To Love The More
John 21:15-19 (ESV)
15When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, 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.”16He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”17He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, 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 everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.18Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”19(This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”
Introduction: Jenga game. (Failure is hard. And failure is embarrassing. But failure is not final)
One of the most famous failures in all of Scripture is Peter. He boasted loudly and publicly that even if every other disciple abandoned Jesus, he alone would stand firm (Mark 14:29): “Peter said to him (Jesus), ‘Even though they all fall away, I will not.’”
Peter meant every word. He drew a sword (John 18:10) in the garden to prove it. And then, on the worst night of his life, beside a charcoal fire (John 18:18) in the courtyard of the high priest, he denied the Lord three times (with oaths and curses). The rooster crowed, and the Lord turned and looked at him, and Peter went out and wept bitterly. Can Peter still carry on his apostolic ministry?
I. Peter’s great failure/fall: The painful probe
John writes nothing by accident. Every detail on that Galilean
shore forces Peter to retrace his steps through his worst night and further back to the devotion that preceded it.
A. Jesus strips away the name “Peter"” and addresses him as
“Simon, son of John” (John 21:15–17), taking him back to the
day they first met before the rock, the keys, and the boast (John 1:42) — but also back to the man who once confessed, “You are the Holy One of God” (John 6:69).
- Not really a demotion, I like what Herman Ridderbos said here, “In this use of Peter’s original name, scholars see Jesus taking a certain distance from Peter. It seems that Jesus wants to make Peter feel that, before going further with him, he must first make a fresh beginning with him.”
B. Jesus builds a “charcoal fire” (John 21:9), the same word used only one other time in the NT. Where? In the courtyard where Peter denied Him (John 18:18).
C. Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” three times (John 21:15–17), which parallels the three denials in the courtyard (John 18:17, 25, 27)
- Alexander McLaren: “The threefold denial needed to be obliterated by the threefold confession…And so Peter thrice having said, ‘I know him not!’ Jesus with a gracious violence forced him to say thrice, ‘Thou knowest that I love thee.’”
- To what or whom do “more than these” refer? More than you love the other disciples? Or, more than the fish? Or, more than you love your fishing boat and nets? Or, more than the other disciples love me? I think it’s the last one. Peter believes his love for Christ is greater than that of the other disciples and claims he would lay down his life for Him. Do you still think that you love “Me” (Jesus) the most?
- Love, lesser or higher love? Notice the variation of the Greek words for love used here.
1. The Father’s love for the Son:
- John 3:35: “The Father loves (agape) the Son
and has given all things into his hand.”
- John 5:20: "For the Father loves (phileo) the
Son and shows him all that he himself is
doing."
2. The disciple whom Jesus loved:
- John 19:26: “...When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved (agape)..."
- John 20:2: “...to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved (phileo)...” (See also 14:21; 16:27)
- Repentance: It hurts first, but it’s a necessary step toward
healing.
II. Peter’s granted the gift of forgiveness: The perfect pardon The Puritan Richard Sibbes once said, “There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.”
We all say we know the mercy of God. We preach it, teach it, defend it. It’s awesome. It’s breathtaking. And yes, much of our language about mercy is forensic, rooted in the courtroom of God’s justice where sinners are declared righteous for Christ’s sake. That is gloriously true. But sometimes our understanding stays on the page. It becomes “book talk.” In Peter’s reinstatement, mercy steps out of the textbook and walks toward a broken man on a beach. What we see in John 21 is mercy up close and personal.
The resurrection is Christ’s vindication, but he didn’t show up to his disciples to exact vengeance. Christ’s self-disclosure was for the purpose of restoring them. Mercy that does not crush a bruised reed. Jesus does not wait for Peter to complete all three confessions before he restored him. He doesn’t say, “Prove yourself first.” No! Each confession is met with “new mercy,” with a fresh act of forgiveness and a renewed commission. After every “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you,” comes a gracious, “Feed My sheep.” Restoration follows confession every single time.
Christ is always the initiator. Grace moves first. Remember Mary, grace and mercy preceded before she said, “I have seen the Lord” (John 20:18). How about
the other apostles, grace and mercy preceded before they said, “We have seen the Lord” (John 20:25); and Thomas, grace and mercy preceded before he said, “My Lord, and my God” (John
20:28). What do you think about this passage in John 21? Jesus prepared breakfast for his fallen disciples.
Application:
1. Grace and mercy restore us. They come to us through his words. Restoration doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Christ’s deep heart work takes place when we are exposed to his words. Conviction is generated by God’s word. Confession is driven by God’s word. Assurance of restoration is confirmed by God’s word. There would be no renewal apart from God’s word.
Mercy meets us before we can rebuild ourselves. Jesus doesn’t negotiate with Peter’s shame. He overcomes it with His own steadfast love. The Shepherd restores His wandering sheep not because the sheep is strong, but because the Shepherd is gentle.
2. This message is practical for us. Jesus doesn’t wait for you to “get it together” before he draws near again. Our resurrected Messiah comes to us the same way he came to Peter. When you turn to him in genuine repentance, he meets us with grace and mercy. Every confession is met with fresh grace and new mercies. And you can walk away not defined by your denial, your past sin, but by God’s grace and mercy.
Conclusion:
We return to the question that started it all and it is the question that hangs over every person in this room this morning: “Do you love me?” Do not answer too quickly. Search your heart. Jesus already knows it. He knew Peter’s heart better than Peter did. The question may even grieve you, as it grieved Peter. Good. That grief is the doorway to honesty, and honesty is the doorway to grace which leads to forgiveness and restoration:
“Part of what makes the gospel such good news is that sinners can not only be forgiven but also restored.” (Richard Phillips)
1. If you love Jesus, tell Him again and again. He never tires of hearing it.
2. If you love Jesus, show Him by feeding His sheep, by walking the road He sets before you, by following without looking
sideways.
3. If you don’t love Jesus or you feel like your life is such a mixed bag, ask God to change your heart. The place to start is a broken heart.
- David Felker, “God is a God of failures.” God’s grace and mercy turned a “great failure into a great follower.” Only God can do that. (continue with Jenga illustration)
4. And if you are here this morning and you have never come to Christ, you are the lost sheep the Shepherd is seeking. He stood on the shore and called Peter by name. He calls you today. Come to Him. And join this little flock (imperfect, stumbling, forgiven, and following).