PETER
John 1:40-42, John 21:1-17
#John1
INTRODUCTION… THE GUY WE TALK ABOUT TODAY (p)
We are going to talk about a special guy from the Bible today…
If he were a personal computer, he’d be the MITS Altair 8800.
If he were a cell phone, he’d be the Motorolla DynaTAC 800x.
If he were an Atari game, he’d be Pong.
If he were a supreme court justice, he’d be John Jay.
If he were a PGA champion, he’d be Jim Barnes.
If he were a car, he’d be a Benz Motorwagen.
If he were a host of Wheel of Fortune, he’d be Chuck Woolery.
If he were a sneaker, he’d be Keds.
What I mean by these silly examples is that this guy is an original. The guy we will focus on today was one of the original followers of Jesus Christ and perhaps one of the most famous. He’s one of the core 12 followers who became Apostles and he is part of the inner circle. He is most often seen as the leader of the group and wrote 2 books in the New Testament… 3 if you want to get technical. Peter is one of the first Christians.
We are in a series in John 1. John 1 mentions Peter and so does the very last chapter of John. So we are going to spend a brief amount of time in John 1 because it was Peter’s life in John 21 that really grabbed my attention.
What do we read about Peter in the Scriptures?
What does Peter’s life in Christ teach us?
READ John 1:40-42
40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).
We talked about last week how Andrew believed that Jesus was the Christ and the first thing he did was find his brother Peter and introduce him to Jesus. That is significant. In this passage, Jesus immediately gives Simon a nickname based on his personality and all that Jesus knew he would be… Peter… a name meaning “rock.” Throughout the Gospel we see Peter charging forward in his role as a disciple of Jesus and he has his ups and he has his downs. It is not smooth sailing for Peter.
In John 6, Peter declares that he would not desert Jesus because Jesus has the words of life.
In John 13, Peter doesn’t want Jesus to wash his feet because he feels unworthy.
In John 13, Peter declares he would lay his life down for Jesus.
In John 18, Peter defends Jesus with a sword when He is arrested.
In John 18, Peter three times denies he even knows Jesus.
In John 20, Peter discovers the empty tomb.
We then come to John 21 which is where we will spend the majority of our time today. It is a large passage, so I want to go a few verses at a time and dig into what we find there. Peter has much to share with us by his life.
LIFE LESSON FROM PETER: BE MINDFUL OF INFLUENCES
READ John 21:1-3
Afterward Jesus appeared again to His disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 "I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?" "No," they answered. 6 He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
I am not going to disparage the angling skills of Peter and the other disciples, but this is not the first time they fished all night and caught nothing. Maybe Peter and the others were just terrible fishermen… I don’t know… but they catch nothing. All their hard work had come to nothing. Luke 5, very early in Jesus’ ministry, records a similar set of circumstances and Jesus doing the exact same thing with the exact same results.
Why is Peter fishing? We don’t know. He could have needed money to provide for his family. He could have wanted to do something to occupy his time. It was a strange time when some have seen Jesus and they knew Jesus was risen from the dead, but past that, they were not sure what to do. Many things were unsure for these men.
What is clear is that Peter is definitely the leader of the group. He decides to go fishing and 6 of the other disciples go with him. They follow. They are influenced by him. This might sound strange, but all of us have influence over someone and we all have people in our lives that influence us.
We should be mindful of our influence of others and the influences we allow in our lives. I guess I wonder what else Peter could have been doing while the news of Jesus’ resurrection was solidifying in their minds and hearts. Could Peter have led them to pray? Could Peter have led them to be patient? Even in Acts 1 Peter pushes the disciples to replace Judas quickly and seems to be quite impatient. I see in this passage that Peter is perhaps depressed, unsure, and restless all at the same time and that is having an influence on the other disciples.
WHY DO I LIKE? (p)
Why do I like John Wayne and westerns and Star Trek? My dad.
Why is education very important to me? My dad.
Why do I believe sending cards to people is a sign of love? My mom.
Why do I know how to use coupons and shop well for groceries? My mom.
Why do I like hockey? My wife.
Why do I root for the SEC team when I don’t care who wins? My wife.
Why do I only buy name brand peanut butter? My wife.
Why do I value martial arts? My friend Jason.
Why do I hesitate each time I talk about gender issues or race issues to make sure I have the right terms and double check my attitudes? My daughter.
I am sure if you sit and think, you can understand what you value and why… what likes and dislikes have been passed on to you. We all have people we influence and we all have influences on us. The Bible shares with us that influences are important.
* Proverbs 13:20, “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.”
* Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
* 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’"
* Galatians 5:7-10, “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the One who calls you. 9 "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.”
LIFE LESSON FROM PETER: BE MINDFUL OF INFLUENCES
LIFE LESSON FROM PETER: JUMP OUT OF THE BOAT
READ John 21:7-8
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.
Peter realizes that Jesus is on the shore. What does he do? He jumps out of the boat in order to get to Jesus. His love for Jesus made him jump from the boat. His excitement for Jesus made him jump into the water. Peter had done this before… in Matthew 14… Peter got out of the boat and walked on water with Jesus.
I thought about this a little bit and I cannot help but think that Peter jumping out of the boat was wrapped up in his love, excitement, and loyalty for Jesus. By jumping out of the boat, Peter expressed all of that as well as his wholehearted devotion to Jesus. In doing all of this, Peter is growing his faith and pushing back on doubt and fear. The last thing he’d done for Jesus was deny Him three times. I can imagine fear as well as excitement grabbing Peter. What would he say to Jesus? Amidst all those issues, he jumped out of the boat.
