Lord’s love lifts life’s lows

Have you ever felt downcast and downtrodden? The kind of defeat you get when you badly wanted to succeed? The kind of detours you did not plan or foresee? The kind of disappointment you have for both you and others when you really strove to do your best and be your best? The kind of despair you are entering into? Perhaps it is straight A grades to earn or a test not to flunk, a dream college to apply for or graduate from, a good paying job to seek or leave (voluntarily or not), a wife or husband to love or reconcile with, a friendship to forge or mend, a child to raise and discipline, a career ladder to climb up or scale down. Yes, we have defeats, detours, disappointments and even despairs, plentiful of them. I have a few big ones. I was prepared and expected to go to the very best college in China, but had to settle for less, months after my father untimely passed away, double setbacks for me then. I was hoping to become a university professor doing world class research, but ended up working in drug industry due to an event beyond my control. I was expecting a marriage that began with the typical fairytale happy union, but found myself bankrupt in love. Those are some of my life’s many lows. None of us, not even the Bible characters, are immune to life’s defeats, detours, disappointments and despairs. Peter is one such character. Let’s take a good look at him and his ordeals.

Peter’s life has a few low points. Remember Peter’s two fruitless night fishing expeditions, first recorded in Luke 5, which is in the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and then again in John 21, which is in the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry after resurrection. On both occasions, Peter the fisherman and his friends labored a whole night on the lake of Gennesaret or Tiberas, that is, the Sea of Galilee, catching not even one fish! That is as low as any fisherman can get. It is in his life’s low point when Jesus first called him to follow as a disciple and become a fisher of man, and then reconfirmed the apostolic calling for Peter. In addition, we read about Peter’s walking on the water, only to sink deep in poor faith. We read about Peter’s great confession, which gets him the praise from Jesus, only to speak moments later on the devil’s behalf. Of course, Peter the braggart boasted his superior love to Jesus than his friends during the last supper, and Peter the brave heart chopped off a poor servant’s ear during Jesus’ nighttime arrest, only to turn into Peter the coward who denies out of fear, not once, not twice, but thrice, before the rooster crows, his association with and knowledge of Jesus after the Master’s arrest. Peter has to be disappointed with himself. So much so that he and six other disciples took a night off and went on a fishing expedition, again in the Sea of Galilee. Apparently all fish there that night got the advance notice from the Maker of heavens and earth to stay away from Peter and his cohorts and dodge their snarling net. The immediate context of our sermon text today is found in John 21.

A few days after resurrection, Jesus decided to appear to his disciples for a third time. This time, to seven of the twelve disciples. The Gang of Seven was fruitless in their nightlong fishing expedition. Something fishy must be going on. To their credit, they were quite persistent in disrupting the restful sleep of fish that night. Before dawn, Jesus appeared on the shore, asking them, not without some light sarcasm, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No” was their terse and truthful reply. “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” Jesus instructed. And catch they did. A netful of 153 fish in just one cast! John was the first to recognize it was Jesus on the shore. Guess what Peter did. He jumped off the boat and swam toward the shore. Imagine Peter’s bittersweet emotions. Sweet, because the Lord is the lord of even fishery. Bitter, because Peter could not quite let go of his guilt in denying Jesus three times before the dawn of Good Friday. Make no mistake, Peter loves the Lord, despite all his failings.

Jesus did three remarkable things that morning to mend and lift up Peter’s broken spirit. First, he cooked breakfast for Peter and six other disciples. Notice before they hauled the net ashore, fish and bread were already being baked on burning coal. Nowhere in the text says that Jesus went to the early morning market for food. It has to be a miracle in the midst of another. I suggest fish and bread simply came out of thin air in that pre-dawn hour. Jesus demonstrated his care and love for Peter and others by providing what they were laboring for. We can imagine the atmosphere. It has to be a sobering mood. Silence, more than the sporadic sound of munching on fish and bread by the hungry seven, dominated the breakfast time. Peter probably could not get away with the thought: Hmm, after a whole night of fruitless labor, just one cast as instructed by the Lord netted 153 fish. What a miraculous change in fortune! To continue in one’s own effort and be fruitless, or to follow the Lord that provides all of our needs, that is the clear choice set before Peter and his friends. I am sure Peter recalled the first fruitless fishing in the same lake over three years ago. The two nights of fruitless labor serve as two bookends to Peter’s life. It has to invoke a sense of coincidence and awe. Once a disciple, forever a disciple. There is no turning back. The world behind me, the Cross before me, no turning back, no turning back. People in the world are overtly preoccupied with meeting the physical needs, forgetting that it is God who supplies all of our needs. If only we turn back to God and seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these things shall be added unto us. Just look at the animal planets documentary, water everywhere is teeming with lively creatures. Look at God’s gardens everywhere, they are filled with the produces of every kind, in very creative packages. Our lows in life arising from our excessive concern and worry can be effectively dealt with by knowing the love of God who is the Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will Provide.

The second thing Jesus did to Peter was no less remarkable. He asked Peter three questions and reaffirmed Peter’s apostleship. If the breakfast met Peter’s physical needs, then the post-breakfast questions address his deep emotions and broken spirit. Jesus asks Peter by addressing his original name: Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these? Some theologians wish to attach this use of the original name to mean Jesus’ intention to awaken Peter’s bruised soul. The word love here is agapas, the kind of holy and godly love. Jesus was asking if Peter really loves Jesus more than these, meaning here his fisherman friends and fishing business. Listen to what Peter has to answer, sort of indirectly: Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Here Peter used the Greek word phileo, the kind of brotherly love that is less than agape in both intensity and scope. Essentially, the humiliated Peter who thrice denied the Lord a few days ago dared not to speak about his superiority in loving the Lord. But he acknowledged that the Lord knew his heart and he indeed loved Jesus, just not on the same scale that Jesus loved him. Jesus clearly was pleased with Peter’s reply and issued the first order of his commission to Peter now reappointed and reaffirmed as the leader of the apostolic pack: Feed my lambs. Lambs (harnia) means little and immature baby sheep. Instead of being concerned with one’s own well being, Peter was to provide pastoral care by feeding the young and immature children of God with the word of God.

