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Reactions to the Cross - Obedience

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


I'm sure many of us are well-aquainted with the feeling of having messed up.


We're human beings. It happens. Whether in our relationships or at school or at work or at home, we all know that dreadful, sinking feeling of knowing that we've made a mess.


I know I am.


It's happened more times than I would like to remember.


But I doubt if any of us had ever sank to the depths of despair, despondency and defeat as Peter.


As we saw earlier, he'd denied knowing Jesus under pressure (Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27). The Bible is then relatively silent about what happened to him until the resurrection. We know Jesus appeared to him fairly early after the resurrection (Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8), but, despite Peter's influence on many of the books of the New Testament, we have no idea what happened or what was said. Despite being a hugely significant event in His life, Peter says nothing about it - anywhere.


What we do know is that Peter, along with the other disciples, obeyed the resurrected Christ and headed back to his hometown in Galilee (Matthew 26:32; Mark 14:28).


I don't think we can underestimate how difficult that return home would be. They would be back where it all began: among friends and family who knew them, who would know what had happened and would have viewed their little movement as having failed spectacularly.


Yet they went. To a man. Including Peter, the man who had denied knowing Jesus under pressure. Because Jesus had not only told them to go, He'd also said that He would go ahead and be there.


Peter also obeyed Jesus' command to return to his job (John 21:6).


Now, this really is a strange command.


Firstly, because Peter going fishing was, I believe, the act of a despondent man. He had tried being a disciple. He had failed. He had denied Jesus. He tried waiting. It seems like he could wait no longer - he had to something.


But returning to his old job - and taking other disciples with him? Let's not forget that he's returning back to the life he'd had before Jesus called him (Matthew 4:18-20). It's almost an admission that his calling has more or less ended in failure and that he needs to get back doing something he knows.


And yet... and yet a skilled fisherman like Peter would not spend a night working hard but not catching anything without a degree of frustration. This was not industrial fishing. He would not be paid unless he found sufficient fish for himself and his family. So to come up with nothing would be tough. To come up with nothing after seemingly having failed as a disciple?


That would truly be devastating.


Which makes Jesus' call all the more strange, and the fact that Peter listened all the more extraordinary.


After all, what experienced fisherman, with years of knowing where to fish in his wake, would take fishing advice from a stranger on a beach?


And yet... and yet he does. And his catch is extraordinary (John 21:6).


One of the other disciples who was with him (probably John) recognised Jesus (John 21:7).


And no wonder. Look what happened when Peter was called:


One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding round him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Luke 5:1‭-‬11 NIVUK


Jesus has not just sent Peter back to his home town and old job, He is also sending Peter back to his first call.


And what an act of grace this is!


The Man who was denied presses the reset button on the person who denied Him. He gives Peter the chance to start all over again.


The man who would have wondered if his calling had been for nothing, finds again that a long night of frustrating labour is also for nothing, before once again Jesus provides in a miraculous way.


And, you see, this is often how it feels to bear a cross. We work hard for the Lord. We do our best. But somehow we are plagued with the idea that it wasn't enough, that it was all for nothing. We feel the bitter sting of our failures and sins and feel like we've blown it.


But how does Jesus repair the damaged soul of His close friend and disciple?


He sends Peter back to where it all began... and meets him there.


He meets Peter back doing his old job... and blesses him there.


He calls Peter once more the way He had before... and feeds Him there (John 21:12-14).


But Jesus still isn't done with Peter.


He calls Peter back to his first love (John 21:15-17). He asks Peter if he loves Him more than all that he had before - his boat, his fishing tackle, his safety net. He wants Peter to give up his fallback option and follow Him completely.


Doing so will cost him. Jesus warns Peter that it wil cost him his life (John 21:18). Days previously, Peter traded knowing Jesus for a place by the fire (John 18:15-18). Now he will trade his life for a place in Heaven with Jesus.


Peter is given a glorious second chance, right there, on the shores of the lake where it had all began for him.


And this call is beautifully individual. He is told to accept and concentrate on his own calling, and not to contrast or compare it with that of other people (John 21:20-23).


How those of us with a cross to bear would benefit from following this command! Nothing makes our burden worse like adding jealousy to it. 'How come she has it and I don't?' 'Why is he blessed and I'm not?' These are utterly foolish questions that are nothing more than childish acts of self-harm. Jesus' answer to these questions is simple, direct and straightforward: 'What is that to you? You follow me.'


After the resurrection, Jesus' grace towards the disciples who had failed Him so spectacularly is truly awesome, and to none more than Peter. Few of us would give this blustery loudmouth a second chance.


But not Jesus. He sends Peter back to his home town, his old job and his first call, before summoning him back to his first love and focusing him on what he needs to do.


What happens next, in Acts 2, happens because a broken, despondent man, seemingly on the edge of giving up, obeys and answers the call.


If you walk the path that Peter walked right now, if you feel despondency and despair at your own failings, then take heart from Peter. The way back begins when you're willing to press the reset button and start again, whatever the cost.


Are you willing to answer the call?


Questions

1) Have you ever felt despondency after making a mistake like Peter did? How did you manage to rid yourself of it?

2) How do you think pressing reset on your mistakes will help with this?

3) Are you willing to do what Peter did and obey Jesus again?


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