We turn in John chapter 21, in the preaching of the word, verses 15 through 19, the restoration of Peter. Children, perhaps even you have done something embarrassing, or maybe something you've deeply regretted. Sometimes we do things that are so embarrassing that we regret so deeply. that it's difficult to face those who were involved in our failures or even the subject of our failures, those who we either took down with us or harmed or we let down, we sinned against. It's hard to go back when you've made a mess and you've sinned and faced those you've sinned against. It's hard because we're ashamed of what we've done and it's hard because sometimes we're afraid if we bring that up again. We wonder, what will he say? What will she say to me? Or about me? Perhaps it gets even worse when time passes by. And maybe the years wear down the sharpness of the memories But you still know you let someone down, you failed, you've sinned, and every now and then it all replays in your mind. What should a Christian do then? Well, a Christian should always and every time seek restoration. Now surely this is how Peter was feeling in this conversation narrated to us by the Apostle John in John chapter 21 and verse 15 following. He had done something deeply shameful. He had done something very wrong. We know that he was excited to see the risen Christ. We know that he was one of the ones who ran to the tomb. We know that he was already present in the presence of Christ in the upper room appearances. We know in the narrative just before this one, really it's all the same narrative, that when Peter heard that it was Jesus on the beach who had told him to throw the nets on the other side, that he was so excited to see Jesus that he had thrown himself out of the boat to get to the shore to see the Lord Jesus Christ. But then in this conversation, surely suddenly he was ashamed and grieved all over again. Why? Because next to the betrayal of Jesus Christ in his moments leading to the cross, the next most shameful thing we read in the Gospels is the way that the Apostle Peter treated Jesus on the way to the cross. A three-fold denial of Jesus. It stands in human history as a deeply, publicly shameful moment with many levels of shame attached to it. The first is that this was the disciple who had proclaimed that his allegiance to Jesus Christ in chapter 13 would be higher and better than any other disciple. He would go with him all the way to the end to die. It was shameful because Jesus had warned him that Satan was coming to sift him like wheat. In other words, he was proud of his allegiance. He had been warned against his pride and that Satan was on the prowl to destroy him. In other words, he knew this confrontation was coming, this temptation was coming. Jesus even predicted that Peter wouldn't be strong enough to face it, that he would fall. And still after all of this, He denies Jesus one time, two times, three times with curses that he did not know that man. And here we are now at the breakfast on the beach. Another great reunion, Jesus and his disciples. We looked at the first part of this in chapter 21, the first verses. And perhaps suddenly, as the conversation turns to Peter, he wondered why he had been in such a hurry to jump out of the boat and to be with Jesus. Surely he still loved Jesus, but what I mean by that, the painful, probing conversation would reach to the depths of his soul. We're gonna look at this humbling conversation that Jesus has with Peter, and then we're gonna ask why. Why did Jesus do this? Why this conversation? Why is this recorded for us in the scriptures? The scene, of course, is that Jesus has been serving breakfast to them by the sea. In verse 12, Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and likewise the fish. They were gathered around a meal together. They were dining. With the resurrected living word, the word who became flesh and dwelt among them, the Lord of glory was serving them their meal. And again, note that Peter would have been and was the most eager to get there to see the Lord Jesus Christ. But then the conversation turns in verse 15. Breakfast is finished. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus turns with intentional focused attention on Peter. He asks him a question. He says to Simon Peter, and he names him by name, he does this three times, Simon son of Jonah. His full name. His given name. Identifying him distinctly from all the other disciples without confusion. Simon, Son, and Jonah, you only, you exactly. I have a question for you. Do you love me more than these? Now the heart of the question is this matter of love. The word here in the Greek is from the Greek word agapo, word family. We have the idea of agape love. Perhaps you have heard that word, that Greek word. It's the idea to love or to regard with affection. It's the same word that we read in the command, that we are to have love for one another. And it's the same word that John would ascribe to the love of God for us, that we love him because he first loved us, 1 John 4 and verse 19. There's a second word actually for love used here in the same narrative, it's the word phileo. And that is the word, if you hear the name of the city, Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. It has the idea of the two words brother and love in it. It's a compound word. This is another word for love that is mentioned here in the text. And it also means love and affection for a person. And there are some preachers and commentators who have made a tremendous amount, put a tremendous amount of emphasis on the various words