Introduction
1. (object lesson: Play a carnival type game where you get 2-3 chances to throw balls through a hula hoop.)
2. It’s nice to get more than one chance at things...
Some things, you don’t get another chance...
I love the NCAA Basketball Tournament...
This year was especially gratifying because the Gators won!!
But in the tournament...once you lose...you are out...
there is no second chance...
3. But, for most things, perhaps you can get another chance...
In the movie “City Slickers”...
Billy’s Crystal’s character says that “life is a do over”...
when kids are playing... they will say something like...
“Hey, you messed me up...do over...”
Interestingly, we find “do over’s” in the Bible...
We find second chances in the Bible...
and today, this first Sunday after Easter...
I would like for us to look at several...
Read Text: John 21:15-17
1. Peter got a second chance....
A. When Jesus died, the disciples lost all hope...
they had heard all Jesus’ teachings...
but when Jesus died...
His teachings seemed to die with Him...
they were lost...
like sheep without a shepherd...
B. I wonder how Peter felt...
You remember what happened...
Jesus had predicted that Peter would deny Him...
and Peter absolutely denied that he would ever deny Christ...
And then Peter did...
things had gotten crazy...
Jesus was about to be crucified...
the whole city was in an uproar...
and several people came to Peter and claimed that he was with Jesus...
Peter could see what was happening to Jesus...
and he didn’t want any of that...
so he denied it...
The rooster crowed...
and then, in Matthew 26:75, Scripture tells us that Peter went out and wept bitterly...
he was beside himself with misery...
he had blown it...
and then Jesus died.
C. I imagine that in the midst of Peter’s tears...
if he cried out to God in his pain...
“if only I could have another chance...
If only I could see Jesus again...
if only I could tell Him how sorry I am...
if only life was a do over...
But now, Jesus is dead...
and there is no second chance”...
D. But then on Easter morning,...Mary told him the tomb was empty...
he, Mary, and John ran to the tomb...
perhaps Peter dared to hope...
“if only I had it to do over again...
but there’s no second chances...are there?”
And he ran with all his heart to see what was going on at the tomb...
But he still isn’t sure...
But then, later, he sees Jesus face to face...
and Jesus gives Peter a 3-fold opportunity to express his love to Him...
to take away the pain of his 3-fold denial of Jesus...
To Peter...the resurrection of Jesus means that he got a do over...
He got a second chance...
2. Judas
A. Even Judas Iscariot got another chance...
he had sold his Savior for 30 pieces of silver...
later on...he felt so bad about it...
he tried to give it back...1
he tried to take a do over...
he tried to make it right...
But, the Chief Priests wouldn’t take his money...
and Judas snapped...
perhaps he couldn’t bear the thought of knowing what he had done...
and he went out and committed suicide...
B. No more chances for Judas...
if only he had repented to Jesus...
if only he could have thrown himself upon God’s mercy...
but he didn’t...
and he ruined his shot at a do over...
he blew it...
3. Thomas is another one who wanted another chance...
A. First, he said...
“No way...dead men do not come back to life...
I just don’t believe it...
I don’t care what you saw with your own eyes...
I didn’t see it for myself...
and unless I see it with my own eyes...
unless I see the nail prints in His hands...
I won’t believe it”...
B. And then, just 1 week later...
he got his second chance...he got his do over...
Jesus came and showed Thomas the proof he demanded...
Thomas was humiliated...
he could have run out in his embarrassment...
he could have taken the coward’s way out like Judas...
but instead, he makes that great affirmation of faith...
“My Lord and my God”!!
The resurrection of Jesus means that Thomas got a do over...
he got a second chance...
4. James and John, the sons of thunder got a second chance...
A. They selfishly desired places of honor...
they asked Jesus if they could sit in the places of honor on His right and left when Jesus came into His glory (Mark 10:37)...
Pretty arrogant...
Jesus told them... “you don’t know what you are asking”...
the other 10 disciples heard about it and they were furious...
it could have been the thing that drove this close knit group apart...
B. But it didn’t...
eventually they were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost...
and they ended up “drinking the cup” that Jesus drank...
just like Jesus predicted...
Instead of being puffed up in pride...
James was martyred for his faith...
In Acts 12:2, we see that Herod had James killed with a sword...
John ended up spending the end of his life in exile on an Island...
all alone.
C. James and John did the ol’ “open mouth, insert foot”...
when Jesus died...
I’m sure they were humiliated with the memory of what they had done...
they were hiding out in fear that the same thing that happened to Jesus might happen to them too...
But, the resurrection of Jesus means that James and John got a do over...
they got a second chance...
5. And of course, this natural leads us to think...”what about You and Me?”
A. Does the resurrection mean that we get a second chance?...
Does the resurrection mean that we get a do over?...
and I have come to the conclusion that...
based upon my study of God’s Word...
yes...you do get a second chance...
you do get a do over...
B. But the more important question is...
What are you doing to do with it?...
will you make good use of your second chance?...
Like Peter...who denied Christ...but later expressed his love for Him...
Like Thomas...who doubted...but then expressed his faith...
Like James and John...who said something stupid...
and then later, lived a life of humble obedience...
C. Or, will you waste your second chance like Judas did?
I’m sure we have all done or said stupid things in the past...
I know I have...
sometimes I still think back about those things that I have said or done...
and I am embarrassed still...
What does the truth of the resurrection of Jesus mean to you and to me?...
It means that we have another chance...
it means that even if we have blown it...
we can try again...
we get a second chance...we get a do over...
I want to make good use of my second chance...
I want to express my love to Jesus...like Peter did...
even though there was a time in my past when I rejected Him...
I want to express my faith....like Thomas did...
even though there was a time in my past when I doubted...
I want to give my life...even if it means death or banishment...
like James and John did...
even though there have been times in my past when I made stupid or arrogant comments...
Conclusion
1. Jesus, our resurrected Lord, is here this morning...
and the fact of the resurrection means that you get a second chance...
you get a do over...
what are you going to do with yours?...
2. Perhaps some of you identify with Peter this morning...
you made boastful comments about the strength of your faith in Christ...
but then you didn’t live up to them...
when you were around the wrong crowd...
you did some things that you wouldn’t have believed you would ever do...
or you said some things that you didn’t you would ever say...
And this morning, you need a do over...you need a second chance...
you want to come and meet the Lord at this altar of prayer...
repent and express your love to Him...
3. Perhaps some of you identify with Thomas...
you’ve struggled with doubts...
you’ve heard other people express their faith in Christ...
you’ve heard the stories of the resurrection...
but you haven’t come face to face with the risen Lord...
and today you have...
and you want to come and make Thomas’ expression of faith yours as well...”My Lord and my God”...
4. Maybe you identify with James and John...
you wanted the positions of glory or honor...you let pride get in the way...
and you want another chance...
and the resurrection means that you want to commit your life to serve the Lord no matter what.
5. Maybe you even identify with Judas...
you feel like all hope is gone...
you feel like you have turned your back on Jesus...
you feel like you have sold Him down the river...
and maybe you even feel that you don’t have anything to live for...
Judas stands as an example for you that you don’t want to blow your second chance...
you don’t want to waste your do over...
the resurrection means you get another chance...
you may have messed up in the past...
but today, God is giving another chance...
#326 “The Savior is waiting”
