“Restored Failure” – FBC Morning Light (5/4/2023)

Well, a good Thursday morning to you. I hope your week is going well, and as we begin today, we're reading in 1 Samuel 9 and 10, John 21, so we're wrapping up the Gospel of John today, and then Psalm 89.

Gracious Restoration in John 21

And as I read John chapter 21, I am so grateful for the gracious way that the Lord handles his guilt-ridden, shame-filled followers. We see this in the way he deals with Peter. I get the impression from the way the chapter begins that Peter is just, he's just a defeated man.

I get that from this statement he makes in verse 1, or verse 3, where Peter tells his other disciples who are with him, he just says to them, I'm going fishing. I'm going fishing. So here they are, they're by the Sea of Tiberias, and you know, with all that has happened, Peter has denied the Lord, the Lord was crucified, the Lord rose again, but you know, Peter, I think, is still reeling from his failure, his denial of Jesus, filled with guilt, riddled with shame, and so he just kind of says, in a resigned sort of way, this is the way I look at it.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe this isn't his attitude, but this is the way it seems. I'm going fishing, Peter says. So they say, okay, well we're gonna go with you, and they went out in the boat, they didn't catch anything, and Jesus shows up, and he says to them, hey, you guys caught anything?

No. They fished all night, they caught no fishes, caught nothing. He said, no. So then Jesus says, well cast your net on the right side of the boat, you're gonna find some. So they do so, and the net was filled with fishes, and someone says to Peter, Peter, it's the Lord, it's the Lord.

And Peter heard that it was the Lord, and he plunged into the sea before taking care of the fish, he just jumps into the sea, swims to shore, and comes before the Lord. And then Jesus had prepared breakfast for them, said bring some of the fish, they put the fish in on the coals, and verse 11, you know, Peter brings the net up to the, filled with fish, brings it up to the shore, and Jesus says, come and eat breakfast.

They all would recognize it was the Lord. There's no dialogue, there's no conversation recorded between Jesus and Peter here up to this point. And then we read when breakfast was over, Jesus confronts Peter.

He confronts him not to shame him, he confronts him to restore him. So the confrontation is real, and Jesus is firm, but notice how gracious he is. He just says, Peter, do you love me? Do you really have that deep, sacrificial love for me that you claim to have?

Do you really love me? Peter says, well yeah, yes Lord, you know, you know I love you. And as you've probably heard many times, he uses a different form of the word, a different word for love, and he says, you know, I'm very fond of you, as I can be.

And Jesus says, feed my lambs, feed my lambs. Notice Peter, Jesus doesn't slap him, he doesn't say, well what about that denial? What about that? How does that fit in with your love? No. Peter, do you love me?

Yes, yes Lord, you know I love you. Feed my lambs. A few minutes go by, and Jesus looks at him again, says, Peter, do you love me? Do you have that deep, sacrificial love for me? Again, Peter says, Lord, you know I love you, you know I love you.

He says, tend my sheep. Again, no slapping, no shaming, no humiliating him, no dredging up the denial. Feed my sheep, tend my sheep. A few minutes pass, third time. Peter, do you even have that fond, deep affection for me that you claim to have?

And Peter was grieved. Why was he grieved? I think because he recognized that his three-time denial was a legitimate reason for Jesus to question him like this. Do you even really have that love that you profess to have?

Well, Peter did, but just knowing what he had done, knowing how he had denied the Lord, it caused him grief, and he said, Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you, you know that I love you.

But again, Jesus, in his gracious handling of this restoration of Peter, he says simply, feed my sheep, feed my sheep. Aren't you grateful for the way the Lord, our Lord Jesus, just gently, graciously, but firmly works in us and confronts us to restore us?

Christ Our Compassionate High Priest

I'm grateful for that. I trust you are as well. Thank you, Father, for the compassionate Savior that you have given to us, our compassionate high priest who intercedes for us. We're thankful for the gentle, gracious, but firm confrontation that he engages in to restore us to fellowship, as illustrated in this scene today.

Thank you for our Savior, in whose name we pray, amen. All right, listen, have a wonderful rest of your Thursday, and I trust the Lord will bless you in it. Good day.