Derek Smith
Lead Pastor
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.”
Failure has a way of growing us, or better yet, the Lord has a way of growing us through our failures. If there is anyone who understood failure in the Bible it was Peter. As Christ was being led to the cross Peter denied the Lord three times, the last time being an expletive laced rebuttal to a little girl. Talk about failing! Peter was devastated. The man he had vowed never to leave, his Lord and personal friend, he had vehemently denounced in His greatest time of need. Scripture says after the third denial their eyes met and Peter couldn’t stand the pain. Broken and weeping he ran from the crowd in shame and despair. The Lord appears to Peter and the others after His resurrection not many days later and there is excitement and jubilation, but for Peter that hurt and guilt remained. In John 21 we find him back to his old way of life, fishing. Quite possibly he was giving up on his calling to lead the church seeing himself as damaged unusable goods. “I’ll just return to what I know,” Peter thought, but he can’t even do that right. He fishes all night and catches nothing.
Right there, in the midst of his brokenness, at the height of shame and guilt which has now turned to flight, Jesus appears. From the very first second of this appearance he pours out grace on Peter and the disciples and rekindles their calling and passion for ministry. First, consider the miracle. Right before this it says Jesus performs the exact same miracle He performed on the day He called them to follow Him reminding them of that call and all the ministry they had seen and done together. Second, consider the setting. John 21:9 says when they got to land with the fish Jesus had started a charcoal fire. The only other time a charcoal fire is spoken of in the gospel of John is the one where Peter was standing warming himself as he denied Christ three times. The Lord had to take him back to the failure in order to set him free from it. Third, consider the questions. Peter had three denials, and Christ asked three times for Peter to reaffirm his love. Through this series of questions Christ Jesus showers Peter with His grace and reminds him that the call on his life had only just begun. Jesus reminded Peter the one prerequisite for leading the sheep is loving the shepherd.
I’ve got some great news today, the greatest news ever told, Jesus is the Lord of our mistakes. Through His death on the cross all our sin, shame, and guilt is taken away. Our effectiveness in serving the Lord is not based on our faithfulness as much as it is based on His. Know today that no matter what failures you’ve had in life Jesus died to pay for each one, and He rose from the dead so we can victoriously serve Him. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, so don’t let the enemy tell you otherwise. Child of God, you are loved, empowered, and equipped by the Lord, so don’t quit. We all will fail, but this never means we are failures. Run to the Lord and rest in His love and grace. He is the Lord of our mistakes.