Jesus Restored Peter

Promises

Have you ever made a promise before?

“I promise I won’t say that again” or “I promise I won’t hurt you again”

Have you ever broken that promise?

Peter promised Jesus:

That he would stay true to Jesus

He would go to prison and die following Jesus

In fact, all of Jesus’ disciples promised to never leave Jesus, but Jesus knew what would happen.

Remember that Jesus predicted that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed. And sure enough, it happened just as Jesus had said.

Did Jesus forgive Peter? What happened to Peter after that incident and after Jesus’ death and resurrection? We will find out today!

Recap

Before we begin today’s story, I want us to briefly go over what has happened the past few weeks in our lesson time.

-Palm Sunday

-Judas betrays Jesus

-Peter denies Jesus

-Jesus’ death and resurrection

-Thomas believed

And now, we get to the part of the story where Peter is forgiven. Now remember: Peter denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus said he would.

Fishing

Peter going fishing

Didn’t catch anything

Jesus instructs them to cast net to other side

Caught many fish

Peter swims to shore

In the gospel of John, we are told that the next time Jesus revealed Himself after His resurrection was one night when they went fishing.

Peter said, “I’m going fishing,” and some of the disciples that were with Peter said, “we’re coming with you.”

They went out in the boat, but they didn’t catch a single thing. When early morning came, standing off on the shore was Jesus, but the disciples didn’t know it was Him.

“Friends,” Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?”

Notice how Jesus called them friends. This included Peter, who had denied Him three times.

“No,” they answered.

Jesus told them: “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you’ll find some.” So they did as Jesus said, and the Bible tells us this:

“They were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish.”

John, who refers to himself as “The disciple whom Jesus loved”, said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” They knew it was Jesus.

Peter was so eager to see Jesus that when he heard that it was Him standing on the shore, he tied his outer clothing around him and jumped into the sea to swim to shore! The other disciples followed closely behind on the boat, dragging the net full of fish.

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them.

So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish - 153 of them to be exact.

Jesus then invites them to come have breakfast. At this point, they knew it was Jesus. They didn’t dare to ask Him; it was clear who it was. They ate the bread and fish together.

It was then that Jesus asked Peter a few very important questions. John, the disciple who Jesus loved, records the story for us, and it goes like this:

Do you love me?

John 21:15–19 (CSB)

15 When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”

“Feed my lambs,” he told him.

16 A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”

“Shepherd my sheep,” he told him.

17 He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

“Feed my sheep,” Jesus said.

18 “Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.”

19 He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.”

Main Point

Main Point: Jesus loves and forgives His followers.

Notice how Jesus never rejected Peter after he denied Him three times. Jesus pursued His disciples after His resurrection even though they abandoned Him, and that included Peter.

Not only that, but Jesus entrusted Peter with the mission to share the good news of Jesus with others. How could Jesus trust Peter with such an important task after all that Peter had done wrong? Because Jesus loved Peter. And He forgave Peter.

Action

Have you been forgiven by Jesus like Peter was?

Have you trusted in Him for the forgiveness of your sins?

Did you know that Jesus can forgive you and wipe away every bad thing you’ve ever done? That’s what He promises to those who turn away from their sin and believe in Him.

Maybe you have trusted in Jesus and maybe you are forgiven by Him. Are you quick to forgive others? Or do you instead hold grudges against those who have wronged you?

If Jesus can forgive us of our sins, why shouldn’t we forgive others? If He can forgive us of every wrong thing we’ve ever done and ever will do, can’t we forgive others too?

That’s what Jesus wants us to do. He wants us to forgive. Look at what Jesus says during His sermon on the mount:

Matthew 6:14–15 (CSB)

14 “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.

15 But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.

How serious does Jesus take forgiveness? He tells us that if we don’t forgive others, God our Father won’t forgive us.

That show’s how serious God takes forgiveness.

Recap:

So, in summary:

Jesus loves and forgives His followers.

And if we say we are His followers, then we should love and forgive others too.

But what if someone did something really mean to me?

Love and forgive them.

But what if they are my enemy and if they hate my guts?

Love and forgive them.

Why?

Because Jesus has forgiven us. If He has forgiven us, we can forgive others.