John 21:15-25 Restoration
15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, 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 again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, 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 Jonah, 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 all things; You know that I love You.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. 18 Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” 19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
20 Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” 21 Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?”
22 Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”
23 Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?”
24 This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.
25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
John 21:15-25 Restoration
Peter had failed. He had promised that he would go with Jesus even to death but when the moment came he had denied being a disciple. Peter thought that he had wandered away from the shepherd of his soul and was lost. But our Great Shepherd doesn’t lose any that belong to him.
Failure comes even to kings. King David, who was called a man after God’s own heart, failed. The whole of Psalm 51 is written about his sorrow over it.
Psalm 51:12-13
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
After David repented he continued to seek God. He is remembered as Israel’s greatest king and is mentioned in Hebrews 11 among the faithful witnesses.
Remember Paul’s letter to Philemon. Onesimus belonged, as a slave, to Philemon but he had run away. Through the working of providence he came to hear the gospel from Paul and became converted. Paul sent him back to Philemon but now as a brother in the Lord, though still a slave in this world. Philemon 1:15-16, “For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”
The mercy of God not only restores us it improves us for our acceptance of his grace builds up our faith and fortifies against future pressures. Peter was not just restored he was made invincible. On the day of Pentecost he was not cowed by the jeers of the crowd, before the Sanhedrin he was bold and even to death he was made steadfast by the mercy of God.
We all fail in many ways, I know I do. Yet the mercy of God is ever present if we will only look to it. Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
1John 5:11-13, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
brotherpayne 