If We Love Jesus. . . Series

If We Love Jesus. . .

The Gospel of John

John 21:15-19

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - August 29, 2018

(Revised August 4, 2020)

BACKGROUND:

*Please open your Bibles to John 21, as we think about our love for the Lord. In vs. 1-14, Peter had decided to go fishing in the Sea of Galilee, and six more of the disciples decided to go with him. It was a frustrating trip, because they worked all night and didn't catch a single fish.

*But the Risen Savior appeared on the shore the next morning, and that changed everything! At first, they didn't recognize Jesus. But when the Lord gave them a miraculous catch, John did recognize that it was Jesus, and they all rushed to shore.

*There, the Lord had already fixed breakfast for His followers! And I love that. But now, breakfast was over. Peter was walking along the shore together with Jesus. And the Lord began to ask Peter the most important question in life.

*Let's read vs. 15-19, to see what happened, and what it means for us today.

MESSAGE:

*"Do you love me?" I suppose we all have asked, or at least thought about that question at times. In tonight's Scripture, Jesus asked Peter, and the Lord is asking us today: "Do you love me?"

*Of course, we have every reason to love Jesus. 1 John 4:19 tells Christians, "We love Him, because He first loved us." And looking back over our lives, we can see that God has been so good to us. He has blessed us in countless ways. And anybody who has been a Christian for any length of time could stand up and say the same thing.

*But if none of those things had happened, or every other blessing was taken away, we would still have the greatest blessing of all. We would still have Jesus! And we can see the Lord's love most of all because He died on the cross for our sins. Jesus died to save our souls and set us free forever!

*There shouldn't be a drop of doubt that Jesus loves us, and we should love Him, because He first loved us. But how can we show it? Tonight's Scripture gives us 3 great ways to show our love.

1. FIRST: WE SHOULD CONFESS OUR LOVE FOR THE LORD.

*That's what Jesus led Peter to do in vs. 15-17:

15. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?'' He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.'' He said to him, "Feed My lambs.''

16. He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?'' He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.'' He said to him, "(Take care of) My sheep.''

17. He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?'' Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?'' And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.'' Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep."

[1] WHY DID THE LORD ASK PETER THOSE QUESTIONS? ONE REASON WHY IS BECAUSE JESUS WANTED TO HELP PETER.

*Peter was feeling terribly guilty those days, because he had miserably failed the Lord. Peter felt guilty, because he was guilty. He had denied the Lord 3 times, and there was no getting around it.

*Sometimes, we would like to get around it. We like to blame other people for our failures and our sins. Glen Miller saw this in his granddaughter, Kayla.

*Kayla was an only child, and one time she was upset after she got in trouble. That's when Kayla said this to her Mom: "The bad thing about being the only child is you get blamed for everything you do." (1)

*It might feel nice to blame someone else. But we can forget about that when it's just us and Jesus.

*Notice how the Lord dealt with Peter's guilt: He didn't rail at Peter, or rub it in. He didn't embarrass Peter or put him to shame. Instead, Jesus asked Peter three very simple questions. They were simple questions, but most profound: "Do you love me?"

*That question is hard to answer when we have let the Lord down. But here the Lord was giving Peter three more chances to confirm his love for Jesus.

*You may know that the original Greek language had more than one word for "love." And the first two times Jesus asked the question, He asked Peter if he loved the Lord with "agape" love. That's the highest love, the kind of unconditional love that God has for us.