John 21:1–14 (NLT)
Epilogue: Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples
Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. 2 Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.
3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
4 At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?”
“No,” they replied.
6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. 8 The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. 9 When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.
10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.
12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. 14 This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.
John 21:15–17 (NLT)
15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”
“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.
The following is a video Ava Reinbold put together for the Rocky Mountain District Youth event held last weekend in Billings. It describes well our battle between trying to be a good Christian, and falling short.
Just like Peter's battle. He was zealous for God and determined to be an excellent follower of Jesus in all things. Which is why his denial of the One he had once boldly declared to be "the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16) on the night of His unwarranted arrest caused the disciple deep pain. Luke 22:62 says he "went out and wept bitterly" the moment a rooster crowed three times and Jesus turned to look at Him.
But just as Jesus knew of Peter's denial beforehand, He also already had in mind how He would restore the man afterward. It was going to take relational interactions between the two to ease shame, and empower the kind of life transformation Peter simply could not achieve on his own.
Jesus knows the same about us...
1.What sin (or effects of sin) in my life have I been trying to fight or change on my own?
2.When I think of sin and its effects in my life, do I see God’s heart of compassion and longing to help even when I am at my very worst, or do my failures make me feel I need to hide and “fix myself” so I can get close to Him?
3.What are some ways I can start depending on God and abiding in Him in order to overcome sin instead of relying on behavior management tactics, human effort, and my own understanding to fix myself?