Restoration—Jesus’ style

By Gil Lopez

John 21: 9-19

Introduction

I have never had an image of what restoration is all about until I decided to preach two sermons dealing with first, denial of the truth that Jesus represent, and second, about restoring people back to Jesus.  I start with the story of the Last Supper in Matthew 26.  It is quite a story.  There is the scene of the betrayal of Jesus, and then there is the prediction that Peter will deny Jesus 3 times before the morning.  Later on in Matthew, Peter denies Jesus as it was predicted.  It is a terrible scene that appears to contradict what a disciple should be:  loyal and ardent follower of Jesus.

In many ways, Peter is the principal disciple of Jesus in Matthew.  He is an able leader. He is the first disciple to be called, along with his brother, by Jesus.  He is a witness to many of the miracles and teachings that Jesus does for the people in Palestine.  He witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus where Jesus becomes a divine figure and talks to Moses and Elijah. He is without question an important figure in the new movement called Christianity.  In Acts, it is Peter who preaches the Gospel to nonbelievers.  Peter continues to perform miracles, exorcisms, and teaching.  Yet, Peter is also the one who denies Jesus.  He does it very convincingly and after Jesus predicted Peter would do this earlier in Matthew 26: 34.  It is an amazing and contradicting situation.  The one, who called Jesus by the right title of Messiah, is now the one who denies the Truth of Jesus.  It was the saddest moment in Peter’s life.  He just denied the relationship he has with Jesus, and he wept bitterly.

Now in this chapter of John, Jesus turns the tables around again.  He does what is most difficult for people to do.  He restores Peter.  I think this scene in the Gospel of John brings to full realization that restoration is necessary for us to do evangelism.  Jesus does this action in his own way.  He is the risen Christ, feeding the disciple in a peaceful setting, and then restoring Peter by asking the questions that lead to an action.

It is restoration

In many ways, we have been wounded in this life by people who should respect and nurture us.  We have not had a chance to heal completely because we haven’t let this story in John’s Gospel fully sink into our minds, souls, and hearts.  Sometimes we have let the situation or the problem at hand get out of control for whatever reasons.  But the real gist, the real power behind this healing is where do we put Jesus in our lives?

Now, Jesus does something that many of us are not be able to do without the help of sophisticated sonar equipment, and that is Jesus tells the disciples to put the net on a particular side of the boat and they catch 153 big fishes.  Definitely a large catch that the net stretches but does not break. Then Jesus prepares a breakfast for the famished, tired, and happy disciples.  Happy because they know it is the Lord who is taking care of their immediate physical needs, and Jesus has risen, indeed. When I served in the US Army, I experience something like this.  My platoon had just finished an exhausting mission and we were back in the tactical operation center, known as the TOC, for some rest. The 1SG of the troop (I was in the cavalry and the cavalry uses a little different terms) came to the “TOC” in his jeep and trailer loaded with steaks, baked potatoes, green salad and dessert.  After 3 days of little sleep, eating MRE’s, and no chance to wash up, it was a feast.  I personally was quite depressed but after my troops ate and then I ate, the morale of the troops and my morale, improve drastically for the better.  It was as if we had received a boost in energy, helping us recover from this mission.  In a way, it restored us to a better level-- physical, mental, and emotional-- that we could go on and perform another mission during this field training exercise.  It is amazing how a little nourishing food can do to a person.  Jesus demonstrates that to restore people, we need to address the pressing problems first, in this case, food and rest.

After the disciples have rested and eaten something satisfying, they are witness to the following conversation between Jesus and Peter.  Jesus starts the conversation by asking Peter does he love Jesus.  Peter answers that Jesus knows that he loves him.  Then Jesus said “Feed my lambs.” 

A second time, Jesus asks the same question, Peter answers the same way as the first time.  Then Jesus said, “Tend my sheep.”  A final and third time, Jesus asks the same question, but this time, Peter is annoyed and perhaps angry.  He might have asked to himself “Why is my Lord asking me this question again?  Doesn’t he understand my answer?” So Peter’s response is one tinted with exasperation and fear but he answers it.  And Jesus says it one final time:  “Feed my sheep.”

But there is more than restoration

In this Gospel scene, Jesus is doing more.  First the asking of three questions to Peter is quite revealing.  In Matthew 26, Peter denies Jesus 3 times.  In John 21, Jesus asks 3 questions concerning love for Jesus—Peter, do you love me?  The answers are positively affirming of who is Lord over Peter.  Peter states he loves Jesus.  In a very symbolic, publicly and realistic way, Jesus is restoring Peter by giving him 3 things to do.  Jesus has restored Peter.

