jesus comes and goes. He’s not around the way He was before. He appears in locked rooms. He goes from Emmaus to Jerusalem to Galilee in an instant. He disappears in front of people’s eyes. Jesus is different. Peter and the Apostles are different.
So, they go out. And they fail. Hard. Peter and the gang catch nothing overnight. Not a good start if you’re going back into the fishing business. There’s nothing to pay any of the crew with. No fish, no money, no money, no crew, no crew, no fish. Then they see a man standing on the shore and He calls to them to let out the net off the side of the boat. I mean, this guy is 300 feet away. I can barely see it when a fish is right in front of me, and these guys have got to be thinking He’s a quack. But, what would it hurt, casting out one more time before they call it a day.
They pulled in 153 fish in one net. Not little fish. Big fish. There’s a species of fish in the Sea of Galilee that weighs between 13-15 pounds. That’s over a ton of fish. As they begin to pull the net, they are all taken back to the beginning, where Jesus called Peter, James, and John, and made them cast their nets after a long night of catching nothing. John is the first to recognize it. He was the first disciple to see the empty tomb of Jesus and believe, or at least wonder. He here is the first to speak up.
And when Peter hears John say that it’s Jesus on the edge of the sea, well, he puts on his very heavy coat to ward off the chill of the night and throws himself into the sea. Now, I used to think that Peter was super excited, that’s why he wasn’t thinking here. But, in the Scriptures, when things get thrown into the sea, it’s never a good thing. So, when Peter throws himself into the sea, I wonder that he’s not thinking, “Jesus has finally come for me. He did the same thing when He called me the first time just to rub in exactly what I did. Jesus told me He’ll deny me before the Father. Jesus is going to kill me. Jesus is going to send me to hell.” More than that, Peter led those people in the courtyard astray when he denied Jesus, and Jesus says that it would be better for one to have a millstone around his neck and be thrown into the sea than to lead a little one astray. Peter had no millstone, but he had a heavy coat.
But, that’s not what Jesus intended. That’s not what Jesus wanted. And Peter doesn’t die here. Instead, somehow, maybe even miraculously, he makes it to shore. And you kind of get the impression he’s just standing there until Jesus tells him to get some of the fish from the net. Then Peter hops to it.
Have you ever felt like Peter? I have. Those times, you know, when you realize that you’ve done something so painfully stupid, so idiotically crazy, so sinfully wrong, that you feel that there’s no real hope for you and you’ve betrayed even the confession of faith you’ve made?
I think we all do that from time to time. And I really mean, time to time. I don’t think we do this only once in our lives. For some of us, maybe it’s even a daily thing, though I hope it’s not as bad as all that. Peter was no different. Peter has this great reputation in the Scriptures for being the disciple with the biggest foot in the biggest mouth the most times. I don’t think that Peter’s personality completely changed after he was recognized as the primary leader in the Church. I think Peter continued to mess up, he continued to sin.
And so do we. Now imagine you messed up, go back to that time when you really were lousy with that sin, and then imagine that Jesus was there. Not only that, He told you that you were going to do it, He knew you did it, then He didn’t seem to talk to you for a couple weeks, then He calls you to Him.
I remember one time, we were living in Germany near the Army base, and there was some construction going on around our apartment building. My dad told me not to go near the big dumpster and definitely not to play in or around it. So, of course, Pops goes off somewhere, I go in the dumpster. There was a ladder on the outside of it, so you could see there was nothing in it. I just casually threw the ball in there, or whatever I was playing with, hopped up the ladder and over the side. Of course, I didn’t realize there was no ladder on the inside. And when you’re 7 years old, you’re not going to be able to reach the top. I don’t think it was too too long, me crying, no one coming to help, that my dad appeared over the side. My stomach dropped worse than when I realized I was stuck.
That’s what Peter felt. He was stuck, and all of the sudden his Lord appeared on the edge of the sea, watching him. What would you do? I wanted to be saved by my dad. I wanted him to get me out of the dumpster. But I dreaded the punishment when I got out. Peter wanted to be saved by his Lord. He wanted to get out of the mess he got himself into, but he dreaded those first words he would hear. I stretched my arms up, but my dad jumped in and pushed me out. Peter sat down, and the Lord asked him a simple question: “Peter, do you love Me?”
