My Sunday Skl

Back to John 21:16. Jesus has once again said to Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you agapao me?’. He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I phileo you.’ He said to him, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ So the first time Jesus asked him, “more than these?”, but this time, He dropped the second part of the question.

You see Jesus didn’t care about that. He simply wanted to know if Peter loved him. Just like the first time, Peter was basically saying “I like You.”

One other thing. The lambs, yeah, they’re sheep now. Jesus has once again increased Peter’s ministry before he even started it. Once again, I think it is for the same reason as the first. Peter was real with Jesus. You must imagine he felt immense pressure at this point. Even greater than he did when he denied Jesus. But still, he remained honest.

Sounds like growth to me.

Now the third time, Jesus switched things up a bit. The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you phileo me?’. Now you see, Peter was hurt this time. He’s been honest with Jesus, yet he’s still being questioned. He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’ And Jesus said “Feed my sheep.”

Now what has really happened here? Suddenly they’re both using the same language but what else?

To me, it looks like Jesus met Peter at his level. Jesus wasn’t going to force a level of faith and love on Peter that he didn’t have. Peter was saying, “Lord, I don’t have it in me right now. I’m hurt. I’m damaged. I don’t think I’m at that level yet. I’m still at phileo.” Peter may of thought that he wasn’t ready to meet Jesus at his level, and he was most likely right.

But Jesus wasn’t going to just abandon him. No matter what we’ve done, there is still a purpose instilled in us. So Jesus met Peter at his level. He came down from above to meet Peter below.

Doesn’t that just summarise Jesus as a whole. Jesus left heaven and came down to live like man and die for man. God isn’t here looking down and waiting for us to get perfect before He speaks to us. God recognises our imperfections yet still wants to interact with us.

It’s the honesty part that trips us up. We begin to confess what we’re dealing with, our issues, our mistakes, our fears and slowly we create this idea that we’re unworthy. Confession can turn to self-condemnation so quickly.

That’s why I say it’s so key to have a good group of people around you, where you can be humble, open and transparent (shoutout to Transformation Nation). I have on so many occasions told stories of what I used to do, the issues I had to deal with and mistakes I’ve made. Why? A lot of the time, it isn’t until you tell these stories that you see your fault in them. You catch yourself halfway and deep “Oh wait, this sounds really bad.” That’s because it is.

But guess what, you’re moving past it. I look back and thank God, cause if I was still on that vibe…

Not every testimony is about something new and shiny showing up out of nowhere. Sometimes, the miracle is that you’re not making the mistakes that you used to. Its about perspective.

So, we know Peter was hurt when Jesus asked him the third time about his love. But think about what those three exchanges did for Peter. They reminded him of the three times he had denied Jesus. Asking him to declare his love wasn’t a big ask, in comparison to what he did. Once again, God’s grace. Jesus met Peter on the shore, he reached down to him. His life, rebuilt. His ministry, reinstated.

Let’s wrap up Peter’s arc, because it really comes full circle. Acts 5, the Jewish authorities ordered Peter to quit preaching in the name of Jesus. According to verse 40, “they called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus.”

Oh no, they’re gonna apply pressure again.

This time Peter wasn’t afraid. He was prepared for the consequences of being associated with Jesus.

In fact, “the apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

⁴² Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

It’s wild what a bit of honesty can do for you. Sometimes, all you’ve got to do is come clean and let God take care of the rest.