for love here in the text. It seems like it's best to understand simply that the main theme here is that Jesus is asking Simon son of Jonah concerning the nature of his affection or his love for Jesus. Simply, plainly put. The central question is, do you love me? Now Jesus asked this question three times, but the first time he asks Jesus this question with a comparative emphasis. He says, do you love me more than these? And again, much ink has been spilt on what the more than these is. I think there's a number of options. Do you love me more than these, the nets, the boats, your former business, your former life? Are you going back to your old life? Or do you love me more than you love these other friends, these disciples like James and John? But I think if you look at the flow of the Gospels in the context, it was Peter who pledged or publicly stated that he, in essence, because he would go all the way to death for Jesus, that his love for Jesus was of a higher quality, that he was the one who truly had allegiance for Jesus Christ. And now Jesus is on the beach with Peter and he says, now Peter, are you still sure? Are you still so sure that you love me and that your love is greater than their love for me? Clearly, Jesus is asking, Peter, do you love me? And number two, where is the place of that love for me? Where is the place of that love? Peter answers simply, yes, Lord. You know that I love you. Humbly, surely with a tinge of grief already here, perhaps wondering why, the conversation has turned and Jesus is asking this pointed question. Jesus' simple reply, verse 15, feed my lambs. What is going on here? And why this and why now? If we keep reading, as the text unfolds, there's a three-fold repetition of the same question, which gives us a hint here. A surprising three-fold repetition. John takes pains here to record not only that there's three times, but he numbers the times. There's the first time, and he says he said to him again a second time, verse 17, he said to him again the third time. And Jesus asks the same question again. Simon Peter. Do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Simon Peter, do you love me? And perhaps not that the two words for love are so significant that they're markedly different qualities of love, but in the Greek original, Jesus uses the agape form of love when he asks the first two times, and Peter answers every time with the word phileo. In other words, do you love me? Jesus uses one word for love, Peter uses another word for love the first time. And the second time, but the third question, Jesus asks a question that probes a little deeper. He uses the word for love, phileo, that Peter uses. And he says, do you love me, Peter, the third time? And Peter says, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Yes, Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you. And then three times, feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. A sudden, very brief, intense exchange where Jesus is clearly intending to penetrate to the depths of Peter's heart and to test or examine Peter's love for Jesus Christ. Why this conversation? Why this conversation? Why three times? Why in this way? Well, there's two things that are happening here and it's clear from the text that Peter needs to have these dealings with Jesus Christ in order to be reinstated into ministry. To be restored again for usefulness in the church. He at this point is known for And particularly, even in his relationship with Jesus Christ, this denial, which was him succumbing to satanic influence, going back on his word to Jesus Christ, and denying Jesus, his Lord and Master, at Jesus' hour of greatest need. Peter needed restoration. And as Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus here now presses Peter's love for Jesus three times. There's an echo here of the denials in the reinstatement. Now as an aside, the Roman Catholic Church tries to use this text for an argument for the papacy. that there is a Pope and that Peter here was being elevated to be the Pope together with Matthew chapter 16. And this section of scripture that the idea here is that Peter was giving the special commission to feed the sheep, to tend the sheep, to feed the lambs. And this was the special commissioning of Peter to be the super apostle, to be the first among the apostles. However, we know that Peter in first Peter chapter five, calls himself this, he says, the elders who are among you, I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, shepherd the flock of God, which is among you. And he talks about the chief shepherd who will one day appear, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter was under no illusions from this conversation that he was being elevated to anything that approximated anything, any sort of papal position. Rather, he considered himself to be simply a fellow elder, and there was one chief shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would appear from glory. This is not what's happening here. Rather what is happening is the restoration of a man who has fallen into serious sin. Why was it that Jesus had poured three years of life and ministry into Peter? Because he was gathering a band of men apostles called with the words follow me to be commissioned and sent out as he said in Acts chapter 1 you are my witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. And this one needed restoration in order that he may continue in the purpose for which he was called. Three times public denial after Jesus' warnings, and now three times Jesus' intensive questions concerning his