Not Unlike Peter

So we learn more to leave more, because there are more steps ahead. 

In other words, increased knowledge of self should lead to increased surrender to God, and that increased surrender equips us for the future. It means we decrease so that Jesus increases. We become more conformed to his image and consecrated for his work. We see this in the final scene of John’s Gospel. 

Breakfast Over Charcoal

After Jesus’s resurrection, the disciples had been fishing — can you imagine? How do you go back to fishing after everything they had seen? — but fishing they were, and just as the sun started to rise, Jesus appeared on the shore and called out to them. They had not caught any fish, and so Jesus, who they had yet to recognize, instructed them to cast their net on the other side of the boat. They did, and the fish were too many to haul in. John then knew it was Jesus, and he told Peter. Immediately, and presumably because he thought it was the quickest route to Jesus, Peter jumped into the sea and started swimming. John tells us, “The other disciples came in the boat” (John 21:8). By the time they arrived, Jesus had a charcoal fire burning, ready to cook breakfast.

This is such an amazing moment in the story of Scripture. … 

They all knew it was Jesus, but nobody dared say it. It was an unspoken sort of knowledge. It was the third time Jesus had appeared to them after his resurrection, and you can’t help but wonder if they wondered whether this was the new normal. Maybe Jesus is going to just randomly show up like this from now on? 

Meanwhile, Jesus fed them. He gave each of them bread. They ate breakfast together. Can you imagine?

And then the conversation started — and this is the part I’ve been meaning to get to: 

Three Times Important

Jesus asked Peter if he loved him. Three times. 

He asked the same question three times just like those strangers had asked Peter three times whether he knew Jesus. Remember that? 

The night Jesus was arrested and under trial, as Peter stood outside the court, also by a charcoal fire, the bystanders asked him three times if he knew Jesus of Nazareth. He said no, three times. But now here, in John 21, Jesus asked Peter if he loved him. Peter said yes, three times. And with each question came the commission: Feed my sheep. 

And what a picture of the power and kindness of God!

God had ordained the setback of Peter’s denial to become the setup of Peter’s calling. 

Peter had become well acquainted with his weakness, with his problems, you could say. But Jesus met him with healing and hope. Peter had the proverbial barefoot, with wounds in need of binding, self-inflicted as they were. But he also had shoes still to fill, places yet to go, a mission set before him.

Jesus had said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Indeed, Jesus represented his Father — and our Father — perfectly.

That Good

So, again, what does this mean for us? 

It means we’re not unlike Peter. We can take confidence in the mercy and might of Jesus to deploy us in his service, no matter how gnarly our surrender. Which means we can look deeply into our stories … and our wounds. We can open that door and learn more, and then leave more, because Jesus is that good.

God willing, next week we’ll consider a practical tool meant to help us understand our stories from a God-centered perspective.