Failure, Jesus is More Powerful than Failure

John 21

Open: If we all shared honestly this morning with each other, we would find out that we all have many, things very much in common. And because of those commonalities, it is clear that we are all are imperfect. 

We all have many needs. We all have experienced many pains. We all have gone through difficulties or trials. We have experienced sadness and grief, and we all have made huge mistakes. We all been in trouble and some of us can say we have been through the fire.        So, if you can say your life has been perfect, then you would not need Jesus………………………………….PRAY………

Now last week we looked at Judas the betrayer of Christ.  After the Last Supper, out into the darkness Judas went to sell out His Lord for 30 pieces of silver and then latter he went and hung himself. 

So today, I want to show you another man who also failed Jesus that same night. We know this man as Peter………..            

This story is about Peter failing the Lord, which has been told for two millennia. And of all the Apostle you must wonder how could Peter, the guy who drew his sword to protect Jesus do such thing? But we know that Peter denied Jesus three times as Jesus said it would happen.

But what I see in this story is that there are two-part.

1-First Peter denying Jesus three times. And…. 2-How Jesus restored him…..

In this story, we can find such a blessing filled with hope, liberation, and truth:  You see folks, and this is what I hope that we take home with us today; when we fail, it is just an event, it does not need to be our destiny. God will forgive and restore us if we will cry out to Him……  That is where Judas failed. 

Because,…… the not-so-good news is,……… sooner or later we will fail the Lord if we are honest. 

But it is not our initial failure that ruins us. It is what happens next that matters…….

You see, failure doesn’t mean you have blown everything. It means you have some hard lessons to learn… It doesn’t mean that God has abandoned you. It means that God has a better plan.

I am sure throughout Peter’s life, he never forgot what happened when he denied Christ. I imagine every time when Peter heard a rooster crow …………………..PAUSE……..………….

(PP) Be ready to play this … Preferably,  sound only. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9AITDE4Qhg

Transition/Objective: So, let’s look at how Jesus restored His fallen disciple, by looking at five stages or steps…………..

(PP)I- First Jesus sent for Peter.

(PP)Mark 16:7 says, “When the women arrived at the tomb early on Sunday morning, an angel announced the good news and instructed them to “go, tell Jesus’ disciples and Peter.” 

When the Lord said, go tell-“His disciples and Peter”  I am sure that the Lord knew that Peter is pretty broken about what he did. I am sure that Peter can’t face the other disciples. Knowing “what he had done. Where will he go from here? I am sure he felt as low as you can feel…

Now looking back a few hours earlier, Peter bragged about his courage. He bragged that if everyone else deserted Jesus, he would never desert him. But as we know, Peter the “ROCK”, turned to “butter”

Still, Jesus sent for him.  Look with me are what Peter said 3 times. (PP) “Are you one of those men who were with Jesus?” “Jesus! I don’t know Jesus.” “Didn’t I see you with Jesus’ disciples?” “I don’t know the man you are talking about.” “Aren’t you a follower of Jesus of Nazareth?” He begins to swear as only a fisherman can swear. “I tell you, I don’t know that man.”  And off at a distance, a rooster crowed 3 times.

 (PP) If you can do this without showing the video that would be great. It is a rooster crowing 3x-                                           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9AITDE4Qhg

After hearing the rooster and remembering what Jesus had said to him, Jesus was brought out from his mock trial before the high priest Caiaphas. Hands tied, his beard ripped from his face, and his face beaten……

Then the LORD……(PP) Luke 22:61 says- “turned and looked straight at Peter. That’s when the full impact of his sin hit him. Realizing what he had done, Peter went outside and wept bitterly.

Transition: After all that, Jesus still has plans for Peter, Jesus had plans to give him a second chance as He does for all of us…………..           The second stage…….

(PP)II- Jesus met with Peter.

After Peter disowned Jesus, I can only guess that he did like so many of us do, when we have made huge mistakes, the last thing we want to do is be around other people, especially the ones who know us best and love us the most.

Sin tends to isolate us so that the devil can convince us that having made such a stupid mistake, no one wants to be around us again. So we spend our hours in a miserable prison of self-imposed solitary confinement…..  Do you know what I mean?

Like Peter, the last thing we are told is that after Jesus looked at Peter, he wept bitterly…. And we know that Peter was not at the crucifixion on Friday or during the burial late that afternoon.        We can only guess that he found a lonely spot so he could beat himself up all over again and asking himself, “Why?

Have any of you done that when you know you have messed up?  You were so embarrassed that you just want to hide….