The dialogue did not stop there. Jesus asked Peter a second time, just like the first time, except omitting the words “more than these”: Simon son of John, do you truly love me? Peter did not waste any time in affirming as before: Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Again Peter used the Greek word phileo to humbly reply to Jesus’ inquiry of agape love. Basically, he was saying: Yes, Lord, you know my heart, I do have some love for you, just not as much as you and I wanted to have. Jesus then issued the second order of his commission: take care of my sheep. Here Jesus used a different verb (poimaine) and a different noun (probatia). Poimaine means shepherd, tend, or take care of. Probatia is still little sheep, but a bit more mature and grown up than harnia the little baby lamb. Peter’s mission was not only to feed the needy lambs of God, but also to provide holistic shepherding care to the whole flock of God.

I know and you know well. The most dreadful has happened. Jesus asked Peter a third time, as if to remind him his denial of knowing Jesus three times. “Simon son of John, do you love me?” This time, Jesus asked Peter using the word phileo instead of agapas, as if to challenge him: Look, you have said twice that you have phileo kind of love for me. But do you mean it for sure? Do you even have that kind of love? The newfound joy of being reaffirmed and reappointed as the leader of the apostolic pack is now giving way to grieving in Peter’s heart. Peter replied, probably in breaking voice: Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you. If the Lord knows all things, why bother asking Peter to answer? We ask questions in the same vein: If the Lord knows all my failings and needs, why does he still want me to pray to him in confession and petition? Why the roundabout way? Brothers and sisters, talking to God about our failings and needs is God’s way of initiating the healing and blessing. There is power in letting out our concern, care, worry, oppression, depression, and suppression. The Lord wants us to bear his yoke, for his is lighter and easier than our own. Jesus issued a third order of his commission to Peter: Feed my sheep. Basically, Peter was to feed the lambs and sheep, and take good care of their physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs.

Jesus continued, with his prophetic words about how Peter would finish his earthly journey and die a martyr’s death. This is the third thing after feeding Peter and his friends with breakfast, after quizzing Peter for his love and reaffirming/reappointing Peter to apostolic leadership position. Following provision and three-fold pronouncement is prophecy or prediction. Peter will enjoy some time of freedom in shepherding God’s church, before he is bound up and taken to the execution ground for a final suffering, the kind of suffering that Peter was fearful to witness during Jesus’ last few hours. Uninformed people may think this is Jesus’ way of getting even with Peter’s denial. Far from it, this is Jesus’ way of assuring Peter that Peter as the reinstalled leader of the apostolic pack will offer tender care to the flock of God’s people and eventually walk the same walk of the cross that he once was afraid of and now he is emboldened to trod upon, by imitating the Lord who so loves him and whom he has readily confessed to love. As surely as Jesus predicted Peter’s denials after last supper, Jesus is now predicting Peter’s martyrdom after the lakeside breakfast. I must admit that knowing the detail of one’s final leg of journey on earth can be a depressing thought. I would be hesitant to know the manner that I will die someday, be it plane crash or car wreck, cancer or heart attack, botched robbery with murder, you name it. But in perfect love there is no fear. When one knows the eventuality, one takes time to digest it, get over with it and have peace about it. Peter’s immediate reaction to Jesus’ prediction is asking about John’s fate out of curiosity: Lord, what about him? In the closing lines of John 21, we hear Jesus saying to Peter: “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”

On that post-resurrection, perhaps foggy, morning, by the lake of Galilee, a silent transformation is taking place. The Peter who once led the pack of 12 apostles badly failed after Jesus’ arrest by denying the very Lord that he had followed for three plus years. After a couple of post-resurrection appearances to the disciples, restoration of Peter’s apostleship is in order. Jesus chose a time after Peter’s second fruitless fishing expedition with six other buddies. Jesus did three things to start the process of healing and restoration. First, he prepared a miraculous breakfast by the shore, even though the fish in the lake were ducking from Peter’s net cast one after another throughout the quiet, spring night. But fish and bread, like any other good things in life, are all gifts of God. To acknowledge God’s sovereign lordship is the starting point to come out of life’s endless worries and lows. Second, Jesus had a remarkably short counseling session with Peter in the presence of six others. He basically went straight to the heart of the matter: do you love me more than anything, your social network, your professional career, even your own life? The little love we or Peter have for the Lord is valued by the Lord. We do not have to pretend that we have greater love than anyone else. We come to the Lord just the way we are, a sinner short of agape love and in need of God’s mercy and love, no pretense, no veneer of trumped up godliness, no comparison with others. God is willing to restore our relationship with him if we confess how little love we have. Our love, as little as it is, is by no means belittled by God. I did not know what true love is, until I came to know the Lord in the midst of my marriage struggles. You too can come before God’s throne of mercy and gain or regain his forgiveness and favor. Lastly, Jesus predicted Peter the martyr who would pass life’s ultimate test of faith: to die a martyr’s death in the imitation of Christ and for the glory of God. Church history tells us, Peter was crucified upside down on a cross in Rome, for Peter felt it was unworthy for him to die in the same way as the Lord. In life and in death, we belong to Christ. If death cannot deter the faithful, nothing in this world, not the lows of our life, can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Just as apostle Paul eloquently expresses at the end of Romans 8.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution, or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

To that we all say: Amen and amen!!