GOD: THE GREAT RESTORER; JOHN 21.

God does two great works in the salvation of sinners. They are parallel to how one maintains a house. First, the house must be built. Nothing was on the land previously. The builder conceived the house and the idea eventually became reality. This is like the initial work of salvation. A sinner is called out of darkness into light, out of bondage into freedom, out of sickness into health, out of death into life. Where nothing previously was, now something is. This is called, regeneration, or conversion. Everyone who is a Christian will go through a similar experience as that of the blind man. “Once I was blind and now I see.” Once the house is built, it need never be built again. However over the course of months and years it must be constantly restored. Like everything else in this world, decay works its ugly hand. What was once shiny and new now needs a coat of paint, a shoring up, a thorough cleaning, a structural reinforcement. Christians too need restoration. The corrosive forces of sin, the world and the devil, conspire to corrupt the believer and throughout his life he will find that the level of his spirituality has taken a nose dive. We call this by many names, backsliding, declension, dullness, drifting. The Bible clearly teaches that periodic declension of the believer is not only a possibility but a certainty. As sure as an old house will need to be restored from time to time, so it is with the inner life of the Christian. God hates sin, yet He knows that its power will oft overtake us. Nowhere in the Bible are we taught we shall have a complete victory over sin. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Rather the Christian life is the constant struggle against sin in which we find victory not in ourselves but in the cross and the sanctifying help of the Spirit. The life of faith is, therefore, not a rocket journey straight into the precincts of righteousness but a slow and rocky drift toward heaven where oceans of trouble assault us daily, much like the tides that rock a buoy. This means that God’s great work in the believer is that of constant restoration on behalf of those who drift aimlessly like that aforementioned buoy.

That the restoration of God’s children is a major biblical theme cannot be denied. We need go no further than the Garden at Eden to see how God instead of killing Adam restored him outside of Eden along with his wife. Or consider the deceiver, Jacob, a believer in Yahweh, who because of his sin must leave his promised homeland in shame. And then a great act of restoration occurs twenty years later when during a cosmic wrestling match with God, Jacob is restored in his faith and is renamed Israel, the prince. Or consider Jacob’s sons who shamefully plot against their younger brother and despite their many sins are restored when they are reconciled to their long lost brother who had every right to invoke revenge. Then we have David’s restoration which is legendary. He commits adultery, murders the husband, lies about it, hides the truth, betrays his family and nation, and yet God, through a prophet, restores his faith. Solomon, his son, goes even deeper into the sin by committing the sins of idolatry, arrogance, vanity, and greed, yet is eventually restored by God, the narrative of which is given in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Of course we have the story of Naomi in the book of Ruth, once called ‘Pleasant,’ but after a series of crises demands to be called ‘Bitter.’ But God leaves her not in this unfavorable state and ordains for her a series of blessings that eventuate in the birth of a grandson who will head David’s kingly line. In the New Testament we find stories of restoration as well. The story of John Mark is moving. Once a missionary assistant to Paul and Barnabas, John Mark bails out of the journey, returns home, and earns the ire of the great apostle. But Mark is restored in flying colors. Not only does he reconcile with Paul but is tapped to become the writer of the Second Gospel. But of all the restoration stories in the Bible none are more riveting than the story of the chief apostle who committed the unthinkable sin. HIs name is Peter. This man, as all four gospels tell us, had promised to stay with Jesus throughout His passion. Yet when he was tested by a slave girl, he denied ever knowing the Lord and even cursed God along the way. If anyone ever needed to be restored it was Peter. His ‘house’ had collapsed and he needed the Builder to come and overhaul it completely.

This leads us to ask, “If Peter needed a remodel job in his spiritual life how much more we?” I knew a man some thirty years ago who while pastoring a church overseas found his spiritual life taking a radical dive downward. Because of his spiritual lethargy and sin, the Lord graciously took him out of the ministry and brought him back to the States. Shortly after that he endured a heartbreaking divorce and his life tumbled further downward. But then God, using many pains and doubts, began to restore him and put him on the road to recovery. Since then he has suffered other spiritual reversals but the Lord has always been faithful to restore him. He is an ongoing work of grace. That man is the present author.

All this to say that in every Christian life there will be times, even long periods, of spiritual dullness and failure. The reason is simple; within all of us is that Old Man who loves sin, hates God and who never fully goes away. We must neither miss the beauty or the necessity of this pattern. The times of failure are needed to jolt us back to our spiritual senses. And the evil that often comes from these periods is more than compensated by the spiritual invigoration that comes from God’s restoration. Peter must go through the denial and the failure in order to become the man of Pentecost.

