A Restored Life

Introduction – An Unmissable Scene

Good morning everyone. My name is Michael Steemson; many people call me Steemer, and I’m the Associate Pastor here at Trinity Church Golden Grove.

Has anyone here been to see the new movie currently in cinemas called ‘The Odyssey’? The Odyssey is the ancient Greek epic originally written by Homer, now adapted to the big screen, that chronicles the adventures of Odysseus as he seeks to complete the arduous journey home to Ithaca following the Trojan War.

The movie has an extensive runtime of 2 hours and 52 minutes. Now for some of us, a movie of that length is well beyond our attention spans, while others are wondering how we could possibly watch a movie of this length without a bathroom break.

SLIDE 2 – Best Times During the Odyssey

Fortunately, there are helpful people out in internet-land who have identified the best times during the Odyssey to answer nature’s call. Apparently, there are 4 points during the film where you can take a quick 3 to 4 minutes to do what needs to be done without missing anything significant. Take any longer or go at a different time, and you risk missing a crucially important scene.

SLIDE 3 – Series Title

We’re in the middle week of a three-week series titled “Follow Me” in which we are engaging with three stories involving Simon Peter. And it strikes me that if the life of Simon Peter was to be turned into an epic movie like the Odyssey, today’s Bible passage describes a scene that could not be missed.

If we did not know about the events that unfold in this passage, it would be hard to reconcile who Simon Peter is beforehand with who he becomes afterwards. If we only knew what he did and who he was prior to and following these events, and didn’t know this bit in the middle, it would be like we have two sections of road on either side of a river with no bridge to connect them.

So to help us appreciate the full significance of today’s unmissable scene, today’s talk has been divided into three ‘acts.’ There’s Act One – What Have I Done?! Act Two – Déjà vu, and Act Three – Do You Love Me? These three acts will in turn give us a great foundation to fully appreciate next week’s passage, which is Act 4 – Acts 4, in which Peter is living courageously for Jesus in the face of opposition.

First Teaching Point – What Have I Done?!

SLIDE 4 – Act One: What Have I Done?!

First up then, Act One – What Have I Done?! Let’s set the scene. It’s the night before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. Jesus and the disciples have partaken in a final Passover meal together. Having finished the meal, they’ve left the Upper Room for the Mount of Olives, where the Garden of Gethsemane is. It’s here we pick up the narrative, in Matthew chapter 26, verse 31:

SLIDE 5 – Matt 26:31-32

31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

SLIDE 6 – Matt 26:33-34

33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” 34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

SLIDE 7 – Matt 26:35

 35But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

Jesus then spends time in prayer in Gethsemane. Following this, he is betrayed by Judas and arrested by an armed and angry mob. As he foretold, his disciples scatter like scared sheep. Yet as Jesus is taken to the high priest’s house for questioning, one sheep does trail behind at a distance. Returning to the narrative from verse 69:

SLIDE 8 – Matt 26:69-70

69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. 70 But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

SLIDE 9 – Matt 26:71-72

71 Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

SLIDE 10 – Matt 26:73-74

73 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.” 74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

SLIDE 11 – Matt 26:75

Immediately a rooster crowed. 75Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Peter is initially so full of confidence and commitment to Jesus. “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will. Even if I have to die, I will never disown you.” Yet it only takes the slightest bit of pressure to produce a moment of weakness. And then one poor choice becomes two, and suddenly he’s on the slippery slope where things just get worse and worse.

Did you notice the progressive intensification in the narrative? It happens in the increasingly public nature of the questioning… first it’s one servant girl, then it’s another servant girl who speaks to the bystanders, and then it’s the whole group coming together to question him. Likewise, Peter’s responses get progressively aggravated… first he evades the question, then he denies Jesus under oath, before finally calling down curses as part of his third denial.

And with that, the disciple who said he was ready to die for Jesus denies knowing him three times.

There’s a saying that pressure can either make rocks or diamonds… and here the ‘rock man’, which is the meaning of Peter’s name, has been crushed to pieces by the pressure.

And right on time, the rooster crows, and Peter recalls Jesus’ words. He comes to the terribly painful realisation… what have I done?!  

His heart knows what he has done. Overwhelmed with immense grief, he departs immediately and weeps bitterly. These actions express his real allegiance, which sadly was a conviction his lips could not utter.

Last week I said that we can often see ourselves in the characters in the Bible because they are humans. And I suspect that all of us can understand Peter here. We have all had times when we’ve had the opportunity to do the right thing, and we’ve caved under pressure.

And then we try to dig out of the hole we’ve created, but we only end up making it deeper and wider. And then we’re in a pit, with no way to get out.

