The Effect of Loving Jesus
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2020 · 10 May 2020
Well, we have examined the glories of Jesus Christ. We have seen His majesty and His glory. And like the apostles, we have fallen before Him in humble amazement. John records His marvelous words, His miraculous works, culminating at His death and His bodily resurrection, followed by His appearances. And John brings his gospel to its great climax.
The gospel of John provides evidence for the deity and messiahship of Jesus Christ, evidence that leads you to believe and have eternal life. That’s the high point of the gospel of John. Why do we have to go back to Peter? Can’t we just go flying into the book of Acts, and to His ascension, and to the Day of Pentecost and see that Peter? Why do we need this chapter?
It’s because with all the glory that has come through to the end of John 20, eventually that glory ends up in people, in ‘clay pots.’ This is for us. As our Lord ascended and the Holy Spirit came, the work was handed over to us, the clay pots who are weak, and ugly, and breakable, and marred, and replaceable. We are to carry the glorious gospel forward, even in our frailty and our weakness.
Peter did enough bad things to lose his apostle ordination. Occasionally he speaks for the devil, occasionally he pulls Jesus aside and tells Him what to do; and when it gets tough, he denies three times that he knows the Lord, and then he swears. John 21:1, “After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way.
Verse 2, Simon Peter, Thomas called the twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee (James and John), and two other disciples (Philip and Andrew) were together.” Here are all the disciples who were in the fishing business. These are all from Galilea; and you can include Thomas. 3 Simon Peter said to them, ‘I’m going fishing.” Don’t misunderstand, this is not about recreation.
The Lord had told them in Matthew 28:16, “Go to Galilee, to a mountain that I tell you, and wait for Me there for further orders.” I’ll be there; you wait. In an impulsive move, Peter decides to go back to his former profession. And he is a leader, and like a bunch of followers, all the rest of the fishermen go with him. They were back in their own area and they went back to Peter’s own boat perhaps.
This is a boat big enough for all of them and they took nets. Why does Peter say, “I’m going fishing”? Hasn’t he seen the risen Christ? Yes. But he had absolutely no confidence in himself. He was a proven failure. He had overestimated his wisdom, he bragged about his strength. He openly declared that he could handle any threat and that boasting led him to betray Jesus.
The rest of verse 3 says, “They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.” Verse 4, “But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any food? They answered Him, “No.” This had happened earlier in Luke 5. And remember what Peter did then?
They fished all night for nothing. But when they obeyed Jesus they got so much fish that their net was breaking. And Peter felt not worthy. Here he was again, the same sinful man in the presence of the same Son of God. Verse 6, Jesus said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.”
There were no fish in that area. But when the Lord said to them, “Try the right side of the boat,” the authority in His voice caused the fish to do what they did, even though the disciples didn’t know who that person on the shore was. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord.’ This great catch reminded them of what had happened before, and this is the last miracle in John.
“When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he was stripped for the work), and plunged into the sea.” This is so Peter, just so impulsive. Verse 8, “But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, about a hundred yards) dragging the net full of fish. 9 Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread.”
Jesus had made breakfast. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught. 11 Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three.” It’s an eyewitness account of a number, they counted them; and it’s an indication this is a real miracle. “And although there were so many, the net was not torn.” Just another miracle; a massive catch without tearing the net.
Now that Peter and the others know that Jesus is there, they can’t fish anymore. That’s His lesson: You can’t fish; I control the fish. You can’t fish for fish when you’ve been called to fish for men (Matthew 4:19). And then the Lord does something amazing. He moves for the restoration of Peter and the others. Verse 12, “Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples dared to question Him.
Verse 13, “Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. 14 This was now the third time Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.” I don’t know what the conversation was like, but it must have been intense. There must have been a lot of apologies. We’re all guilty of defecting. And we’re all weak, and we’re all useless.
Then the Lord starts a restoration. You might have thought that He would have found a replacement group. But here is the good news. How does Jesus disciple a disciple? How does Jesus restore a disobedient disciple? How does Jesus do biblical counseling? How does He recover them for usefulness? Do you want to know? He asks him one question three times: “Do you love Me?”
I hear a lot about biblical counseling, discipleship. I have read many books on this. So how did Jesus disciple a disobedient and weak disciple? By asking him three times, “Do you love Me?” This is shocking for its simplicity. There’s no ambiguity in that, right? “Do you love Me?” The essence of what our Lord asked to restore the most critical disciple for the early church is love.
