Road to Reinstatement

[7-minute read]  

Christians today live in a post-truth world where we prefer to emphasize our emotions and opinions over our obedience to the Word of God. Many of us let our friendships run primarily on the basis of amiability and reciprocal goodwill. We are guided by cultural norms to leave many things unsaid to avoid embarrassing our friends, or making them feel uncomfortable. Eventually, we either decide to keep the friendship perennially superficial or we silently call it quits.  

Believers, however, are called to a higher standard of friendship because Jesus has showed us the friendship gold standard. He had many friends who let Him down and many uncomfortable conversations that changed their life destiny and purpose. Peter was one of them. Having denied Jesus three times, Jesus rekindled their friendship and reversed each denial.   

John 21:15-23 show us how Jesus took Peter on the road to reinstatement in 3 important areas: 

The Place of Beginning

If we recount our first encounter of God’s love, it would likely take us to the most ordinary situation in our life. We may recall being in a hard place, facing multiple crises, or grieving the loss of a normalcy that we desired. Similarly, the place of beginning for Peter was right where he had just returned from an overnight fishing trip with others. Jesus borrowed his boat to use as a platform to speak to a growing crowd that had gathered at the shore. Thereafter, the Lord told him, “Put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch”. (Luke 5:1-11).  

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared in a similar scenario after an overnight fishing trip that yielded nothing, and told Peter again, “throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” (John 21:6). Essentially, Jesus was taking Peter back to the place of beginning where they had their first conversations.   

It was to remind Peter that returning to his daily grind was not his highest calling. Even when Jesus blessed him with a great catch and improved his productivity by ten or a hundred-fold, he was primarily called to ‘fish for people’.   

Take a 10-minute mental journey back to your place of beginning with Jesus and your early conversations with Jesus. What did He impress on you to become and how have you continually kept your passion alive? Have you become more skilled in what He has called you to do? Have you continually followed Him to find new places to make your faith relevant and different people with whom to share your God-given passion? Or are you stuck in the past (whether it is one month, two years or twenty years) without realizing that God has moved on, gone ahead of you, and waiting for you to join Him.

The Name of Origin 

In the early days of their friendship, Jesus had said to Peter, “You are Simon – son of John. You will be called Cephas” which means Peter or ‘rock man’. (John 1:42). In a later conversation, Jesus once again addressed him, “Simon son of John” – not once, but the same number of times that Peter had denied knowing Him (John 21:15-17). In doing so, Jesus delinked Peter’s name from his mistakes. It would effectively separate Peter’s identity from his mistakes so that he could rebuild his life and his relationship with Jesus.  

While we may think of ourselves chiefly in terms of what we are experiencing in life – the displaced older worker, the successful high-achiever, the caregiver – these are only temporary situations in life that can change. Most importantly, we are children of the living God who upholds His promise to us in Isaiah 43:1b-2: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.’  

God would say to you, ‘You are no longer John the defeatist and divorcee but John, My beloved child.’ You are no longer Mary, the depressed one but Mary the joyfully committed child of God. You are no longer the over-responsible family member in a dysfunctional home but a child of God who runs into His open arms. You are no longer the empty nester, but the faith-builder in all the communities that God has placed you in! In short, we are not what we experience in our lived realities but we are what God says we are to be. 

The Depth of His Being 

After sharing a communal meal at the Passover celebration with His disciples, Jesus created a stir by telling the disciples about an impending betrayal that would happen. In typical fashion, Peter blurted boastfully, “…even if all fall away on account of You, I never will…” (Matthew 26:33) and “…even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You…” (Matthew 26:35).   

Always the one with the perfect answer. Always so sure of his own infallibility. Peter reflects the best and worst of us in relational conversations. Always ready with religious platitudes and cliches than being comfortable with our own vulnerability and emotions.   

Jesus reconnected by taking Peter out of his depth and teaching him to bear the honesty and discomfort necessary to deepen their friendship. He wanted to let Peter know that he did not have to put up a strong front to cover up his anguish over his failings as a friend. Clearly, all this was alien to Peter who felt very hurt when Jesus kept asking probing him about his devotion. What was Jesus trying to do with such an odd questioning technique? Surely, it was not to shame Peter, humiliate him, or punish him emotionally and mentally. Rather, the Lord wanted to restore Peter so he may be reconciled to the name ‘Cephas’ that Jesus had pronounced over him.  

What exactly did Jesus say to Peter to restore the fissure in their friendship? First of all, Jesus referenced Peter’s declaration of a greater love he had for the Lord than the others when he said ‘even if all fall away’.  

So He asked Peter if he had greater love (agape love) for Him than the other disciples. Jesus then asked the same question to find out if their friendship also involved a higher-order sacrificial love (agape love) for each other. This is the type of love that Peter had previously expressed when he declared ‘even if I have to die with You’. In the final inquiry, Jesus reverted to the basic premise of phileo love and asked Peter pointedly, ‘do you love Me?’.   

Why did Jesus emphasize the two different types of love in His questions? In the first place, people are not duty-bound in friendships like they are with family. We can say that phileo love focuses on a healthy emotional bond that grows when a close friendship is nurtured through action, conversations and spending time together. It is the natural affection and fondness that is present in warm and loving friendships. On the other hand, agape love is a response that willingly gives up personal security, convenience, and reason in how far we would go to support another human in need.   

As recipients of God’s immense grace and love, all of us are lifelong students of what it means to love God because we don’t know any better way to love than what we have experienced through other people. And we have often been hurt in other human relationships. But God knows that, and He will initiate conversations with you at your level of love for Him no matter what.  

Reexamine your relationship with God from your place of beginning. Consider the new name He has restored into your identity. And trust that He is deep enough to meet you where you are to take your relationship with Him to where you ought to be. 

This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 22 April 2023.