Moreover, for those of us who call ourselves Christians, I suspect that we’ve all had times when we had a chance to identify with Jesus but remained silent or denied him because we did not know what reaction might set in. Going back to last week, we’ve had opportunities to be ‘all-in’ for Jesus, and we’ve folded. Like Peter, we too also fail in standing up for Jesus.

What hope then is there for Peter and for us? (p) Well, be assured that help is on the way. We won’t be left in the pit. Come with me to the next scene, Act Two… Déjà vu.

Second Teaching Point – Déjà vu

SLIDE 12 – Act Two: Déjà vu

If you were here last week when we looked at Luke chapter 5 and Jesus calling Simon to a new life following a miraculous catch of fish, you might have had déjà vu when we read through John chapter 21 earlier. This is because there are numerous similarities between the two.

Both take place on the Sea of Galilee. On both occasions, Peter has just completed an unsuccessful night of fishing. And on both occasions, a miraculous catch of fish is produced by following Jesus’ instructions.

And so when two stories are so similar, it’s often by spotting the differences that we can glean the most instructive parts of the story.

What then are the differences? The first is the reason why these events take place on the Sea of Galilee. When Jesus first calls Peter at the Sea of Galilee in Luke chapter 5, Peter is there because that’s his hometown. He is a Galilean, a fact which even strangers could tell by his accent.

And on the surface of John chapter 21, it looks like the disciples have returned to their hometown and resumed their former profession three years later. Could it be possible that in the wake of his greatest failure, Peter has abandoned his new life and gone back to his old life?

Well no, that’s not the case. The disciples have returned to Galilee because that’s where they expect to see Jesus. I read earlier from Matthew 26 verse 32, where Jesus assured his disciples that although the shepherd would be struck and the sheep would be scattered, he would rise again and go ahead of them into Galilee.

And then on that first Easter Sunday morning, Jesus informs the woman at the empty tomb to direct his disciples toward Galilee, where they would see him. And so here we have the disciples in Galilee encountering the resurrected Jesus, just as Jesus foretold.

Another key difference between Luke chapter 5 and John chapter 21 is Peter’s response to Jesus. In Luke 5, the miraculous catch of fish causes Peter to fall to his knees. As he bows before Jesus, his lips, trembling with awe, utter “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” He believes that there needs to be distance between Jesus and himself.

In John 21, however, we see a totally different response. At first, the disciples did not realise it was Jesus who was speaking to them. They are about a hundred yards out from the shore, so perhaps they couldn’t make out his features.

But then, the Sea of Galilee, a miraculous catch of fish… déjà vu hits John! He realises that the man on the shore is Jesus. He leans over to Peter and announces, “It is the Lord!”

And as soon as Peter hears “It is the Lord!”, he does what he so often does and acts without a moment's hesitation. Like a swimmer poised on the blocks who hears the starter’s gun, he launches himself into the water and starts making a beeline for the shore.

Before, he was a sinful man who thought there should be distance between Jesus and himself. Here, he knows that he is still a sinful man, a man who recently has denied his Lord threefold. But rather than his sin driving him away from Jesus, instead he does everything possible to get to Jesus as quickly as possible.

His response is instructive for all of us. Realisation of our sin and failures need not drive us away from Jesus. Rather, understanding our broken and sinful state ought to compel us towards Jesus with urgency. And why is that? Because Jesus is the friend who forgives, and Jesus is the Lord who restores. We see this in our next scene, Act Three… Do You Love Me?

Third Teaching Point – Do You Love Me?

SLIDE 13 – Act Three: Do You Love Me?

After they had finished eating their breakfast of fish and bread, Jesus singles Peter out of the group. Solemnly addressing him by his full name, he inquires, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

It’s helpful to know that Peter is a bit of a ‘one-upper.’ You know those people that whenever you share a story, they jump in to say how they either did it first, or better, or faster.

For example, when Peter learned that having Jesus wash his feet was not up for negotiation, he enthusiastically wanted Jesus to do more for him than the others. “Then Lord, Peter replied, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

And when Jesus sombrely stated that all the disciples would fall away, Peter brashly declared that “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will. Even if I have to die, I will neverdisown you.”

And yet, he did, three times. Yet Jesus is not here to shame and condemn Peter. He is here to restore Peter, to forgive Peter. To give him another opportunity to do what he should have done that fateful night and declare his devotion and allegiance to Jesus. And so he queries him, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

The response is passionate. “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” This time, Peter is not so daring as to declare that his commitment exceeds that of his peers. He is not so bold as to even point to any of his actions as evidence of his love, because of course, he is not in a position to do this.

All he can do is appeal to the sure and complete knowledge possessed by his Lord. In response to Peter’s affirmation of love for him, Jesus, the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, restores Peter to a leadership role. He commissions Peter to do the work of a shepherd, to “Feed my lambs.”