Jumping out of the boat means having great love for Jesus Christ.
Jumping out of the boat means having excitement about our relationship with Him.
Jumping out of the boat means pushing back doubt and fear and putting faith in its place.
Jumping out of the boat is wholehearted loyalty to Jesus Christ.
ILLUSTRATION… “If You Want to Walk on Water You Have to get out of the Boat” Ortberg, pg 83
“Most of us have an area that might be called our ‘spiritual comfort zone,’ which is the area were we feel most comfortable trusting God. When God calls us to go beyond our spiritual comfort zone, we begin to get nervous or uncomfortable. We would prefer not to go outside the zone until we feel better about it. … There is only one way to increase our spiritual comfort zone, and acquiring more information alone will not do it. You will have to follow the Path of God, which requires taking a leap of faith.”
May we cultivate passion for Christ in our lives and push back on fear and our comfort zones.
What do you need to jump into to cultivate great love for Jesus Christ?
What do you need to jump out and push back doubt or fear?
What do you need to jump forward in to deepen your loyalty to Christ?
What do you need to jump into to cultivate wholehearted devotion to Jesus Christ?
LIFE LESSON FROM PETER: JUMP OUT OF THE BOAT
LIFE LESSON FROM PETER: PUT JESUS FIRST
READ John 21:9-14
When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught." 11 Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15 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." 16 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." 17 The third time he 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.”
The whole reason for this interaction of Jesus and Peter was to let Peter know that Jesus loved him dearly and that he had not been cast out of the group. The only disciple lost was Judas Iscariot and that was of his own choice. Just as a side note, had Judas decided not to kill himself and he had been sitting on this beach with Jesus… what do you think Jesus would have done? How do you think Jesus would have treated him? What words would Jesus have said? There are two options. Jesus would either say, “Away from me I never knew you” or He would say, “I forgive you.” I have always been convinced that if Judas were repentant, that Jesus would have forgiven him. That’s grace. That’s the grace for which Jesus died.
The three questions Jesus asks Peter in these verses are in direct contrast to Peter’s three denials. Three denials. Three answers. Three affirmations of love. Jesus is erasing Peter’s guilt and shame and doubt and mistake and sin one question at a time.
Jesus asks Peter in verse 15, “Do you love me more than these?” As they are sitting there, the “these” could be referring to several things there on the beach.
Do you love me more than these other people sitting here?
Do you love me more than you love these other fellows?
Do you love me more than these things… fish and nets and boats?
I honestly am not sure what Jesus is referring to, but the question could indeed apply to just one or all three? Peter do you love me above all else?! I think that is the most important question. Peter do you love me above all else?!
I think through the process of the three questions Jesus was taking Peter from an intellectual decision to follow Him to one of the heart. Through the three questions, Peter affirms his commitment to Christ and Jesus tells him to be a guardian over believers. Peter solidifies his faith in Christ in these statements and based on everything he has experienced with Jesus and with the fact that Jesus is now sitting right in front of him.
Jesus asks… Peter will you put me first?
Peter says… yes.
ILLUSTRATION… https://insider.pureflix.com/lifestyle/10-ways-to-put-god-first-in-the-modern-world (adapted)
How can we put God first?
Start your day with prayer. Set your alarm 5-10 minutes earlier and begin with prayer and then get up when you normally do.
Create a verse card. Write out a verse on an index card or sticky note each week and read it and memorize it so you will meditate on things that really matter.
Subscribe to a Christian podcast. The Bible Project is one I would recommend right away.
Read one Christian book a month. There is a list of books to start on our website.
Play a sermon in the morning or at lunch time. There are tons of resources to do this.
Journal your thoughts or prayers or study time.
Pray throughout the day. Perhaps even set a timer or alarm to pray at different times during the day.
Look for ways to help others and love them.
We must demonstrate like Peter did that we put Jesus first in our lives. We are to put Him first in our minds, hearts, bodies, finances, politics, marriages, parenting, driving, and every aspect of our lives.
LIFE LESSON FROM PETER: PUT JESUS FIRST
CONCLUSION… THE GUY WE TALK ABOUT TODAY (p)
We have talked about a special guy from the Bible today… Peter. Peter was among the first believers in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and became the leader of the group.
If he were President of the Continental Congress, he’d be Peyton Rudolph.
If he were a woman mayor of a town, he’d be Susanna Salter of Argonia, Kansas.
If he were a photographer, he’d be Ibn al-Haytham
If he were a web browser, he’d be the WorldWideWeb.
More than remembering simply that Peter was among the first Christians and a leader in the Early Church, we should remember the lessons from his interactions with Jesus:
LIFE LESSON FROM PETER: BE MINDFUL OF INFLUENCES
LIFE LESSON FROM PETER: JUMP OUT OF THE BOAT
LIFE LESSON FROM PETER: PUT JESUS FIRST
GOSPEL PRESENTATION
The very last verse of John 21 is the last verse of the whole book. John 21:24-25 says in concluding the Gospel of John, “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” Jesus did so much in His life on Earth. He taught. He healed. He ministered to people’s needs. I want you to know the most important things about Jesus were written down and we have them. The most important thing about Jesus was written down and that was His sinless life, His willing sacrifice on the cross, and His promised resurrection. Jesus died for us and we have that testimony. If you are not a believer in Jesus, I would invite you to read the Gospel of John and then… and then… you will be faced with a decision. Is Jesus Who He says He is or not? You will have to make a decision!
CONCLUSION IN PRAYER
