Follow Me

John 21:1-19

“Follow Me”

Sunday, January 25, 2026

As I reflect on my time in Israel, I remember the sign marking the original location of the wall of Jerusalem. Over the years the exact border markers for the Holy City had moved. Some movement due to historic geographical changes, some due to war and some simply to time and the growth of the city. As I walked around the city a tried to identify time and distance from one monument to another from the place of the Last Supper to the Garden of Gethsemane to the Temple Mount to a hill called Calvary, I found one distinct fact, that there were no certainties. The upper room could have been there, and the tomb of our Lord could have been where I visited. The only landmark that had not changed was the Sea of Galilee. The same water that He met some fisherman and gave a new job, the same water that He preached by, the same water that after being awakened from sleep he calmed with only His word, the same water that He feed the 5000 by the same water that He walked upon, this Sea of Galilee also called the Sea of Tiberias remains the same even today. This lesson calls our attention to the consistency of Jesus and the value of that consistency in the Gospel Message.

I. THE CONFRONTATION (Jesus helps us to Confront Sin) - Matthew 26:69-75 gives us the background or the context to why Peter is out of line in our text. Before we can see how the Lord restored this disciple, we must first understand what happened to Peter and how he came to be where he is in the first place.

Note: There is no sin in fishing. The problem was not fishing but simply he was not were the Lord told him to be. Peter was simply in the wrong place. Have you ever been in the wrong place?

1. The Place of His Sin - In the beginning, Peter had made his boast that he would never forsake the Lord, but in the end, he followed Jesus “afar off.” When Peter found himself surrounded by the Lord’s enemies, it became hard for him to stand by his earlier boast. Now, he takes the low road and denies that he even know the Lord Jesus, v. 69-74 (Essentially, wherever and however “it” begins, “it” will eventually lead to the same place).

2. The Pain of His Sin - When Peter denied the Lord that night, Luke tells us that he went out and “wept bitterly.” Peter was miserable in his new condition. He knew that he had wronged the Lord (So it is with every child of God who decides to walk away from the will of God. You will soon realize that sin brings with it pain, suffering and misery. Sin is a thief and a robber! It steals youth and beauty. It destroys innocence and effectiveness).

3. The Price of His Sin - After Peter sinned, he felt a definite loss of fellowship, he felt that things were different. Peter must have assumed that his ministry was over. He had denied the Lord and so he decided to return to the old way of life. Whatever the motivation, Peter had been called to forsake all those things and to follow Jesus, Matthew 4:19. The Lord’s call had been a call to come and be a fisher of men! - When Peter went back to the old life, he took others with him. They should have been waiting for their marching orders. After all, Jesus had told them to go into Galilee and wait for Him, Matthew 28:10 (Have you noticed that sin loves company? This is merely an effort to make itself more comfortable).

4. The Product of His Sin - Peter and the disciples fished all night long and produced nothing! Most of these men had been professional fishermen before they met the Lord and this must have been a devastating thing to have to deal with. This is just the way it works for those who are out in sin. You will never be able to do what you used to do with the same results you used to have.

II. THE COMFIRMATION (Jesus helps us to Confirm Doctrine) - Even though Peter had wandered into sin, he still hadn’t gone so far that the Lord had stopped loving him. He will never leave us or forsake us.

A. V. 4-7 Jesus Found Peter - After the sin, after the return to the old life, after a long night of failure, Jesus stepped onto the scene and in a few minutes turned everything around and made things like they ought to be. What made the difference? There was a change in Peter.