Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!’
John 21:19 NIVUK
In June 2023, we went back to the Philippines for the first time in four years. We had a five hour layover in Singapore on the way there and back.
Now, Singapore Changi airport is hailed as the best airport in the world for a reason. While most American airports resemble bus stations and most European airport resemble mid-range shopping malls, Changi stands alone as offering more facilities than any other airport on the planet. I’m not here to advertise the place, but there is one feature they have that no-other airport can match, although it really is only for the brave.
Above their Jewel shopping mall, suspended in thin air, are a series of nets on which people can walk, or bounce, with ten stories of shopping mall and car park beneath them.
Is anyone up for it?
I’ve seen nets deployed to catch acrobats if they’d fall from a high wire or a trapeze. Never have I seen nets deployed that high up just for fun.
Why am I talking about this?
Because I believe that Peter’s entire story of his time with Jesus is all about the need for him to cut the safety net and go all-in for Jesus. And not just in the way that you might think, if you’re aware that Peter was a fisherman. I believe that parts of Peter’s life and responses show a man who was quite vocal about following Jesus on the surface, but on the inside show a man who was desperate to cover for his own insecurities. It takes an incredible and miraculous grace for this man to change.
And what makes it all the more glorious is this; Jesus was prepared to do all this just for one man.
You see, interestingly, there are two versions of Peter's call to follow Jesus. There is one in John, where he is brought to Jesus by his brother Andrew (who was already a follower of John the Baptist – see John 1:35-42), and another following a miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:1-11).
So right from the beginning, we see a man who took some convincing to follow Jesus.
But what happened towards the end of Jesus’ life shows us what had to happen for Peter to truly follow Jesus. And this tells us so much about our journey towards being true followers of Jesus.
Firstly, we see that Peter sold out.
In that famous scene where the man who would become a major leader in the Early Church denies he knows Jesus (recorded in all four Gospels: Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27).
Now, the fact that we even have such a catastrophic personal failure of such a major figure in the church even recorded is quite remarkable. Many New Testament historians believe that Peter played a major part in at least the collation of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and yet he allowed the story of his biggest failure to be recorded there.
So the fact that he sold out is indisputable
But how it happened was bitterly painful for him. Jesus was in the official residence of the High Priest, standing strong in the face of severe pressure. Peter caved in under mild questioning from a servant girl.
Jesus was giving Himself to get Peter, and us a place in Heaven forever.
Peter denied Jesus for a warm place at the fire – a fire that would have needed to be tended to and resourced with wood to prevent it from burning out.
How often have we done precisely the same thing? How often have we sold out Jesus for a temporary ‘place at the fire’: for the warm glow of popularity or prestige or promotion or power?
How often have we sold out like Peter?
As well as sold out, we see that Peter checked out.
Once Jesus has risen from the dead, where is he? Where to we see him mentioned?
We see him running to the tomb, but all he sees is emptiness – no Jesus (John 20:1-10).
We see a record that Jesus personally appeared to Peter (Luke 24:34, see also 1 Corinthians 15:5). But we have no record of what actually happened.
And then he goes back to Galilee.
This is a very interesting situation. Jesus, after telling His disciples that they would desert Him, says this:
But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.’
Matthew 26:32 NIVUK
I can’t say what is more precious: the fact that Jesus made an appointment with His disciples for after He was brutally killed, or the fact that He made it for their home region, and the place where they would likely go after He was killed.
It is quite incredible.
However, by the time we meet Peter in John 21, he seems to be quite a dispirited figure. Just like before he followed Jesus the first time, he has met with the Risen Lord, and yet it seems to be not enough for him. He has returned to his old town, and now, seemingly tired of waiting, he now returns to his old job.
The Fisher of Men has now returned to his nets and tackle.
He has checked out of his previous role as a follower of Jesus, and is now back in the occupation he had before.
If we are brutally honest, maybe that’s how some of us feel. We are fed up with things the way they are. Maybe following Jesus is difficult for us right now. Life feels to be about the routine: waking, eating, working, sleeping, rinse and repeat, all day, every day. The relentless humdrum rhythm of life. Our yearning for something more has somehow died, and all that's left is repetition and boredom.
There is some logic in what Peter is doing. The classic method of lost people becoming found again is to reset their lives to what it was before it went wrong.
But the implication is serious. Peter has effectively returned to his old job. He has abandoned his calling.
And that leads on to our third point. Peter has not just sold out and checked out, he also burned out:
‘I’m going out to fish,’ Simon Peter told them, and they said, ‘We’ll go with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
John 21:3 NIVUK
I’d like to say I don’t know how it feels, this pain of returning to your ‘bread and butter’ day job and finding that, even there, you don’t enjoy any success.
But I do. And I can tell you, it hurts. Really, really badly.
On the surface, it seems fine. So they didn’t catch any fish. But there's another day. Why is that a problem?
If we'd think like that, we'd be forgetting that fishermen in those days weren’t contracted to a company or a cooperative, they fished for their own food and sold on the rest for profit. So a night without fish would be very difficult financially. How much more for a man like Peter, who had been a fisherman since his youth, and perhaps had generations of handed-down knowledge of where to find fish and how?
How much more for a man like Peter, who’d followed the Messiah and then denied ever knowing Him?
That failed fishing trip must have hit him like a gut punch. First, he’d failed at being a disciple, now he’d failed at what he did best – fishing?