Second, Jesus uses two nouns to describe the children of God.  The first word he uses is “lamb.”  Now, this particular form of this word in the New Testament Greek only appears in this chapter and book of the Bible.  There are 8 other instances that this word is used in the Bible and they all are found in Revelation.  The word “lamb” implies people who will be sacrificed in order to proclaim the Gospel, and Peter is told to feed and take care of them.  The other word is “sheep” and as we know in Psalm 23, the image of sheep is one of people who need to be care for by someone who knows what and how to do it.  In Psalm 23, it is the Lord God who leads us to calm streams of water to nourish, refresh and heal us of all the problems and illness we have experienced.  It restores our wounded heart.  Jesus tells Peter to feed and take care of them.

Jesus is not leaving us alone.  He restores, or rehabilitates for a better and more specific description of what is happening here, Peter first.  By restoring Peter, Jesus is telling us that despite our human failings, weaknesses, and sins, Jesus will make us strong through our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).  Jesus’ grace, this restoration, is sufficient for us.  Jesus will restore us to complete healing, and after all this, he calls Peter to follow him.

Evangelism

I know this church has changed the way it governs itself and does ministry.  I have seen some positive changes and I continue to pray that God continues to call this church to proclaim the Gospel to the many unbelievers in this city and neighborhood because this is what Jesus tells us to do.  The action of restoring Peter is a key action.  It gives Peter energy to do the things he would not normally do.  The healing is deep, restorative, and complete:  One that makes a new person in Christ, one that is capable and ready to do evangelism.  Jesus calls us to evangelize, to proclaim the Good News to the people who most need them, and it is done by first being ready and able to do so.  We have to be in the best spiritual shape to evangelize just like an athlete competing in the Olympics or some sporting event.  It just makes sense.

Pastor Mike is preaching a series of sermons that its main title is “Taking the Plunge.”  I tell the church members:  Take the plunge to be an active member of this congregation!  Proclaim the Good News to neighbors and coworkers. And it doesn’t have to be in a very forceful or in a negative way but one of being respectful to other people.  The key word is invitation because it is the choice of people to accept the invitation.

As a side note, it is with trepidation I say this because I have been guilty of not trusting people in this church.  I know for a fact that it is not right but yet, I still do it because of many hurts that occurred in my life, hurts that have taken a long time to heal.  Through many toils and turmoil in my life, I have seen what Jesus can do.  The Bible talks about God’s immense grace both in the Old Testament and the New Testament.  The fact that stares me in the face is this:  Jesus loves me because the Bible tells me so.  I learned this from my early Bible teachers.  It was a song that has stayed with me for a long time.  This fact has helped me overcome the hurts and has allowed me to continue to restore my relationships with this church.  The importance of telling people the Good News of Jesus Christ is an important thing to do:  The Bible tells us to do it.

Jesus showed us the way to evangelize.  You start by addressing some basic human need and quietly proclaim the effect that the Gospel of Jesus has done for you.  It’s amazing what happens.  At one of the churches I did an internship while in seminary, the church members practice a “respectful evangelism” by training or instructing the member to do a few things.  First, this church offers a large selection of ministry programs, from Bible studies, support groups, marriage courses, active youth programs, great music, and different style of worships.  All these selections are focused on Jesus Christ’s ministry.  Second, they go out and tell a close circle of friends about these church programs, and then they invite them to Sunday services.  They do not go out and force people to come with no strings attached.  It amazed me how it worked.  The church started in 1960’s with few members.  Now, it is up to 2000 members.

I continue to pray for this church to grow, become healthy, and proclaim the Good News.  Evangelism is still the key to bring people to Jesus.

Conclusion

Yet, remember there are some steps before all this happens.  “Taking the Plunge” does have some risks but in our weakness, Jesus manifests His grace to us, in that he died, he rose, and he will come again.  Restoration is one thing Jesus did very well, and he did it for us because God so loved the world in that he gave us his only Son, that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life (John 3:16).  Trust in Him and ask Him to forgive your sins and heal you. You will be restored into a new image in Christ.

Through restoring Peter, Our Lord Jesus Christ gave Peter the command to disciple, feed (spiritually and physically) and take care the Children of God. And through this caring, following Jesus becomes easier, and evangelism becomes easier.  Amen.