Loved By God

This devotional considers John 21:1-14.

After Jesus rose from the grave, he appeared to his disciples in different circumstances. On this occasion, Peter had decided to go fishing and six other disciples had gone with him. Yesterday, we paid attention to three ways Peter said “yes” to Jesus at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Today, I want to look some of the things Jesus did to restore Peter after his three denials when Jesus was arrested.

Peter went out to do something familiar that day—he went to fish. He and the disciples already knew that Jesus rose from the grave because he had appeared to them. I imagine that during those days, they were trying to reconcile a lot about who Jesus is. I imagine that Peter who loved Jesus so much was still grieved by his betrayal and lack of faith.

It is during this time that Jesus comes to Peter and the disciples again. First, he came early in the morning, a fisherman’s hour. He went to where he knew Peter would be. Next, we read that Jesus called out to them and said, Friends, haven’t you any fish? He called them friends. Our sin, unbelief or inability to understand how to move forward with the revelation of God we’ve received doesn’t nullify our standing with God. He called them, friends. What has the Lord called you?

Jesus also brought Peter full circle by blessing him with a miraculous catch of fish. This is how Peter came to follow Jesus in the first place. And again, we see Peter’s immediate abandonment of the blessing to chase after the Lord himself. But didn’t the Lord know that he would do this? He knew Peter’s heart, and I think he was trying to help Peter to see his own heart again which was a heart after Jesus.

Next, Jesus cooked for them. He said, Come and have breakfast. I love that. With so much to attend to, the Lord took the time to eat with them. It was not until after they had finished eating that Jesus broached the pain of Peter’s heart. It means a lot to me that Jesus didn’t just go after Peter’s sin because it reminds me that he wants relationship with each of us. He wants us to know him and to know that we are not banished from his presence, stripped of calling and any kind of blessing from him because of our sin and bad choices.

A big part of how the Lord restores us is by just being with us. Before Jesus said a word to Peter about his love for him and what he wanted him to do, he went to where Peter was, he joined him in his place of comfort and blessed him there with a catch of fish, yes, but better, with his real and restful presence.

I hope that as we go about our day today, we would know how much we are loved by the Lord. That our focus wouldn’t be on how well we have or have not loved Jesus, but how well he loves us.

Amen.