Do you really love me?
John 21:17
[17] 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.
If you shoot 50% from the floor in basketball you have a good chance to win.
If you complete 60% of your passes in football you have a good chance to win.
If you bat .300 in baseball you will get into the Hall of Fame
Humanity is not perfect. Many times we just need another opportunity.
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Last week we left off with Peter and John witnessing an empty tomb and Mary Magdalene actually seeing a resurrected Lord. Mary is holding on to Jesus for dear life…
Let’s pick up with the rest of the story:
John 20:19-31
[19] On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” [20] When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. [21] Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” [22] And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. [23] If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
[24] Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. [25] So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
[26] Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” [27] Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” [28] Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” [29] Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
[30] Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; [31] but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 21
[1] After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. [2] Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. [3] 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.
[4] Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. [5] Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” [6] 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. [7] 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. [8] 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.
[9] When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. [10] Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” [11] 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. [12] 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. [13] Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. [14] This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
[15] 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.” [16] 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.” [17] 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. [18] 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.” [19] (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.”
[20] Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” [21] When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” [22] Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” [23] So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
[24] This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
[25] Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
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I want us to learn something from this interaction between Jesus and Peter….it’s telling and it’s applicable to you and me.
John 21:15-19
[15] 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.” [16] 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.” [17] 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. [18] 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.” [19] (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.”
What is happening?
In John 13 Jesus foretells of Peter’s denial.
Then in John 18 Peter denies just as Jesus says he would. 3 times each getting progressively worse.
Then here in John 21
- Do you really love me? Yes I love you
- Do you really love me? Yes, I love you
- Do you love me? Yes you know….I really love you
Why is this important?
Because Jesus loves Peter and is going to use him to help build the church. Jesus could have used any of them…but He uses Peter. Great story, right? The end? No
What can we learn?
Jesus is restoring Peter. He can restore you.
From what? From whatever you did!
What could be worse than denying Jesus when they are going to kill him?
The big thing here is the difference in believing and knowing. Peter had likely believed in the grace and forgiveness and mercy of Jesus, but now he knows it because he has experienced it. Have you?
This is tied a bit to last week with faith being a matter of the heart. Maybe I’m saying head knowledge vs heart knowledge….We say a lot of good things about Jesus here and you might hear and understand and agree….but do you know? Really know? Really love?
Do you really love Him?
Remember there is no sin scale that you step on when you come in. We need to confess our sin…it’s biblical. But we need to understand where we are with the Lord. Stop pretending, stop believing in what you read or see online or even the lies that Satan tells you.
Jesus forgave and restored Peter….He will do the same for you.
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What if “_____” visited us for dinner and Marcia was showing them the picture on our wall from where her Daddy worked at the White House (it’s very special to her)….After dinner we were all cleaning up and “_____” volunteered to sweep up and by accident knocked that picture off the wall with the back end of the broom? No intent but to help but was shown the meaningful picture and even while “helping” was a bit careless and broke it and ruined it? We would all clean it up right? They would apologize and feel bad right? What if we invited them over again and at the end of the evening asked “_____” to help us clean up again, regardless of what happened last time? …a redo.
That’s how Jesus is.
