You Follow Me

Lovest Thou Me?

John 21:15-23

I have done things in my life that I am deeply ashamed of. Before my own conversion, I had broken every commandment God gave to Moses on Sinai. I lied, cheated, stole, lusted, committed adultery many times, and did not show respect to my parents. I at least half-heartedly, pursued other religions and bowed to false gods, I cursed and mocked God, and I have killed. I have done many, many things in my life that I am deeply ashamed of.

Now, I know that the Lord has told us that the commandments of God can be broken without actually breaking them. He showed the Pharisees that even though they appeared outwardly to obey the law, inwardly they were breaking them, and that is just as bad. So, if a person lusts after someone else, it’s adultery in the heart. If a person hates someone, it’s murder. But folks, I not only broke God’s law in my heart, but also in actuality. Each and every one of them.

I deserve the just punishment of God against sin. I deserve to die spiritually and physically. I am deeply embarrassed by what I’ve done in the past and for many years, even after my conversion, everything I have done tormented me and I constantly asked, “How could God forgive someone like me?” And you know, I don’t think I’m alone in wondering this. The apostle Paul said that he was the “chief of sinners”, so I’m sure he had to deal with his own guilt and sorrow for all he had done, and look at Peter; after everything he said, all his boasting and then his public failure when he denied Jesus three times, even to the point of cursing in order to emphasize the truth of his denial, well I’m sure he was in the throes of guilt and shame for some time to come afterward.

Can someone like Peter be forgiven? Can someone who persecuted the Church like Paul be forgiven? Can someone like me be forgiven? Can any of us be restored and made useable for the kingdom of God? Can people like us become more than just another example of what not to do? Can we become more than someone you point out to your children and say, “Don’t follow their path or do what they did, or the same horrible end will come to you?”

1. Follow Me

Joh 21:15-20 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, "Tend 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. (18) Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish." (19) This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."

As you probably remember from last week, the setting for this text is that Calvary was only a week or two earlier. Peter has sworn 3 times that he didn’t know Jesus, and at least one of those times he emphasized it with cursing. He ran out of the courtyard weeping. The Lord was tried, convicted, executed, and then buried in a tomb, but 3 days later He’s been reported alive! Several individuals had seen and spoken to Him, He appeared to the disciples in the Upper Room twice. Some were half-believing and others were half-doubting. They’re restless, perplexed, disturbed, and they just aren’t sure what to believe anymore.

The Lord and the angels had told them to go to Galilee and He would meet them there. It would have taken them only two or three days to reach Galilee, and they may have been sitting around waiting for a few days when Peter finally spoke up and said Joh 21:3 …"I am going fishing." The other disciples who were with him joined him and they spent all night out on the water, fishing, but not catching. Then as the sun began to rise over the horizon, some guy on the shore asked them, Joh 21:5 …"you don't have any fish, do you?" And when they responded in the negative, He told them to Joh 21:6 …"Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some."