John chapter 21 provides us with God’s pattern of restoring a believer to spiritual sanity through the restoration of Peter. We now proceed to look at this chapter more closely.

The first thing to note is the evidence of Peter’s declension. The opening of chapter 21 finds Peter up in Galilee, his home base, fishing. Why is Peter fishing? Hadn’t Jesus called him away from this vocation years ago? Indeed he had. His return to fishing is evidence that Peter had lost his spiritual bearings and was finding comfort in those things he once loved in his previous life. Peter was not sure about his relationship with Lord so he returns to the familiar. Now we know that Peter had seen the resurrected Jesus twice before as recorded in chapter 20. No doubt Peter knew the Lord has been raised from the dead and believed Him to be the Messiah. But what Peter didn’t have was that intimacy he and Jesus once had. And being swallowed up by guilt, doubts and dullness, Peter did what all backsliders do; he returned to the familiarity of the world. He returned to the thing he knew best which brought him comfort: fishing.

Christians who backslide often find comfort in the things that once brought them joy. That could be hobbies like boating or archery, it could be sports, it could be interest in the stock market, or it could be any number of former distractions. Backsliding Christians do this because their soul still needs something to fill it; and if that ‘something’ is not God then they find something else to fill the void. And usually that is a former passion. For Peter it was fishing. And, as the text says, not only does Peter go back to his former profession but he entices six other Apostles to follow him. Peter’s ability to lead makes his backsliding all the more influential.

But grace is never far away from the backslider. The text tells us that the disciples fished all night and caught nothing. The diversions we return to in our declension never bring us joy or satisfaction. They fish and they fish and catch nothing. This is the pattern when we try to find things other than God to fill our souls. Now the apostles are worn out and depressed. They have nothing to show for their efforts. It is time for Jesus to show up.

And show up He does. The restoration of Peter has now begun. The first thing Jesus does is to reveal Himself to His erring child. Note, I did not say the child goes looking for Jesus. Romans 3:11 makes it clear that “none seek after God.” We never hunt for God. He ever initiates and hunts for us. In verse 4 the author notes that Jesus had suddenly appeared on the shore. Now we must ask, “What is He doing there?” The last we heard Jesus was in Jerusalem. But since the disciples have moved away from Him, He decides to pursue. Jesus always hunts down His erring children. The text clearly states that this appearance of Jesus was to reveal himself to His disciples. English misses the force of the word ‘reveal’ found in verses one and fourteen. In both cases the word is phaneroō (φανερόω). When used for Jesus this word means more than simply making an appearance. It means that Jesus is revealing to His disciples exactly who He is. This accounts for the miracles He is about to perform. The miracles of Jesus are what demonstrates who He really is. Recall that in John 10:38 Jesus said, “But if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” So now on the shore, Jesus is going to show His drifting disciples who He really is. The word ‘reveal’ is used for example in John 1:31 where the baptist says, “And I did not recognize Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing in water” (see also 2:11; 7:4). We see from verse one that this revealing is what the chapter is all about. So verse 14 ends this section by saying, “This now is the third time Jesus showed (φανερόω) Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.” When the saint goes astray Jesus breaks through his stony heart by revealing Himself to that heart in amazing ways.

So what miracles does Jesus perform in order to reveal Himself to Peter? We note that the disciples saw the shadowy figure on the shore but did not know who it was. In verse 5 Jesus shouts to them a question addressing them as ‘children.’ This might remind them of the tender relationship Jesus had with the twelve. It is also a word used by John in his epistles (see 1 John 2:13). It was intended to remind the disciples that Jesus was assuming the role of a spiritual father to His confused children. The question He asks is intended to provoke them to think about their fruitless state of affairs. The question of verse 5 really goes something like this, “Children, you haven’t anything to eat, have you?” Jesus gently shows them that their present course of behavior has produced nothing good. He is bringing them, especially Peter, face to face with their desperation. And so they sheepishly answer, “No, we have been here all night and caught nothing.”

What Jesus then does next would surely strike a chord in their memory. He commands them (vs 6) to throw out their net on the right side of the boat. Peter, being an experienced fisherman, would no doubt think this command to be an insult. But the authoritative voice of Jesus prevails and they cast out the net. And what happens? The fish begin to jump into the net in such great numbers that they couldn’t lift them into the ship. As is usually the case in the gospels, John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, sees the significance of this first and cries out to the others, “It is the Lord!” Peter, staying true to his impetuous manner, immediately puts on his outer cloak and jumps into the water, swimming frantically to the shore, while the other six row.