Jesus then repeats his initial question but without the “more than these.” Attention is concentrated on the question of love and the comparison drops out. Peter’s reply is exactly as before. Again, Jesus responds by commissioning Peter to “Take care of my sheep.”

And if what was happening wasn’t immediately obvious on the first or second occasion, there is no doubt about what is happening when Jesus asks Peter for a third time if he loves him. Peter is grieved. Three times he had denied his Lord. Now, three times he must affirm his love for him.

For a third time, Peter replies by relying on his Lord’s intimate and expansive knowledge of all things. In this context, Jesus knowing all things means that Jesus knows the state of Peter’s heart. And for the third time, Jesus responds by commissioning Peter to care for his flock.

It’s worth noting that the one thing about which Jesus questioned Peter prior to commissioning him to feed his sheep was love. Peter was to demonstrate his love for Jesus by loving his people. See the logical progression in their interaction:

Do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Feed my sheep. Having professed love for Jesus, Peter was required to demonstrate this love by caring for his people.

SLIDE 14 – Love Jesus by loving others[MS1]

And for those of us who similarly claim to love Jesus, and especially those given the responsibility of being shepherds under the Great and Good Shepherd, we too must likewise display our love for Jesus by caring for one another.

Love is the basic qualification for followers of Jesus. And love is the basic qualification for Christian service. Love for Jesus, expressed by loving his people. Other qualities may be desirable, but love is completely indispensable.

Application & Conclusion

SLIDE 15 – Sermon Title

(p) To conclude then, there can be little doubt that this whole scene is meant to present Peter as entirely forgiven and completely restored to his position of leadership. A miraculous catch of fish was the catalyst for Peter to begin his new life as a follower of Jesus and a fisher of people.

And in what is surely no coincidence, a miraculous catch of fish is the catalyst for Peter’s life to be restored and for him to be commissioned as a shepherd overseeing Jesus’ people, the church. How fitting it is that Jesus’ final words to him here echo the words he uttered to him three years earlier… Follow me.

And so the whole encounter stands as an encouragement to all who similarly fail their Lord under pressure. What a great comfort it is to know that Jesus is the Lord who knows all things and, in his grace, offers restoration to those grieved and weighed down by their failures. What a joy it is to know that Jesus is our friend who forgives and restores.

What unfolds between Jesus and Peter in this passage was undoubtedly significant for Peter. From this point on, as we’ll see next week in Act 4 – Acts 4, Peter was different. No longer would he cave under pressure. Instead, he would shine like a diamond and preach to all of the forgiveness available in Jesus, a forgiveness he knew oh so well.

SLIDE 16 – Forgiveness and Restoration

His experience of being forgiven and restored shaped his future. And so similarly, what unfolds between Jesus and Peter in this passage also has implications for how we respond to one another when there is failure and wrongdoing. When confronted with relationships severely impacted by sin, intentional or otherwise, the intentions of God’s people ought always to be towards restoration.

Where this is recognition of wrongdoing, repentance, and a return to the Lord, forgiveness and restoration must follow. In a culture that cancels people for their failures, we are to be people who forgive, just as the Lord has forgiven us. In a culture where there is ever-increasing division, we are to be people who reconcile, just as we have been reconciled to a right relationship with the Father by the Son.

But how do we do this when there is hurt? When people make promises and don’t follow through? Or when we’re spoken to harshly? When people break our confidence and trust?

(p) Well we start by reminding ourselves of the magnitude of God’s grace. We ponder and marvel at the great generosity of his forgiveness towards us. And when we do this, our perspective changes and our posture softens. The offences committed against us still hurt, but having this perspective puts us in a much better position to forgive and reconcile.

Therefore friends, let us be people whose sin drives us towards Jesus and not away from him. Let us be people who display that we are followers of Jesus by the way we love one another. And let us be people who extend forgiveness to all, because we have been forgiven and restored by Jesus, our friend and Lord.

PRAY

My One Thing

(P) Well as we do each week, let me invite you to now take one minute to open your phone or your notebook and write down your One Thing. One thing that struck you, challenged, or encouraged you today. Take 60 seconds to write it down. Then share it over morning tea. After the 60 seconds, Peter will continue leading us in a time of prayer.

[MS1]Luke’s feedback:

The main application seemed to be: We serve Jesus by loving others. However, given the emphasis on forgiveness, it felt like it was more of a level-one application - telling us a fact - rather than inviting us to respond.

As you unpacked it, I thought that the passage seemed to invite us to linger much more deeply on Jesus’ forgiveness and restoration of Peter. A stronger application could have been something like:

Jesus restores you. No matter what has happened this week, how you feel, or what you’ve done, you can know the restoration and forgiveness of Jesus. That doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences or challenges, and it doesn’t mean life will suddenly become easy. But it does mean that you have a forgiving Jesus on your side as you face those things.