But we know that Jesus made a special appearance to Peter sometime on Easter Sunday. We don’t know where or when precisely, but twice the New Testament mentions that the meeting took place: Luke 24:34 (PP) “The Lord has risen and has appeared to Peter.”  And in 1 Corinthians 15:4-5: “He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.”

Transition: That is why we talk so much about Grace at DE.   Jesus never humiliated Peter in front of the other Apostles. With wisdom and grace, Christ comes after Peter and doesn’t wait for Peter to come to Him. Grace is giving us the opposite of what we deserve.

Now the next step, we see that Jesus…

(PP)III- Challenged Peter.     

John 21: It’s evening on the Sea of Galilee, not long after the Resurrection. Peter and six other disciples have spent the night fishing and end up catching nothing.

In the morning, a man calls from the shore, telling them to put their nets on the other side of the boat and they will catch fish. They end up with so many fish, they can’t haul in the net because it was so full of fish. When he realizes the man on the shore is Jesus, Peter jumps in the water and begins swimming for shore……

And it turns out that Peter and the other disciples caught 153 large fish nearly bursting the net, by obeying the word of Christ.

All night they had caught nothing, but why didn’t Jesus help them catch fish during the night? He could have.  Maybe Jesus needed to let them struggle and fail at what they thought they did so well. Sometimes failure is a prerequisite to eventual success.

Maybe the disciples needed to fail so they could learn to depend on Christ for their victories. And sometimes it takes failure for us finally to wake up and see our need for Christ.

Transition/Application: It is the same question the Lord asks us every day. Will we obey even when we think we have a better way? Will we obey when we have failed on our own? The fourth step is that Jesus …………….

(PP)IV- Restored Peter.

After breakfast was over, Jesus asks Peter several questions. This is the part of the story most of us know best.

(PP) John 21:15-17 says, “When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time Jesus said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep”.

In John’s gospel chapter 18:18, tells us about the fire in the courtyard where Peter denied the Lord. This is no coincidence. By one fire he says, “I don’t know Jesus.” By another fire, Peter says, “Lord, you know I love you.” By one fire, Peter denied Christ. By another fire, Peter is restored by Christ.

But why did Jesus ask Peter three times, “Do you love me?”

Well, it is because Peter had denied Jesus three times. And why did Jesus do this in front of the other Apostles? Because Peter denied Jesus publicly……………  I also believe that the other disciples needed to hear Peter openly declare his love for Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t try to make Peter feel guilty. He doesn’t humiliate publicly. He doesn’t ask him, “Are you sorry for what you did?” He doesn’t make him promise to do better. He just asks one question: (PP) “DO YOU LOVE ME?”

Transition/Application: Peter needed to see the magnitude of his sin, and he needed to hear Jesus ask these searching questions.

You see folks, without the pain, Peter would not get better. Jesus says to us, “Truth will set you free.” Often, we don’t get better because we don’t want to face the hard truth about what we have said and done……. But until we face the truth about ourselves, we can never be free.

And when we live this way, it is a mighty step forward in Christian growth…… Folks, I can guarantee you that Peter never denied Christ again. 

And just a few days later, on the Day of Pentecost, fully restored, he stood in the temple courts and preached the gospel message to the very men who had crucified the Lord (Acts 2:14-40). And three thousand people were saved that day. The old Peter was gone forever. A new man was born when Jesus restored his fallen disciple.   And finally folks, Jesus……..

(PP)V- Reenlisted Him.

Early church tradition says that Peter was crucified upside down in Rome because he said that he was not worthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord… Although he failed in the past, in the end, he will glorify God in his death.

In the Upper Room Peter had rashly boasted that he was willing to follow Christ to prison and death (Luke 22:33). Peter did do just that. Early historians tell us that Peter lived and died faithful to Jesus to the very end.

So, we come to the end of the message. What does Christ do with failures? ……………………………….He redeems them!

You see brothers and sisters; God forget our past. But the question is- Why can’t we? For me, Peter remains one of my favorite people in the Bible because I see him every morning when we look in the mirror.

I love Peter because I can see myself in his story. His story is our story…. For all of us, the process of Christian growth is long and painful, with many ups and downs.

Peter the rock often seemed very un-rocklike. It took repeated failure to produce rock-solid character in him. But Jesus never gave up on His man.

And here is the final irony. From beginning to end, Jesus believed in Peter more than Peter believed in himself. So it will be for all of us.

That’s why John 21 is in the Bible so that all of us Peter-types would know that though we fall again and again, by God’s grace we can keep on getting back up. Grace, Grace Marvelous Grace.

Heaven is for Sinners, Who have been forgive by Grace Alone.