John 21:15-19: How Peter’s Failure Made Him a Better Man

INTRODUCTION:

Did you know that Peter is mentioned more times in the gospels than all the 11 other disciples put together?

No disciple speaks so often and so much as Peter.

And Jesus speaks oftener to Peter than to any other of his disciples—sometimes in blame and sometimes in praise.

No other disciple is reproved by our Lord so often as Peter, and no disciple ever ventures to reprove his Lord but Peter.

No other disciple ever so boldly confessed and outspokenly acknowledged and encouraged our Lord as Peter did—and no one ever interfered with or tempted Jesus as Peter did.

Jesus spoke more words of approval and praise to Peter than any other person. And at the same time, Jesus said harder things to Peter than he ever said to any other of his 12 disciples—except for Judas

We read so much about Peter that when we close the book we feel like we know him personally.

If someday we have the opportunity to visit with him, it won’t be hard to get into a conversation. There are so many things he can tell us.

Because we read so much about Peter, we know his faults too. Maybe that is why we can relate to him and learn from his example.

I want to talk about a story that happened after Jesus’s resurrection but before his ascension.

It is the story about how Peter and several others of Jesus’s disciples went fishing on the Sea of Galilee, and an encounter with Jesus that changed his life.

But before we get to that, we need to tell about some things that came before.

I. Just a few days before this fishing trip Peter had disgraced himself in a way that is almost unimaginable.

A. Jesus had been arrested in the Garden where he had prayed all night.

Earlier that same night Jesus had warned his disciples that before the night was over, they would all desert him. But Peter argued. He declared loudly: “Even if all the others desert you, I will not.

But Jesus told Peter: “Truly I tell you, before rooster crows two times you will have denied me three times.”

But Peter insisted: “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!”

B. When the soldiers came and arrested Jesus, Peter was ready to fight for Jesus. He drew his sword and chopped off the ear of the slave of the high priest.

Peter’s zeal was misguided and Jesus reproved him. He said, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am not I to drink the cup the Father has given me?”

C. But Peter didn’t give up. He was determined to prove his love and his courage. So when they led Jesus away, Peter followed—at a distance—right into the courtyard of the house of the high priest. And that was a big mistake.

You remember that a servant girl saw him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”

And poor Peter, caught off guard, tried casually to deflect the remark: “I don’t know or understand what you are talking about.” And he went out into the courtyard.

The girl saw him again and said to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” And again Peter denied it.

After a little while some other bystanders made the same accusation, and poor Peter denied with oaths and curses that he even knew Jesus. What had started out as a little lie had escalated into a major catastrophe.

When he heard the rooster crowed the second time, Peter remembered that Jesus had said, “Before the rooster crows two times, you will deny me three times.”

And Peter went out and wept bitterly.

II. And now we come to the story we intend to consider today. It was some time after Resurrection Day. Jesus had appeared to the women at the tomb, and then to Peter, and few times to his friends. The story we are going to talk about is told only in John’s gospel, in his last chapter.

A. Jesus had risen and met with his disciples, but they hadn’t received instructions about what to do next.

Seven of Jesus’s disciples, including Peter, were together by the Sea of Galilee, and Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”

The others came along and they fished all night but caught nothing. Just as day was breaking they saw a stranger on the shore. The stranger told them to cast the net over the right side of the boat and they did—and brought in a prodigious catch of fish.

John said, “It is the Lord!” And Peter—always a man of action—went over the side of the boat and splashed his way to the shore.

After they got the ship beached, Jesus cooked them a breakfast with some of the fish they had caught.

B. The part I want to talk about happened after they had finished their breakfast.

Here it is, from John’s gospel:

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

(I think that when he said, “Do you love me more than these?” he means, “Do you still claim to love me better than anyone else—because Peter had bragged that even if all the other disciples denied Jesus, he would not.)

But Peter wasn’t bragging anymore. He just said, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

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

Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

Jesus said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was grieved because he said to him a 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.

The reason Peter was grieved when Jesus asked a third time, “Do you love me,” is because he was reminded that three times he had denied that he knew Jesus. And for each of Peter’s three denials, Jesus told him his instructions: “Tend my sheep.”

Peter’s failure was in the past. His vocation was just beginning—his important work of tending and feeding God’s people.

Notice that Jesus said, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” And then Jesus gave him his commission: “Feed my sheep.”

Other qualities are also necessary, but love is the quality that makes the other qualities work together.

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul instructs the believers to clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, patience, forbearance, and forgiveness, and then he writes, “And above all these clothe yourself with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12-14). Without love, nothing works.

Did you notice Peter’s remark: “Lord, you know everything! You know that I love you.”

One of the great blessings of belonging to God is the comfort of knowing that God knows all about us and loves us anyway.

A psalmist wrote:

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from far away” (Psalm 139:1)

Theologians talk about God’s “omniscience”—that means that God knows everything. But the important thing for you and me is not that God knows everything but that God knows me.

