Peter’s Bumbling Gives Us Hope- John 21

Do you ever have that feeling of -ugh I did it again when messing up? Last week we looked at Jesus restoring Peter in- Peter Restored Gives Us Hope Too.

Jesus did restore Peter but he also let Peter know how Peter’s earthly life would end when Jesus said:

Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Notice after Jesus let Peter know how Peter would die, Jesus said- Follow Me. Jesus was letting Peter know who is Lord and what our role is which is to follow him no matter what happens in this life.

But Peter who had a propensity for saying and doing the wrong thing responded with what about him in reference to John.

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

Peter ignored one obvious thing which was only days before Peter denied Jesus but John was at the cross.We see that in John 19:

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

Jesus’s response again reminds us that he is Lord when he told Peter:

Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

The good news is in considering Peter’s ministry as a whole. Jesus continued to work through Peter and the other disciples. Peter wrote two epistles in the bible. He was a leader in the early church. That is good news for us because no matter how much we bumble and stumble at times, Jesus never gives up on us.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.