What both John and Peter saw was a miracle that they had experienced once before, a miracle that showed forth the authority of the resurrected Christ. That similar event occurs in Luke chapter five verses 1-11. Jesus is in a boat on the same lake with His disciples. They have fished all night with nothing to show for it. He tells them to cast in their nets and lo and behold the nets fill to the breaking. This was one of those events where Peter began to truly understand who Jesus was. After he witnessed the miraculous catch of fish he fell on his knees and cried, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” Now the exact same event transpires in the 21st chapter of John and Peter is reminded again of who this Jesus really is. But now, instead of running away, Peter moves quickly to Jesus. He wants to feel the forgiving touch of the Master.

Arriving at the shore, Peter is confronted with another vivid reminder of his past failures. Verse 9 tells us that Jesus was on the shore cooking one fish and one cake of bread (words in Greek are singular) on a fire of coal. What is the significance of the fire of coals? The only other time this word is used in the New Testament is at the scene where Peter is in the courtyard warming himself on a fire of coals (see John 18:18) while he is denying ever knowing the Lord. No doubt seeing this fire would have stirred up guilt in Peter’s conscience. This reminds us that when Jesus pursues his drifting child He allows that child to feel the anguish of his past sins. This is all a work of grace to help the straying sinner to feel the devastation of sin and God’s magnanimous grace to forgive that sin. Realizing that we are failures who are shut up to no other remedy but Him is God’s merciful way of preparing us for His restoring grace.

Peter now understands who this is on the shore. He is now a completely broken man. But there is yet one more gracious thing that Jesus must demonstrate to Peter. He will show Himself as the only one who will meet Peter’s needs, yes even when Peter is running away. It takes a careful reading of the text to see what is going on here. Notice that in verse 10 Jesus tells the disciples to bring to Him some of the fish (plural) they caught. John, to demonstrate that this was an eye witness account, even notes the number of the fish in the bursting net, 153 (fisherman always count their fish!). To lug that many fish to shore was no mean task. But will those fish be used to feed the men? Note carefully that immediately after asking for the fish Jesus says, “Come and eat.” You see, the fish and the bread were already prepared. Jesus did not need nor want the fish the disciples had caught (they were really His fish anyway). He would feed them with His one prepared fish and one prepared cake. Again Jesus is preaching a sermon. This act of taking little and feeding many would remind the disciples of the day He fed five thousand people with a few fish and few loaves (John 6). Why did He do this? Not only to further substantiate that He was the Lord of glory, but to teach the erring disciples that God and God alone is the great giver of mercy and grace to His erring children. The disciples contribute nothing. Now the disciples are convinced of whom they are dealing with. Verse 12 notes, “None of the disciples dared ask Him, ‘Who are you,’ knowing that it was the Lord.” And Jesus’ message in all of this? I have come to restore you Peter, you cannot restore yourself. You can try to bring your tiny gift but I don’t need it. I am the gracious Lord; you are the receiver. Always.

Let all who have drifted from God note that our Savior does not restore us because we can give something back to Him. He restores us for His own glory. He must ever be the giver of good gifts. It is He who showers us with His grace. We can fervently row our boat as the sailors did in the Book of Jonah, but our efforts will never bring us back to the Lord. It is His work beginning to end. As Newton says, “Grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.” All this should remind us of the story of the Prodigal Son. The Son returns and wants to win back the father’s love by becoming one of the servants. But the father will have none of it. The father demands nothing from his son. The father gives all. When the scraggly shadow of a man appears over the distant ridge, the father begins running to receive him. “My son who was lost is now found!” Now they hug; and what does the father say? “Junior, you have done me wrong and now you must prove yourself to me'“? Or, “My dear boy, you are welcome home if you obey me”? Or, “So you want to live with me again do you? Okay, but we’ll have to come up with a payment plan to restore all the money you stole from me”? No! This is what the father says, ”Slaughter the fatted calf, put the ring on his finger, let’s have a party!” So we ask, “What did the son contribute?” Nothing, absolutely nothing. For him to try to pay back the father on any level would have undermined the father’s grace and ruined the story. No, all God wants from a wayward saint is for that one to come to Him empty handed and broken. He wants not your vows, not your good intentions, not your plans for redemption, not your fish! He wants you. And when you come this way, what will God do? He will bring out the minstrels and invite all the holy angels to a banquet of joy. Better yet there will be no mention of your failures. There will be no ‘I told you so’ lectures, no classes about financial responsibility, no boney fingers pointed at your nose. Peter wants to give Jesus a gift. But Jesus wants nothing from Peter. Jesus only forgives Peter and as the next section will show, commission Him to help in the work of the King.

