 | Have you ever wondered what Jesus could have done after the resurrection? If He thought like we do, there are some possibilities that come to mind. He could have appeared before the Pharisees and proclaimed “I told you so!”, or “Well, you killed me but here I am, what are you going to do now?” He could have miraculously appeared before Pilate, Herod or even the Emperor, Caesar and said ”Hey, you’re in my seat!” But as Pastor Ellery shared from the scriptures Sunday, the things He did seemed almost mundane and anti-climatic compared to the miracles He accomplished beforehand. |
Yet there was a particular method to His mediocrity as we see in the passage from the gospel of John 21:1-19.
While they may not seem as spectacular as walking on water or disrupting funerals, what He did in this account was no less important, particularly in reference to one particular disciple, namely Simon Peter. What He did and how He acted toward this one person is the same way He responds to us in our times of sin, need and failure.
The relational interactions recorded in the bible between Peter and Jesus from the start seemed tumultuous; filled with extremes of great faith coupled with great failures. Peter walked on the water, pledged his allegiance to Jesus unto death, and proclaimed by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Yet this same Peter who walked on water by faith only to succumb to doubt and sink into the waves, was also harshly rebuked by Jesus when he contradicted the purpose Jesus came to fulfill, and vehemently denied even knowing Jesus at all during the initial interrogation of Jesus after His arrest.
But let's not be too hard on Peter. We all have done a similar thing at one time or another. I am sure that you can think of a time (I know I can), when you made a bold declaration to the Lord only to crash and burn, trip up, or end up on a different path headed in the opposite direction from your intentions with no idea how you got there. We promise to do such and such, or to be better at this or that for His honor and glory, only to be brokenhearted and disillusioned when we are standing in the midst of the ashes and smoke of our latest failure. What the pastor wanted us to see from the text is that we don’t need to keep wallowing in the carnage of those failures.
While they may not seem as spectacular as walking on water or disrupting funerals, what He did in this account was no less important, particularly in reference to one particular disciple, namely Simon Peter. What He did and how He acted toward this one person is the same way He responds to us in our times of sin, need and failure.
The relational interactions recorded in the bible between Peter and Jesus from the start seemed tumultuous; filled with extremes of great faith coupled with great failures. Peter walked on the water, pledged his allegiance to Jesus unto death, and proclaimed by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Yet this same Peter who walked on water by faith only to succumb to doubt and sink into the waves, was also harshly rebuked by Jesus when he contradicted the purpose Jesus came to fulfill, and vehemently denied even knowing Jesus at all during the initial interrogation of Jesus after His arrest.
But let's not be too hard on Peter. We all have done a similar thing at one time or another. I am sure that you can think of a time (I know I can), when you made a bold declaration to the Lord only to crash and burn, trip up, or end up on a different path headed in the opposite direction from your intentions with no idea how you got there. We promise to do such and such, or to be better at this or that for His honor and glory, only to be brokenhearted and disillusioned when we are standing in the midst of the ashes and smoke of our latest failure. What the pastor wanted us to see from the text is that we don’t need to keep wallowing in the carnage of those failures.
“Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them... "Come and have breakfast." - John 21:11, 12
The pastor pointed out that this latest interaction between Jesus and Peter on the beach was reminiscent of some of their previous encounters:
• Reminiscent of first time he met Peter, when Jesus instructed them to cast their net again after a full night of
fishing with no result, and a full catch was brought in. (Luke 5:1-11)
• Reminiscent of the account of the feeding of the 5,000 when Jesus provided fish and bread for the crowd.
(Mark 6:30-44)
• Reminiscent of the last supper, when Jesus took the bread, broke it and gave it to them. (Matthew 26:26)
• Reminiscent of the charcoal fire in the courtyard where Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus also cooked on a
charcoal fire. (John 18:18)
• Reminiscent of Peter denying Him three times, Jesus asked him three times if he loved Him. (John 18:15-27)
• Reminiscent of first time he met Peter, when Jesus instructed them to cast their net again after a full night of
fishing with no result, and a full catch was brought in. (Luke 5:1-11)
• Reminiscent of the account of the feeding of the 5,000 when Jesus provided fish and bread for the crowd.
(Mark 6:30-44)
• Reminiscent of the last supper, when Jesus took the bread, broke it and gave it to them. (Matthew 26:26)
• Reminiscent of the charcoal fire in the courtyard where Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus also cooked on a
charcoal fire. (John 18:18)
• Reminiscent of Peter denying Him three times, Jesus asked him three times if he loved Him. (John 18:15-27)
In all of these situations Jesus offered restoration to Peter by giving him the opportunity to remember that through any circumstance Jesus was there to provide; giving him a hand of rescue through the waves, and extending forgiveness in the face of his rebellious denial.
Jesus does the same for us today. He comes to where we are. When we don’t know what to do, and we keep going back to our same old failures, He comes to rescue us from the dismal drudgery of our guilt & shame. He reminds us of how He miraculously moved on our behalf by dying for our sins and rising on the third day.
He does not gloss over our ignore our sin, but He does come to us with loving restoration and forgiveness. So let us remember that when we are out over our heads trying to cast our nets in the empty waters of regret, Jesus comes to us with provision, grace, and a love we don’t deserve but need more than we could ever imagine.
Jesus does the same for us today. He comes to where we are. When we don’t know what to do, and we keep going back to our same old failures, He comes to rescue us from the dismal drudgery of our guilt & shame. He reminds us of how He miraculously moved on our behalf by dying for our sins and rising on the third day.
He does not gloss over our ignore our sin, but He does come to us with loving restoration and forgiveness. So let us remember that when we are out over our heads trying to cast our nets in the empty waters of regret, Jesus comes to us with provision, grace, and a love we don’t deserve but need more than we could ever imagine.
John Clark
John Clark is a husband to Julie, a father of one son living in Valrico, Florida. He has an Associate Degree of Theology from Life Christian University, and serves at Life Center of Brandon where he is a teacher and writer.