How Christ Responded Part 3: The Follow Through

Peter bragged about how he would never deny his Lord. His actions on the night of Jesus’ arrest turned that brag into a lie. Just as Jesus said he would, Peter denied Jesus three times within the span of an hour, thinking more about saving his own hide than about his devotion to his Lord. In response Jesus looked directly at Peter just as the rooster crowed, bringing Peter under personal conviction concerning what he had just done. Fortunately, Jesus’ goal all along was to restore Peter as He described even before Peter sinned. And after His resurrection, Jesus took action, making sure that Peter understood that he was still an integral part of Jesus’ ministry plan.

John 21:15-19 describes a conversation between Jesus and Peter that took place after the resurrection. Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him. Three times Peter says yes. Whereas Peter once denied Jesus three times within the span of an hour, now he gets the opportunity to declare his love three times presumably in a much shorter time span. In response to each one of Peter’s declarations of love, Jesus instructs Peter to move forward in His ministry. With this conversation we see that Peter has been restored both in his relationship with the Lord and in his position as an Apostle, serving our Lord and Savior.

The Bible brings us God’s message of deliverance and of restoration but our Lord does not stop at just words. He is a God of action, working in our lives to bring us to the point where we live out what He is doing in our hearts. We see this in the fact that Jesus did not leave Peter wondering where he stood after his sin. Instead Jesus actively sought Peter out, pointing him in the right direction for his ministry. Likewise I believe Jesus seeks us out even after we stumble. His Spirit speaks to our hearts, telling us that we are still His and working to restore us that we might receive His love.

Nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). No matter how bad you think your sin might be nor how bad you think you are as a person, God loves you. He gave His Son that you might have life. If you have not received His gift of salvation, trust in Him and receive His gift today. If you are already a believer, remember that He will restore you even after you sin. Receive His forgiveness and let Him restore you in His love. He’ll do exactly as He has time and again: exactly as He did with Peter. He will follow through on His promise to restore you.

How Christ Responded Part 2: Personal Conviction

Jesus’ goal is restoration and as we saw in Part 1, He plans this even before we fail. He warned Peter that he would deny his Lord three times. While giving this warning, Jesus explained what would happen when Peter returned. Today Jesus, through His Spirit, continues to warn us before we stumble and continues to restore us after we fall. This is part of His response to us but it is not the entire picture.

The Gospel of Luke tells us that Peter denied being with or even knowing Christ three times over the course of an hour. As the words were leaving his mouth for the third time, he heard the rooster crow. At that moment Jesus turned and looked at Peter. It’s not clear from the text if Peter knew that Jesus was looking at him or if he met Jesus’ gaze. What is clear is that Peter comes under conviction, remembering the warning Jesus had given him before the soldiers came to arrest our Lord. Under this conviction Peter goes out and cries.

God sees all and our sins are not hidden from Him. Fortunately our sins were transferred to Jesus, Who carried them to the cross. But while our sin debt is paid, I believe that under the gaze of the living God we come under conviction about our sins. Here we must recognize the difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction is a very strong internal belief about what is right and what is wrong. When we sin we come under conviction where we realize that we have done something wrong and we respond according to the strength of that conviction, like Peter weeping bitterly. Condemnation, on the other hand, has to do with someone else pointing out our wrong and setting a burden or punishment upon us because of our sin. Self condemnation is when we beat ourselves up over that sin, trying to increase our burden in order to pay for failure.

All too often the god of today’s Christianity seems as if he prefers condemnation. He’s angry and wants nothing more than to make us pay for our sins. If this were true of Jesus that look would have been something totally different. His look would have struck Peter down with leprosy or lightning, ending Peter’s story without any chance of reconciliation. Keep in mind that Jesus had the power to do a great number of things to Peter in order to punish him for his sins. Instead He chose a look that brought simple conviction, nothing more.

The Bible tells us that, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.” (Romans 8:1) Peter was not condemned for his denial of Christ because if he were, Jesus could not have spoken of his return. I believe Peter felt conviction about his denial and about the fact that he did not keep his promise to never deny his Lord. From there his convictions would help him become the Peter we know in the Book of Acts, one who boldly proclaimed the name of Jesus even under threat of condemnation at human hands.

As followers of Christ we must understand that God does not condemn us when we stumble. Instead His Spirit works to help us understand what we have done and to bring us to a point where we feel a strong conviction when it comes to our sins. His goal is to restore us and to bring us to a point where our behavior, guided by our personal convictions, reveals a heart of obedience growing within us. This is the work of God’s Spirit within the believer. Are you willing to let Him work in your heart?

How Christ Responded Part 1

Have you ever thought about Jesus’ response to Peter’s denial? Jesus was inside the high priest’s house facing the charges leveled against Him. Meanwhile, Peter stood outside in the courtyard. There he was confronted by those who recognized that he was one of Jesus’ followers. In response he broke his promise to Jesus, denying that he even knew the man from Galilee. Three times he vehemently denied knowing Jesus or being one of his disciples. Immediately Peter hears a rooster crow and he is reminded of how Jesus warned him that he would deny Him three times. How did Jesus respond to Peter’s betrayal and what does it reveal about our Lord?

In order to understand our Lord’s response I think we need to start at the point where Jesus warns Peter about his pending denial. In Luke 22:31-32 Jesus warns Peter about a plot being hatched by the enemy. Fortunately for Peter, Jesus had already prayed for him. Jesus had prayed that Peter’s faith should not fail. Yet, Jesus then follows this by speaking of when Peter returns to Him. Jesus knew that Peter would turn away from Him for a moment. He spoke of Peter’s denial and yet it would seem that Jesus did not see this moment of weakness as a failure of Peter’s faith. He clearly knew that Peter would stumble but He also knew that Peter would return.

Peter’s denial did not surprise Jesus nor do our stumbles surprise Him today. He sees your heart and knows your thoughts. Our Lord sees your missteps before you are even tempted and I believe His Spirit (through your conscience) works to try to warn you just as Jesus warned Peter. When we do stumble, Jesus’ goal is the same as it was with Peter.

Jesus spoke of Peter returning to him. He then spoke of Peter strengthening his brothers. It would seem from this comment that Jesus’ goal was restoration. He planned to restore Peter, moving him back into a position of ministry. This was Jesus’ long term mission and a major stumble would not deter our Lord. When we stumble I believe Jesus’ goal is the same for us: restoration. The one thing He asks is that we return to Him: that when we realize our wrong we ask for forgiveness, acknowledging Him as our righteous Lord. He asks us to get up and walk again, trusting in His grace.

Yes, we all stumble from time to time. When we do we should remember that our sins are forgiven, the price paid through Jesus our Lord. We should see ourselves as forgiven and then remember that Jesus’ goal after we stumble is for us to be restored. Jesus told Peter this very thing before Peter’s failure. Jesus told Peter that His ministry would continue. His plan was to restore Peter and this is how Jesus responds to us when we stumble today.