Disciples Fail and Follow

Peter, disciple numero uno, fails three times in the moment of truth, despite the best possible preparation and sincere intention. And so will we. Being a disciple of Jesus has failure and restoration built in to the process. Making disciples does too. The disciple of Jesus doesn't panic when we fail, we find forgiveness and restoration in Jesus. 

Unmerited Confidence

I got this. I built the ramp. I have the BMX Mongoose Stunt bike. Stunt is in the name.

I have the downhill street perfect for building up ALL the speed.

All I need is the courage to execute… and I’ve got it. Full speed ahead. Send it. Going to nail it.

I should tell you about this jump. Two cinder blocks stacked on top of each other. And a board leaned up against it. But not just any board… picked a nice thin one so we could get that sweet bend, a bit of spring, to really pop up.

And it worked. Once or twice.

Flying down the hill, I hit the ramp the third or fourth time… and the bike stopped.

But I did not.

Some say that boy is still flying through the air, free as a bird.

All the confidence in the world, all the right intention, the bold vision, the eye on the prize… all the assurance given to my friend and my little brother.

I got this. Trust!

Sometimes… we don’t got this.

Context / Recap

John 13:33 ESV

33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’

John 13:34–35 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

But I think the disciples barely heard those two sentences. They were stuck on the first announcement. “Where I am going you cannot come!”

Jesus, I Got This

John 13:36–38 ESV

36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.

John leaves it there, but when Peter tells the story, which we think Mark is largely scribing Peter’s own testimony… he adds one more response to Jesus.

Mark 14:29–31 ESV

29 Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” 30 And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

Jesus… I got this. Don’t worry about a thing, bro! I am in. I got you!

Trust!

Unmerited Confidence

We call this unmerited confidence.

“I could throw a football over those mountains!”

I LOVE the enthusiasm. I love the energy.

But you are arguing with Jesus… and he clearly knows you better than you know yourself.

You are arguing with the dude who KNOWS what is coming, how it is going to be.

And that the moment of failure isn’t going to come in a big dramatic moment of do or die stand for glory!

It is going to come in a background interaction. A seemingly meaningless moment. An easy little fib to get to the more important activity.

Failure happens on the way

Hours later…

The Denial

John 18:10–11 ESV

10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

They arrest Jesus. Peter grabs a sword, tries to start a fight, because HE has Jesus’ back! The big dramatic moment, Peter’s got it! Cuts off a guy’s ear!? How crazy is that???

This is not the moment…

But Peter follows as they arrest Jesus and follows in to the city, into the court of the high priest:

John 18:15–18 ESV

15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

Who is this other disciple??? We don’t know. Some guess John, because John refers to himself kind of indirectly like this… but why would a fisherman from Galilee know the high priest. Maybe Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus? We don’t know, but they can get in and they use their influence to get Peter in too.

“are you not one???” the girl asks.

I don’t imagine this was a big moment. A quick question as Peter is walking in. Maybe she is barring the way, maybe not. The other disciple seems to have the influence to get him in, so that doesn’t seem like a real barrier.

I imagine Peter, brushing past, eager to follow Jesus, gives the easy fib that will just let him get to the real action, get to the real moment. This is a passing interaction, barely registered.

John 18:25 ESV

25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”

Again, a quick moment. Cold night, warming by an open fire. The action is going on in the previous verses, interaction between Annas and Jesus. I imagine Peter straining to hear perhaps… or quietly reflecting on what he just heard and what may come. NOT looking for casual conversation, not interested.

Someone asks “Hey, are you with him?”

“No… shshhhh… just… whatever answer makes YOU go away.”

John 18:26–27 ESV

26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

Only John mentions that this third guy is a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off. He is also the only who mentions that guy’s name “Malchus”. I like to think that means John knew him later? Don’t know.

Mark tells us, again I think Peter’s words:

Mark 14:72 ESV

72 And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

Like all of a sudden he heard himself. All of a sudden he realized what he had done. It snuck up on him. All the best intentions, ready for the drama… ready for the sword!

Not ready for a quick word at the door, an angry or sullen response. Not ready for the small moments… but failures come large and small.

Most big failures are actually built out of small ones. The road to ruin is paved with little lies. Small fibs. Tiny compromises… that stack together to become a whole different way of living and being.

It snuck up on Peter, he realized he had failed Jesus in exactly the way Jesus had known he would… and he broke down and wept.

Luke says Jesus turned and looked at Peter. He knew. He knew before. He knew in the moment. He knew after.

But Jesus had a plan.

After the resurrection. After a few appearances to the disciples, Jesus finds a quiet moment with Peter. There’s a statue on the shore of the Sea of Galilee where they say this happened.

Restoration

John 21:15–19 ESV

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.”

Three times Peter betrayed Jesus.

Three times Jesus calls him back into ministry.

Three times Jesus invites him into love. Twice into “agape” love, divine love, unconditional and complete. Peter responds with “phileo” love, brotherly love, and the third time Jesus meets him where he is at “Do you ‘phileo’ me?” There’s a whole sermon in there.

But Jesus takes the time, personally, with Peter. The betrayal was personal… the restoration was personal.

Jesus doesn’t dwell on what happened. “Peter, why’d you say that???” He got to the real heart issue and the real future issue.

Do you love me?

Then I call you worthy to be a shepherd, to be a leader in the church, to be “the rock”… to feed my sheep. To follow.

Jesus restores his disciple to love relationship and to ministry. He is loved and worthy because Jesus says he is.

Kintsugi

Japanese art of repairing a vessel with gold, making a new and often more beautiful work of art.

It isn’t just that there are cracks, but that those things actually shape us. And the way that God restores, the way that God heals, it isn’t 2nd best… His touch makes things better.

When God heals and restores Peter, do you think Peter was better for having had that time of humbling, of breaking, and being lifted back to his feet by Jesus?

We don’t know the Peter after that would have been… but we see a radical change in the Peter that emerges from Pentecost as a bold and humble leader than the foot-in-mouth disciple before this.

Jesus knew that failure, mistakes, sin, betrayal… that was going to be part of Peter’s story. And that repentance, forgiveness, restoration and healing would be the answer.

Failure happens on the Way

As we are disciples of Jesus, the Way the Truth and the Life… we know that failure happens on the Way. Despite sometimes our best intentions.

Despite our loud and vocal declarations that “NOT ME, LORD!” “NEVER WILL I EVER!” “TRUST, LORD!”

Sometimes in dramatic and intentional ways. Sometimes in chasing my way, choosing sin. Sometimes in a quiet background moment, with a little lie we didn’t think mattered.

Large and small. Intentional or accidental. Failure happens.

Here is the beautiful and amazing thing about our God. He knows. He knew.

He paid the price of redemption, he paved the road back to restoration. He is the Way.

That is true for you. Hear it loud and clear.

That is true for those you disciple. Maybe some are a Judas. But some are a Peter. A moment of betrayal. A night. Three times. Maybe longer. But there is restoration coming. There is repentance, there is the “do you love me” scene. It’s coming… and it is beautiful.

As we teach others everything Jesus has commanded us. As we invite them to follow us as we follow Christ… with all the best intentions.

Failure happens on the Way. There’s. Ours. Someone else’s. We aren’t surprised… even if we still get hurt. That’s real.

But we know that failure happens… and there is already a plan for it. There is already forgiveness for it.

You are commanded, by Jesus who forgave your sins, to forgive them. Forgive your brother from your heart, seven times seven.

There is already a process of reconciliation and restoration… a ministry of reconciliation and restoration entrusted to us. Commanded to us.