Further notes on repentance— through Peter’s eyes.

God is not surprised when we sin.  He knows we are prone to sin.  The Bible specifically tells us that, and many of you have memorized Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. (But have you memorized Romans 3:24? – more on that later).  

Imagine you are sitting around a table eating dinner with some friends and Jesus.  And Jesus leans over and says to you, “Hey, [your name],  Satan demanded to put you through a trial,  but I prayed for you.  And you say, “Thank you, Jesus.  Thanks for blocking that old devil for me.  Trials are no fun.  I appreciate your prayers.”  But wait a minute, this actually happened in the Bible.  Jesus is having dinner with his friends, his disciples.  It is the last supper he will have with them.  And he leans over to Simon Peter and says, 

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you,that he might sift you like wheat,  but I have prayed for you” Luke 22:31-2   

But Jesus is not praying for Simon to avoid the trial, and surprisingly, Jesus is not praying that he would pass the trial.  What is Jesus praying for? 

“that your faith may not fail” Luke 22:32a

Jesus is not praying for Simon to pass the trial, because he is already sure that Simon Peter will fail the trial, and will tell him that specifically.  Jesus is praying that he will survive the failed trial with his faith intact. What does Jesus say next?

And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Luke 22:32b

“Turned again” there is our Greek word for repent, ‘strepho’.  “When you have repented for failing the test, Simon, then strengthen your brothers.”¹   Jesus then tells him specifically what will happen.  Peter will deny him three times before the rooster crows.  You see, Jesus expects failure. And whether you pass or fail is not the most important thing about a trial.  The most important thing is whether you will repent of your failures. 

So let’s follow Peter a little further.  Jesus is arrested that night and all the disciples run and hide.  Peter and John follow Jesus (at a distance) into the courtyard of the high priest.

Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. … The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.  Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” Peter again denied it, and pat once a rooster crowed.  John 18:15,17-18, 25-27.

Now it is April 28 of 28 AD, it is early spring in Jerusalem and it can get very chilly at night.

And John throws a few interesting details that they were warming themselves by the fire.

He doesn’t want you to miss this… he says it 3 times!  He even tells you what kind of fire this was, a charcoal fire (always pay attention when the Bible gives you little details.)  Then Peter denies Jesus 3 times and then the rooster crows, just as Jesus predicted.

 I once heard a preacher say, “Every time Peter heard the rooster he remembered his failure. And this is important. Don’t forget your failures.” And I get that. It is only when we remember our failures that we can appreciate what God has done to forgive us.

Remember the story when Jesus had been invited to Simon the Pharisee’s home, and the meal was interrupted by a woman “who was a sinner” who anointed him with ointment and her tears.  Jesus tells Simon the story of two people who had debts canceled by a lender.  Simon agreed that the one who had the greatest debt canceled would love the lender more.  Jesus explains that because this woman had been forgiven much, she loved much.  

Only when we consider the depth of our failures can we understand the depth of his mercy.

(I think Ignatius said this first.)  I can agree with that preacher up to a point about the importance of remembering your failures.  But we are not finished with Peter.

Now we skip forward to after Jesus has been resurrected; he is to meet the disciples in the Galilee, up north.  They went fishing all night and caught nothing. 

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.  John 21:4

You know the story:  They are about to quit when they see a guy on the shore. Jesus asks, “Catch anything?”  “No,” they answer.  Jesus then tells them to fish on the right side of the boat and the net is full of fish, and they realize it’s Jesus.

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.”  John 21:9-12

Nice, fish tacos for breakfast.  Then Jesus has a conversation with Peter.  He asks him 3 times Peter, do you love me?  And Peter affirms his love. Why 3 times?  3 times he denied Jesus, so Jesus makes sure to give him 3 times to affirm him.  Then Jesus tells Peter “Follow me.”   Jesus is rebooting their relationship.  Yes, I know you failed the test, Peter, but I still love you, it doesn’t change our relationship, I am asking you to do exactly what I asked you to do before, follow me.

But notice the details….What kind of fire was Jesus cooking on?  A charcoal fire (that detail is only given these 2 times in the New Testament.)  What time of day was it? John says “Just as day was breaking”.  He doesn’t specifically mention it, but what happens at dawn? The rooster crows.  Peter, standing by a charcoal fire, denies Jesus 3 times and the rooster crows. That was the lowest moment of his life. So Jesus gives Peter a chance to say he loves him 3 times, and Jesus doesn’t want Peter to forget this, so he recreates the scene. The same sound of the rooster, the same feeling and smell of the charcoal fire.  

Yes, it is important to remember your failures, but it is more important to see how your failures make you stronger through repentance and the resultant actions of repentance. For the rest of his life, every time Peter heard the rooster crow or smelled a charcoal fire, his mind went right back to what could have been a moment of great sorrow that Jesus turned into a moment of great redemption.  So yes, preacher from my past, we need to embrace our failures —-and then fall into the embrace of the God who loves us enough to forgive us when we repent.

1997 years ago, on this day we call January 23.  John the Baptist was preaching a message of repentance.  It is a message we need to hear today We all fail.  All of us. But who did the Bible call “a man after God’s own heart”?  David.  And he spectacularly had failures, breaking 5 of the 10 commandments in a few days (including those about adultery and murder). How could the Bible call him a man after God’s own heart?   Because it isn’t the failure that matters, it is the repentance  — he failed but he didn’t fall.

Have you failed?  God isn’t angry with you; he knew you were going to fail that test. He was not surprised when you chose the wrong path,  He is just standing there with open arms waiting for you to turn around.  Repentance is a story of good news, not bad news.  Maybe it’s time to memorize Romans 3:24 to go with 3:23.

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 

Rom 3:24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 

We all need to repent.  We all have friends who live in opposition to God, and Paul in 2 Timothy 2 tells us we need to pray for them that God might “grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth, and that they may come to their senses.”  Paul had lived this himself.  We all have friends who may be facing trials.  Jesus is praying for them.  Should we not also?  Finally, we may be about to face a trial that we would never have considered.   Peter had no idea and didn’t understand even after Jesus told him.  Be alert and “be careful when you stand lest you fall” (1 Cor. 10:12)  

Happy repenting!

1. There is one more important thing that is hard for us to see in these verses — because in English “you” looks the same in singular or plural.  But all of these ‘you’s in verses 31 and 32 are plural.  So if Jesus was speaking very Southern English, he would have said, “Satan demanded to have you all, so that he might sift y’all like wheat, but I have prayed for y’all that you alls faith may not fail. And when y’all have turned again, strengthen y’alls brothers.” There is no doubt in Jesus’ mind that they all (and we all) would fail.