love. Peter needed a restoration for service of Jesus Christ. Now Peter, we know that Peter also understood that this was the purpose. When Jesus was saying, feed my sheep, tend my sheep, feed my lambs, Peter understood this. Now we don't know. If at this moment he fully comprehended or understood it, but we do know that he knew Jesus was the Good Shepherd. He had heard Jesus teach, I am the good shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. That Peter already had a conscious awareness that the language of shepherding, feeding and tending the sheep was an echo of or was rooted in Jesus' own mission which he had taught as the good shepherd of the sheep. Which of course has its roots in the Old Testament work of God who is the Lord, the shepherd of his people. So for Peter as a Jew and for Peter as an apostle who sat under the teaching ministry of Jesus Christ, the idea of being responsible under Jesus to feed the sheep would have been a command to care for the church. And again, if we go back to 1 Peter 5, now for a different reason. Peter understood Jesus to be the chief shepherd, and that the work of the elders was to shepherd the flock who was among them. In other words, he's using the very language of sheep and shepherding, drawn certainly from his deep awareness of these commands, of the duty of Peter, the apostle, and then every subsequent elder and minister in Christ's church to be a shepherd of the sheep. Peter knew what Jesus was talking about. It gets clear in verses 18 and 19 that this is also a restoration. Jesus says, most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish, and then read these words, this he spoke signifying by what death he would glorify God. Church history tells us that Peter was a martyr, that he died, for preaching Jesus Christ. And the last words of this section are words of reinstatement. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, the very first words that he said to Peter, which was on the shore of the Sea of Galilee when he originally called him, follow me. This is the reinstatement, the restoration of Peter to the work that Christ had called him. after his significant failing. I know a number of lessons here for us as we think about the restoration of the Apostle Peter here. The first thing is that it's clear that our Savior, after the cross and the resurrection, has a mission that he was on and continues to be on. A mission which He has also given in the Great Commission to the church. Jesus' interest is this. That someone would feed His lambs. That someone would tend His sheep. That someone would feed His sheep. Jesus' interest here is in His people. We know that it is. This is why He went to the cross. Jesus said the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He has in mind here the gathering of the elect through the preaching of the gospel in every place and the restoration of Peter is not only we'll see in a moment for Peter's own spiritual good but because Jesus Christ as Satan seeks to assault the kingdom here even in tempting Peter to deny is in order to strengthen, restore, and send him out for the work that he had prepared him to do. We know that Jesus said that he had other sheep which were not of this fold. John chapter 10 in verse 16, that he was going to gather in a great flock and that there would be one flock and one shepherd. That there was a work to be done in history And that Jesus was interested in equipping, restoring, and enabling Peter to do that work. I will send you, you will die as a martyr, follow me, but I am restoring you to the ministry of the gospel in order that my sheep would be fed. Jesus has an intense purpose in mind. He says, I do not pray for these alone. In the upper room prayer, in verse 20, he's praying for his disciples, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one as you, the Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they may be one just as we are. Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am and they may behold my glory which you have given me. Jesus' interest in the restoration of Peter was in order that the church of Jesus Christ would be built up and established. Feed my sheep, tend my sheep, feed my lambs. The intense purpose of this restoration here is that Satan, as it were, had dulled or damaged this instrument And Christ restores him to usefulness. And the scriptures also teach us here in another way that Satan will never triumph against the cross of Jesus Christ or the savior of sinners. There's a second thing here that's a comfort to you. Not only that Jesus has in mind the sheep, the flock, the church, and us as he restores Peter to ministry. But there's a great comfort to those who fall, who stumble, and who have sinned against the Lord, often in publicly grievous ways. Jesus has a ministry of restoration here for a believer. Someone who, you just imagine if you're the Apostle Peter, all through human history, there are sermons preached about denying Jesus Christ with Peter's name attached. Real sins have real consequences. They often destroy our ability to serve or lead or be useful in the kingdom. And sometimes we can wonder, Lord, how could I ever overcome my failures and their effects in my life and the life of others? This applies to pastors, to elders, to deacons, to parents. To you young people, if you've sinned greatly against the Lord or you find yourself this morning in a web of sin and problems, maybe you've confessed it to the Lord, maybe you're turning back to the Lord, but if you've made a big, big mess in your life, you need to know that the Savior we serve is one