Theologians talk about God’s “omnipresence”—that means that God is everywhere. But the important thing for you and me is not that God is everywhere, but that wherever I am, God is with me.

APPLICATION:

In this encounter, Jesus confronted Peter with his sin. He didn’t tell Peter: “Forget about it. It’s okay. You’re forgiven; we’ll go on as if it never happened.”

Jesus reminded Peter of his failure by asking three times: “Do you love me?”

By saying, “Do you love me more than these?” he reminded Peter of his boast that even if all the others denied Jesus, he would not.

And by giving Peter a job to do, Jesus assured Peter that he was forgiven. Peter would go forth a sadder and wiser man.

The story is told of a six-year-old boy who was running through the house. His mother asked him to stop running because he might stumble and hurt himself or break something.

But the little boy kept running, and he stumbled and fell, and broke a vase.

His father saw it all happen, picked him up, dusted him off, and said, “Don’t worry about it. It’s just a vase.”

But his mother came and knelt down and gathered up the shattered pieces and said softly, “It wasn’t just a vase. It was my favorite vase. My mother gave it to me, her mother gave it to her, and I looked forward to giving it to my children.” And she wept, and the little boy wept, and the mother took him in her arms and hugged him and he hugged her back. (From a sermon by Fred Craddock: “Why Is Forgiveness So Difficult?”).

We shouldn’t take forgiveness for granted. Forgiveness isn’t easy—even for God.

I too have failed the Lord—more times than I even know.

Sometimes I take comfort from the thought that I’m better than a lot of people. But then I have to remind myself that I have had advantages most people haven’t.

I had the advantage of having people in my life who showed me what it means to belong to Jesus. I have experienced God’s blessings, answers to prayer, deliverances from danger. I have experienced God’s generous grace in my life.

If I feel superior, I may be looking down on people who have done better—considering their background and experiences and limitations—they may have done better than I have.

And I realize that I don’t see myself as God sees me—or even as other people see me. The Czechs have a proverb: “For others’ sins we have the eyes of a lynx, for our own, the eyes of a mole.” A lynx is a bobcat—an animal with legendary sharp sight. A mole lives underground and is very nearly blind.

I know I’m not perfect, and I also know that I am blind to most of my sins.

Maybe that’s good. Maybe I would despair if I could see myself as I really am.

After his failure and restoration by Jesus, Peter became a more tender, compassionate person. He knew his own heart in its weakness and sinfulness, and he knew Jesus better than he ever had before.

Peter’s failure introduced him to himself. Before Peter’s failure he had thought of himself as full of love and courage. But after he had disgraced himself by his cowardice, he was forced to see himself as he was—sinful, weak, and prone to give way under pressure.

Our sins can make us better people. It isn’t good that we sin, but we can learn from our sins.

I read this in one of my books last week. The book was written by a Dominican Priest, named Gerald Vann, and the book is called The Divine Pity. Here is what Father Vann wrote:

“Even sin has its redemptive purpose. Even our own personal sins can be turned to good, and are meant to be turned to good in our lives. The shame and sorrow increasing the sense of sin, the realization of the endless patience of God in increasing humility and wonder; all this is part of that process of going down to the depths, that we may learn to be poor, to be meek and to mourn, and that we may be comforted and turned into strong and fearless instruments of God’s purposes.” (p98).

Out of his humiliating failure and great love for Jesus, Peter became a humble, compassionate shepherd of God’s flock. Tradition has it that ever after Peter’s failure, a tear glistened in his eye. He never forgot his sin and it made him the tender-hearted, compassionate, humble man that God could use in a mighty way in his Kingdom.

In the Book of Acts, we meet Peter again. But he’s no longer the self-assured, self-confident Peter of the gospels. But the Peter we meet in Acts is still of courage and faith. He fears nothing.

Only a few days after this event, on the day of Pentecost, Peter preached to a crowd and 3000 people turned to Jesus, including some of those who had cried out for him to be crucified!

This is a different Peter, a humbled, but powerful witness for Christ.

He defies the authorities who tell him that he must preach Christ no more. He goes to prison and is rescued by an angel. He is God’s instrument to heal the sick, raise the dead, and preach Christ and see thousands come to Jesus through his proclamation of the gospel.

If you become discouraged because you look back over your life and are disappointed by missed opportunities, ashamed of your failures, convicted about your sins—think about what your failures can teach you—about yourself and about your Lord Jesus.

Humble yourself, ask for and accept God’s forgiveness, tell him that you love him—and go on. In company with Jesus, you’ll be a better person than you were before.

None of us will ever be a Peter. None of us will ever gain renown on this earth, but if we learn from our mistakes, if we learn from our sins and from our failures, God can use us—sometimes he uses us when we aren’t aware of it. And if our hearts are right and we walk with Jesus in obedience and love and if we serve others as we are able, Jesus will welcome us one day with words like these: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master.”