How do you respond to something like that? “I didn’t mean it, Jesus! I didn’t want to say it! There was so much stress! I couldn’t handle it! I would take it back in an instant, Jesus!” Anything to make excuses. But, he didn’t say that. He just said, “Yes.” Jesus told him to feed His lambs. Then He asked Peter the same question. “Tend My sheep.” Then again. Then, “Feed My sheep.”
All of the sudden, Peter sitting there just listening, it became clear that for each of the denials Peter made about the Lord, Jesus undid his work with a simple question. For each denial, Jesus restored Peter into his office as an Apostle.
I’m sure my dad disciplined me. I’m sure of it. But, I don’t remember that. I only remember him pushing me out of that dumpster, somehow leaping over the top of it, and checking to make sure I was okay, and hugging me. I was back in his arms. That’s what I remember.
Peter wouldn’t feel the fear he once felt anymore, only that the Lord came to him and restored him to his office. Now, certainly, Jesus knew what He was doing. He wasn’t just putting Peter back into the office because He felt bad for him. He put him back there because, by Peter’s work for the sake of Christ, Peter would be led to a cross, he would watch his wife be crucified, and Peter would be hung upside down on that cross, arms stretched out toward the ground that he would soon be buried in. Jesus was calling Peter to suffer for His name. But Peter was restored. He had been given the gift of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Peter was back in the arms of Christ. That’s what he would remember.
Have you been like Peter? Have you done the wrong thing? Perhaps it’s as simple as a word out of turn. Perhaps you’re being a jerk to people who don’t really deserve your anger. Perhaps you’re not forgiving people like Jesus says to do. Perhaps you’re spreading gossip through the church, through your home, through your school, through your workplace. Perhaps you’re just being mean for the sake of meanness. You’re like Peter.
You’re telling God that you’re out. You’re behaving like you’re an unbeliever. You’re behaving like Jesus isn’t risen from the dead, like He’s not coming back, like He’s not going to be coming for you. But, there is still time, for the risen Lord stands in this place and asks you, “Do you love Me?” And the answer, the one that you gave this morning, is yes, amen. You were confronted with your sin, you confessed it, and the forgiveness of Christ was pronounced upon you.
Do you love Jesus? Do you love this man, who is God, who went to the cross in your place? Do you love Him for all the hits of the whip He took for you? Do you love Him for all of the echoes of the hammer resounding through His bones? Do you love Him for the blood He left on the cross every time He heaved up and down upon that wood? Do you love Him for chocking on His own saliva? Do you love this crucified Jesus? Do you love Him for dying for you? Do you love Him for being dead? Do you love Him for resting in the tomb? Do you love Him for rising from the dead on the third day for you, just as He promised to do?
If the answer is no, then go on, keep doing what you’ve been doing. You’re denying Christ, so don’t be reconciled to one another. Be mean. Be nasty. Be angry. Be awful. But, don’t expect to comforted. Be fearful if you don’t love Jesus.
But, if the answer is yes, if you love the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ, then follow Him. Do as He says. Do the right things. Be reconciled. Be loving. Be generous. Be forgiving. You are forgiven in Him. In Christ, you are forgiven. All of your sins are wiped away. All of your fear is sent away. All of your selfishness if pushed to the wayside so that you can be with Jesus.
And that’s a life of suffering. You have to put up with a lot. Peter had to watch his wife murdered, then he himself would receive the same. I don’t know that won’t happen to us, but I do know that we’ll have to swallow our pride, that we’ll have to depend on others, that we’ll have to make sure others’ needs are taken care of before our own. We’ll suffer. But it will be for the sake of Christ, and that’s always a good thing.
I was back in my father’s arms. There’s no place I wanted more to be. Peter was back in His Lord’s care. There’s no place he wanted more to be. Do you love Jesus? You’re already in His arms, you’re already in His care. He forgives you all of your sin, and just in case you have a hard time believing it, He has washed you, He has fed you, He still speaks to you. He tells you of His love for you. He tells you that the Father loves you enough to send His Son to die in your place. He tells you that He raised His Son from the dead so that you also would be raised from the dead. Yes, this life has suffering, but with the life that is to come, what’s a little suffering compared to eternity?
Christ has come to make you whole. He has come to restore you, as He restored Peter. And you are restored, in Him. Because He lived perfectly, because He died in your place, and because He is risen from the dead, you are restored to God forever, forgiven, only to rise from the dead and live forever with Him. And you know this, as Peter knew it, as Thomas knew it, as Nathaniel knew it, as James and John and the other disciples knew it, because He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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