And so the disciples eat… the King’s food, not their own. Isn’t this what Jesus always does to those who have drifted away? He receives, forgives and fully restores them, and feeds them like royalty.

So Peter is now restored.. or isn’t he? Verses 15-19 recount the final stage of Peter’s restoration. We call this the testing. Much has been written about these verses, especially regarding the grammatical challenges contained in them. What is Jesus doing by grilling Peter about his love and devotion to Him. The easy answer is that Jesus is again appealing to Peter’s memory about when he denied the Lord three times. For every denial, Peter must give a pledge of allegiance. But that is the surface narrative. To understand what Jesus is actually doing we must review what happened in the thirteenth chapter of John. In that chapter Jesus demonstrated to His disciples what love looks like. The first 17 verses is the familiar story of Jesus assuming the place of a slave and washing the disciple’s feet. In that exchange he reminds Peter that he does not need an entire bath because he is fully clean, a fully forgiven man. Rather, he needs only to be cleansed of daily sin by having his extremities washed (vss. 9-10). Jesus washes Peter knowing that he will deny Him. But Peter is secure because He is beloved by the Master. Christ’s assertion that Peter’s salvation is secure is followed by the contrasting story of Judas found in vss. 18-30. In a delicate way Jesus names the betrayer as the one who would “lift up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9). Judas at that point seizes the opportunity and slips out of the supper in the darkness of night. Unlike Peter, Judas is lost. Both sin, one is restored, one kills himself.

Jesus, now left with the eleven true disciples, gives them what will be the characteristic that will mark them as true believers (vss 31-35). They will love (agapé) one another. As He loved them by washing their feet, so they will love one another. At this juncture Jesus tells them he is going away and they cannot follow Him. They cannot go to a cross. But they must love one another.

It is here that Peter makes that bold assertion in vss. 36-38, that He, above all others, will never desert the Lord. The gospel of Mark reports that Peter as saying “even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.” Peter is still a loud, arrogant man who knows nothing of love. He needs to be humbled.

This then is the backdrop to this section in John 21. Jesus wants to see if Peter has shed his self-sufficient arrogance. So He asks Peter in 21:15, “Simon son of Jonah do you love (agapé) me more than these?” In English the question would bear a touch of sarcasm as if Jesus said, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you really love me more than these?” This question would cause Peter to remember his impetuous boast. It would cut him to quick as he again would recall his great failure. What will his response be now? Peter will not say he loves Jesus with agapé love. Rather he answers by admitting he has affectionate love for Jesus but that is as far as it goes. He uses the word phileo. This pattern occurs in the first two queries. “Peter do you love (agapé) me?” And Peter answers “You know that I have great affection (phileo) for you.” This demonstrates that Peter is being humbled by grace. He is no longer the cocky self-assured man he was back at the Last Supper. He realizes that he cannot love Christ with a perfect agapé love so in a broken spirit he says in effect, “I love you with great affection Jesus, but my love is weak.” And now that Peter understands his weakness Jesus will come down to Peter’s level and ask him the third time, “Peter do you love (phileo) me?” This concession by the Lord grieves Peter as it reminds him that he cannot love the Lord as he should. But that is the point of the entire narrative. Restoration is realized only by those who are humbled by their failures. Restoration does not come to a sinner vowing to do better, or a disciple promising to be more zealous for Christ. Restoration is not granted to the sinner trying to give anything back to the Lord to make up for the deficit. Restoration comes to those who are of a meek and contrite spirit and who know they need a Savior every moment of their lives. When one is humbled by his foolish pride and comes back to the Lord empty handed, then and only then will restoration take place.

What happens to Peter is a microcosm of the story that permeates the entire Bible. It is the story of David, the story of King Manasseh, the story of the thief on the cross, the story of Jacob, the story of Peter and the story of you and me. Restoration is a precious gift of God. But it is not one act but a daily coming back to the Lord in brokenness and humility. It is discovering the grace of our Savior every day and basking in His glory and His willingness to forgive all our sins no matter how egregious. And when we come to Jesus broken He does not put us in the spiritual waiting room but immediately commissions us again and says, “Feed my sheep.” Amen.