I had always known I needed to believe in Him, serve Him and witness for Him. I did not think much about loving Him. But I should have, because that is the first and greatest commandment. Deuteronomy 6, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” Matthew 22:37, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind. That’s the first and great commandment.”
What does God want from me? God wants me to love Christ with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. That’s the Christian life. 1 Corinthians 16:22 says, “Anybody who doesn’t love the Lord is anathema, damned.” The motive for all your sanctification and the motive for all your service is this simple: “Do you love Jesus?” So let’s look at their conversation.
Verse 15, “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’” Jesus always called him by his old name when he was acting like his old self as a disobedient believer. “Do you love Me more than these?” You mean more than these other disciples? That wouldn’t work. They were as guilty as he was. They were equally disobedient.
No. Do you love Me more than these boats, nets, fishing and trappings of your former life? This is like in Matthew 16:24, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny Himself.” You’ve got to let go of everything that made up your life. Jesus uses the word ‘agape’, the highest, noblest love. “Do you love Me more than anything else that you used to love in this world?”
Peter must have been very sorrowful. He said to Jesus, verse 15, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” But he changed the word. He didn’t use agape, the highest, noblest love of the will. He said, “I love you,” and he used phileo, which simply means a warm affection. “I like You a lot.” Why? Because he was guilty, broken and humbled. He could not say, “I love You at the highest, noblest level.”
Peter said, “I have to call on Your omniscience, and You know that I have deep affection for You.” It’s a blessing that the Lord knows everything and He knows that we love Him, even when it’s not obvious. He knows I love Him truly. I don’t love Him as I should. My love isn’t everything it should be, but it’s real. That’s what Peter is saying. The Lord says to him, “Feed My lambs.”
This is his ordination: “You’re accepted.” After all the ridiculous things that Peter has done, Jesus puts him right back in the ministry: “Feed My lambs.” Look at the personal pronoun. Jesus says these lambs are Mine.” Even with a love that is far less than the love the Lord deserves and desires, Peter is restored to the ministry with a love that only the Lord knows in His omniscience.
“Feed My lambs: My little ones, weak, vulnerable and prone to stray. I’m putting them all in your hands.” Think about John 17, where our Lord prays to His Father, “I’m going to the cross. Father, when I go to the cross I’m giving them to You to keep.” When He couldn’t care for them, He turned them over to His Father, and nothing could ever take them out of His Father’s hand. But here Jesus turned them over to Peter.
Verse 16, “Jesus said to him a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me (agape)?’ Peter said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ And He said, ‘Tend My sheep. 17 He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ And this time Jesus used Peter’s word phileo, ‘do you really have a strong affection for Me?’” This really hurt. This probes into Peter’s heart.
And Peter was grieved, not because it was the third time. He needed three times. After all, he had denied the Lord three times. It was because the third time the Lord questioned even the love that Peter thought he could get by with. And again he calls on His omniscience. “Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed My sheep.’”
With all our flaws and all our failures, all Jesus asks of us real love. Now this love has a cost, verse 18, “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” What does that mean? It’s a euphemism for crucifixion.
Because verse 19 says, “This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” This was the best news Peter ever heard in his life. Yes, because it told Peter this, “The next time you face death for Me, you will not deny Me.” And when his time came, he said he was not worthy to be crucified like his Lord, so he asked to be crucified upside-down.
Jesus says, “Follow Me!” Love that sacrifices in the face of death is love that obeys in life. But for Peter everything is hard. Verse 20, “Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” Peter can’t stand it when privileges are given to John to be next to Jesus.
Verse 21, “Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus didn’t say a lot, but this is funny. Verse 22, “Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” If he lives till I come the second time it’s none of your business. That’s sarcasm. Jesus says, “It none of your business if I want him to live till the second coming.”
So the rumor went out. Verse 23, “Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus didn’t say to him that he wouldn’t die, only that, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?’” When John finally opened his mouth he produced the gospel of John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and the book of Revelation. John died 30 years after Peter’s crucifixion.
Peter learned his lesson. In 1 Peter 5, Peter is talking to us as a faithful shepherd. Verse 2, “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you.” He’s repeating what Jesus said to him three times, “exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God, not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; 3 not as lording it over to those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.”
Verse 24, “This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.” Peter has gone from being a disciple who needed to be discipled to becoming our teacher inspired by God, telling us to shepherd His flock. As we read earlier, “though you have not seen Jesus, you love Him.” Peter closes his letter with, “Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all.” Let us pray.