Today’s Passage – John 20 – 21
He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. (John 21:17)
I apologize for completing this post from the Scriptures late, as I ran out of time yesterday morning. Sunday is obviously a very busy day for me, and I sometimes struggle getting everything done. I do want to share some thoughts from this passage of Scripture though.
I love this account of Peter being restored to service by the Lord. Let me make some observations:
I think it is very interesting that the Lord did the very same miracle here at Peter’s restoration that He did very early in His earthly ministry where He first called Peter to serve Him.(see Luke 5:1 – 9) Both times Peter was fishing, and was not really getting anywhere. The Lord called Peter away from His fishing business in Luke 5, and He is now reminding Peter that “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance”. Jesus had not changed His mind about Peter, though Peter certainly was not sure about himself.
The second observation that I would like to make is that Peter was certainly changed through the experience of denying the Lord. Formerly, Peter boldly asserted his love for the Lord stating that he would die for Him. Now, after failing that test, he is no longer so sure of himself. He does not make the same bold claims that he had previously made.
The third observation that I would like to make is that the Lord is very patient with His servants. He knows our frame, that we are but dust. He knows that even though we may be willing in spirit, we are still weak in our flesh. Praise God for second chances. I can’t count the number of times that I have blown it, yet God never gives up on me.
Peter certainly did go on to feed the Lord’s lambs, and he did get many more opportunities to demonstrate his love for Jesus. After the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, Peter preached the first great “church age” revival with 3000 saved and baptized. He had a boldness now that did come from his flesh, but that flowed mightily through him from the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God.
How about you? Maybe God called you to do something for Him, and you have forsaken that call. Why not come back to the Lord humbly, and see if He won’t put you back in the game like He did with Peter.
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This question posed to Peter was not so Peter could give an answer it was so Peter could examine himself. Sin gives grave cause for suspicison, examination of one's own heart should bring about repentantance and renewed victory in JESUS. I often ask; "Do you love me" I never expect an answer; I say that so the person will examine themselves and repent if they reconignize they have offended me. Most people don't get me but GOD does; He knows the answer to the riddle before I ever speak it. The Heart of the Matter is the Matter of the Heart!!!
Spurgeon wrote a great perspective on this very issue of self examination.