Have you ever been in this position: like you’re in the wrong movie? Like nothing you do seems to turn out? Have you ever felt as much as a failure as this? Or have you got what you wanted out of life, but somehow it’s all come up empty?
That is where Peter is. He’s exhausted and burned out on life.
And that’s not a nice place to be.
But as well as sold out, checked out and burned out, Peter is called out.
And by none other than the very Messiah whom he had denied knowing!
Jesus first calls out to all of them. He calls them ‘children’. But then, He also used this word elsewhere:
And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3 NIVUK
He is not infantilising them, despite this word referring to pre-school children. He is hinting at the fact that they don’t fully understand everything that had happened, but like simple children, they have trusted Him.
He then goes on to replicate an earlier event with such close accuracy that Peter surely must have noticed what was happening. Surely.
After confirming their fruitless night’s fishing, Jesus tells them where to find fish. The expert, experienced fishermen are told where to fish by a carpenter.
Do you see it? This is unbelievably precious. Like a couple reaffirming their wedding vows, or going back to the place where they met to rekindle their love, Jesus takes Peter back to the exact nature of how He called him to re-call him once more.
What a wonderful Lord we have!
Minutes earlier, these weary fishermen had no fish. Now, when Peter, with typical impetuousness, but this time without words, splashes ashore, he finds that Jesus has prepared them breakfast.
And what it is? Irony of ironies: it’s fish. And loaves of bread. So now Jesus has taken him back to the desolate places where He’d fed the five thousand (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 4:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15) and the four thousand (Matthew 15:29-39; Mark 8:1-10).
Jesus is reminding Peter that He not only calls, but He provides.
And then we have that glorious conversation between Jesus and Peter on the shores of the lake. Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves Jesus.
Twice He uses the word ‘agape’ – unconditional, no-holds-barred love.
Twice Peter uses the love ‘phileo’ – brotherly love.
Twice Jesus calls Peter to take care of His flock first His little, vulnerable lambs; then His sheep.
The third time Jesus asked Peter if he loves (‘phileo’) Him.
The third time Peter confirms, hurt, that he does.
The third time, Jesus tells Peter to feed His sheep.
Three deeply challenging requests. Three responses.
Which match three denials.
Jesus is allowing Peter the chance to replace his greatest regret with a declaration of love.
What a Saviour!
He gives Peter three more chances to leave his safety nets behind.
But He is not done yet.
He goes on to tell Peter that this once proud, fiercely independent man will one day depend on others to take him where he doesn’t want to go (John 21:18-19). This is a euphemism for the fact that Peter, as an old man, would be crucified for His faithfulness to Jesus.
Now, unlike before, Peter is well aware of the costs of being a disciple.
And then Jesus utters those precious few words that restore Peter again:
‘Follow Me.’
Peter, out of all the living disciples, had experienced the darkest of despair and the depth of regret of having denied even knowing Jesus, at the slightest of pressure. Now, facing certain persecution and death, he is once again given the chance to follow. We know from the Bible that he did. And this faltering, failing fisherman was filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and astounded onlookers with the fluency of his preaching and the miracles God did through him (Acts 2:14-41, 3:11-26, 4:1-22).
That is what God can do when we, as weak human beings, come to Him with all our frailties and failings and unbelief and let Him change us. When we are willing to leave behind our safety nets and go all-in for Him.
What a God we serve!
When my daughter was small, we took a short flight to Paris. We were a little nervous about how she would react. It was the first flight she was really conscious of or aware of her surroundings. I think she must have been around two or three years old.
We belted her into her seat, the plane sped down the runway and took off. Right next to us, above the rumble of the engine, we could hear this little voice saying, ‘Weeeee!’ through a big, beaming smile.
The plane soon levelled out over the English Channel. She turned to us and said, ‘That was fun! Can we go back down now?’
She was a little disappointed to realise that we still had an hour to go before we reached Paris.
Many Christians have a similar approach to repentance. They have the thrill of doing it once and becoming a disciple of Jesus, but than that's it: they live their life on their terms and use their ‘commitment’ to Christ as an insurance policy for eternity.
Peter’s experience is totally difference. He teaches us through the selling out, burning out, checking out and being called out that conversion and repentance are not ‘one and done’ experiences. To truly follow Jesus, we must realise that when we start to wander off again, the only way back is to repent.
But they also teach us something completely wonderful: that even when we mess up, God isn’t done with us yet and He will bring His work in us to its completion (Philippians 1:3-6).
There is one last footnote to take care of. If we identify with Peter’s struggles, we will also identify with his question.
You see, when you find yourself under the Mighty Hand of God, drawing you closer to repentance, you often ask the question, ‘What about him, Lord? What about her?’
Peter asked the same question. He saw John walking close to them and asked Jesus the same question.
This is Jesus’ reply:
Jesus answered, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.’
John 21:22 NIVUK
So through all his struggles, pain, stumbles and regrets, the one two-word call remained constant:
‘Follow me.’
And it remains constant for us too.
No matter what we have to leave behind to do it.
Prayer
Jesus, I thank You that You called a man like Peter, with all his faults and failings, and you didn’t give up on him. I want you to complete Your work in me. I repent of my sins and shortcomings. Help me to follow You, no matter what it takes. Amen.
Questions
1. Whose fault was Peter’s selling out?
2. Why did Peter check out and burn out? What can we learn from this?
3. What did Jesus want from Peter when he repented? Why is this important? What is the most important of all of these that Peter had to do?
Comments