The Grace of God: How to Move on When We Fail
You’ve failed Jesus. You had the chance to stand with Him while He faced down His accusers. Instead, you told everyone around you that you didn’t even know who He was. This is the moment you need the grace of God the most. And this is when you receive it. I’ll prove it to you in less than 10 minutes.
Peter knew this was the chance of a lifetime. He not only was being given the privilege of following a rabbi, he was following a rabbi that many believed was the promised Son of David. And if this rabbi called him, the rabbi must believe that Peter could be like Him.
Walking With the Rabbi
Then, after a very long day of teaching and miracles, Jesus told Peter and the disciples to go ahead and row over to the other side of the Sea – at night. As a fisherman it was commonplace to be on the Sea at night, but you usually tried to keep within a hundred yards of the shore. The stories about the Sea being the domain of the dead were legendary. But the disciples obeyed. Then they saw something their eyes couldn’t believe (Matthew 14:22-33).
A figure was walking across the surface of the water – right toward them. They were convinced this had to be a ghost. But then the voice called out to them, and claimed to be their rabbi. Peter responded with the boldness that could only come from a disciple who truly grasped the opportunity that was before him: if his rabbi was walking on water, he wanted to walk on water. And so he got out of the boat. He only took a few steps, but Peter walked on the water – just like his rabbi.
You Are The Son of God
A few short weeks later, Jesus took the disciples to the single most pagan place in all of Israel – Caesarea Philippi. It was there that Jesus asked the disciples who they believed He was. Peter responded:
You are the Messiah; the Son of the Living God.
Matthew 16:13-20 ESV
Jesus commended Peter for his response and promised that this confession would be the foundation of the Church that would prevail against the very gates of Hell. And then Jesus shocked His disciples by telling them that the next step in His plan involved being killed by the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Peter couldn’t handle hearing this. He swore that this would never happen. Jesus response shook him to his very core:
“Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Matthew 16:23 ESV
Peter couldn’t have expected this. As a disciple, he had pledged to not only follow his rabbi, but to defend him with his very life if necessary. What was he supposed to do when the leaders in Jerusalem made their move?
The Transfiguration
It wasn’t long after this that Jesus took Peter, along with James and John, up onto Mt. Hermon. It was just a few short days before the start of the Feast of Tabernacles, and all of Israel was waiting to see what would happen when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. The religious leaders had already made it clear that they were not on Jesus’ side. The rumors had begun that there were some who were even seeking to have Jesus killed. Peter was surely anxious about this. Then a miracle occurred:
After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.
And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents (booths) here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
Matthew 17:1-8 ESV
“If you wish, I will make three tents here…”
Peter’s suggestion was simple. Rather than going up to Jerusalem and putting Himself at risk, Peter was suggesting that Jesus stay there to celebrate the Feast. After all, it was clearly a holy place, for Moses (representing the Torah) and Elijah (representing the Prophets) were standing before his very eyes. But Jesus told him no, and up to Jerusalem they went.
Trouble at the Feast
Peter was right to fear. Things didn’t go well at the Feast of Tabernacles, as the religious leaders tried to have Jesus stoned. But Jesus escaped their plans and returned to the Galilee. This pattern repeated itself again three months later at Hanukkah. By now, the disciples were getting used to it. In fact, before they went up to Bethany (just two miles away from Jerusalem), Thomas remarked that they all might as well go with Jesus and die with him (John 11:16).
But the tension that evening before Passover was greater than anything the disciples had known to this point. The people had already tried to crown Jesus as Messiah. He had again cleansed the Temple and condemned the religious hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees. And early in that evening, Jesus had told all of them that He knew He was going to be betrayed by one of them.
Peter had to say something. He pulled Jesus aside and asked him what was going on:
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.“
John 13:36-38 ESV
The Darkest Night
After dinner, Jesus led Peter and the others into the Garden of Gethsemane, where He often went to pray. And that’s where everything began to fall apart. Judas arrived, leading a band of soldiers from the Temple. When they took hold of Jesus to arrest Him, Peter knew he had to act. He grabbed hold of Malchus, the servant of the High Priest, and cut off his ear. But instead of accepting the protection of His disciple, Jesus rebuked Peter (Luke 22:47-53).
Peter didn’t know what to do next. If he wasn’t going to fight for his rabbi, what was he going to do? Peter fled from the Garden. He had to clear his head. He had to keep his eye on Jesus; to wait for the right moment.
Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.”
Luke 22:54-60a ESV
Things had spiraled out of control.
His own instinct for survival had taken over, and he had denied even knowing his rabbi. The tragedy was nearly complete. But first, there was one more thing that needed to happen:
And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
Luke 22:60b-62 ESV
Peter had betrayed his rabbi.
Sunday Morning
We’d like to believe that the despair that Peter felt that night ended with the empty tomb three days later. But I don’t believe it did. Undoubtedly, Peter was elated by the reality that Jesus – the Messiah; the Son of the Living God – was alive and had conquered death. When Peter had heard that the tomb was empty, he ran as fast as he could to see if it were true. But for Peter, this didn’t change the fact that in the time of Jesus’ greatest need, Peter had deserted his rabbi. While the world would be forever changed by Jesus’ resurrection, Peter’s part in things had come to an end. It was time to move on; time to go home.
Returning to Galilee
So, Peter returned to his old life. He went back to Capernaum, got in a boat, and went fishing. Some of the other disciples went with him. And they fished all night long, without catching anything. Early the next morning, just before dawn, they saw a figure standing on the shore. They heard a voice call out:
“Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
John 22:1-7 ESV
Here he was again, back where it all began. Jesus had just redone the miracle that started it all. But Jesus wasn’t finished.
Three times, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” Why three times? Because three times Peter had denied that he even knew Jesus. And after each time that Peter answers, Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.” Peter knew who the Shepherd was. Jesus had spent an entire trip to Jerusalem making sure that everyone knew that He was the “Good Shepherd” (John 10:14-18). So could Jesus really be saying what Peter thought He was saying? Was Jesus telling Peter that he could be like Him again?
And after saying this he said to him, “Lech Acharai” (Follow me).
John 21:19b
We’ve all failed our Rabbi at some point.
Most of us fail Him daily. And we may have even walked away and, by the way we live our lives, told the world that we don’t even know Him. But Jesus is standing on the shore – AGAIN – saying to those who will listen, “Follow me.”
