By Kenneth B.E. Roxburgh, Ph.D.
Professor of Religion, Samford University
A Fresh Start
John 18:15–18, 25–27; 21:15–19
Following Jesus is no easy achievement. There is pain, longing, disappointment and hurt as we stutter and stumble, wander and digress, delay and procrastinate in our endeavor to be His disciples.
I suspect Peter felt like that as he passed through one of the traumatic experiences of his whole life when he denied his Lord and went out in the darkness of doubt and despair and “wept bitterly.”
Followers of Jesus can fail Him. (18:15–18, 25–27)
Peter had been the recipient of great privileges. His close contact with the Lord over three years had enabled him to experience much of the presence and power of Jesus at work in the world.
He had seen the glory of God shining in the face of his Savior and had just sat around the very first communion service. Spiritually he was on a high and when Jesus said to him in Luke 22:31, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat … you will deny me three times,” his immediate reply in verse 33 was filled with confidence: “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.”
In this story we find a description of his failure. Frightened of identifying himself with Jesus, Peter stands out of the immediate area where Jesus is located and “warms himself” beside a fire in the presence of the enemies of Jesus.
When challenged about his identity, he refuses to speak of his Savior and with oaths and curses on his lips he denies the Lord.
Then suddenly, as if on cue music began to play, “the cock crowed” and Peter remembers the Lord’s words of warning. Luke tells us that as he turns to look at the Savior, Peter discovers that Jesus “looks straight at Peter … and he went outside and wept bitterly.”
Jesus forgives our failures. (21:15–19)
No matter how great our failure may be, no matter how far we feel we have slipped from following Jesus, the grace and mercy of God comes to us and forgives the past and restores our relationship with the Lord.
Jesus makes sure that not only does Peter know he is forgiven but he restores him publicly so the other disciples will encourage him to lead them into the future on the day of Pentecost.
Peter’s brokenness was the harbinger of blessing and new wholeness of life in the Spirit. So it will always be with God’s people for in our sin we sense our failure but face to face with the Savior we are assured of His mercy and love.
There are many incidents in the past, either recent or distant that we may well recall today and the memory of our failure may cause us pain.
John tells us that when Peter came on shore there was a charcoal fire where Jesus was cooking breakfast. The only other occasion when this word is used in the New Testament is of that other fire where Peter warmed himself and denied Jesus.
In receiving forgiveness it is important to go back to that buried hurt, that fear of failure and deal with it. Covering up never achieves anything.
What we are seeing here is a deep unhealed wound being gently exposed and dealt with in mercy, love and grace to enable it to find healing. Hymn writer Herbert Howard Booth expressed the healing power of grace like this:
“Grace there is my every debt to pay,
Blood to wash my every sin away,
Power to keep me guiltless day by day,
In Christ for me.”
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