who is interested in forgiveness and restorations to usefulness. Maybe you're a parent and it's been years of neglect at home. You lost your temper again. Maybe you're a young man here and it's been years of pornography and you wonder if you can ever escape its grasp or if by God's grace you've repented, if you will ever escape its effects and the shattering effects it's had on relationships. Maybe you've done it in your marriage. Maybe you're a young woman and you've been living for all the wrong things, chasing the wrong things. And you've turned back to the Lord, but the mess you've made, the consequences are still there. Maybe you're a worrier. Maybe you're a liar. Maybe you've come to know and understand these things as God has pointed them out to you by His Word and Spirit, and maybe people have exhorted you and come alongside of you and reminded you and you've fallen on your knees and you've asked for forgiveness, you still have the nagging question, how possibly could I be useful to Christ tomorrow? Could there be any restoration? You look at Peter's public sin. I don't know him. I've never followed him. And with curses denying the Lord Jesus Christ. And then you see the Savior, the Lord of glory on the beach that morning say, Peter, Do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? And then more than that, feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep, follow me. And you see that the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ is a ministry of restoration. And he lifts the fallen, the penitent, the needy, and the repentant. and he makes us new again. Look at the gentleness of Jesus in restoration. Some of you need to stop and take notice of this. When people fail you, you give no quarter. Someone's late on a payment, you demand it yesterday. Someone sinned against you, you tell them Matthew 18, I'm gonna follow this, you need to repent tomorrow. Parents, one of your kids break one of your smallest rules, and you get angry. We've all done it. A friend wrongs you in the smallest, most ridiculous way, and you remember it for years. Do you think Jesus had reason to be angry with Peter? He was about to feel the full weight of the Roman Empire. crush his body, break it, nail it to a cross. And he was doing it for Peter since. Peter said, I don't know the man. I have nothing to do with him. The same Peter who said just hours early, Lord, I'll die for you. In his hour of greatest need, you need to understand that the hour of need of the Lord Jesus In the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed, Lord let this cup pass from me. And on the cross he cried, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And Peter denied him. When he faces him on the beach by the Sea of Galilee, he has one gentle question. Again and again, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? learn from the gentleness of Jesus Christ and be encouraged by it. And then, the intensity of Jesus in this restoration. God tests us. He probes and tries us. He does this in many different ways. Sometimes under the preaching of the word, sometimes in hard providences. But he's interested in getting to our hearts and knowing what's inside. He did it to Abraham. God tested Abraham and said, Abraham, Abraham. He said, here I am. He said, take your son, your only son whom you love, and offer him as a whole burnt offering. God tested Abraham. God probes. The psalmist prayed for this kind of testing. Search me. Try me, O Lord. See if there is any wicked way in me. It's not bad to be tested and probed by God. We're commanded also to examine our own hearts. Before we come to the Lord's Supper, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11, let a man examine himself. Paul says to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 13, Test yourselves, examine yourselves with this sobering phrase, whether or not you be in the faith. Jesus is interested in knowing what's inside. He didn't just have an interest in Peter as an instrument, as a preacher who needed to be fixed and restored. In other words, just an outward interest. He had interest in Jesus as a friend, as a disciple. As a matter of fact, in chapter 15, he said, you are my friends. And the sign of this is that I tell you what my father told me. Jesus had an interest in the restoration of the fellowship between Jesus Christ and Simon, son of Jonah. He had an interest in his eternal state. He had an interest that he wouldn't wander away. And Peter knew he did. And Peter knew that this was an intense examination. Look at verse 17. Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? Peter's heart was breaking under the surgeon's knife as Jesus probed the depths of his affection. Jesus was doing spiritual heart surgery and he was looking to see after the denial if there was a beating heart of love for him. Do you love me? Is the inward reality of your heart, Peter, warm affection and trust in me? Affection for me and trust in me. What does it mean to love? Children already know this. It's not complicated. Jesus is not asking Peter here a complicated theological question. He's asking him a plain personal question. He's simply asking, do you love me? Do you have affection for me? Peter would later write that this is the mark of every true Christian, even those who haven't seen Jesus. He writes in 1 Peter 1 in verse 8, concerning the churches, he says, concerning Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love. In other words, that there's love for Jesus who has not been seen. This isn't really complicated here this morning. But this is written in the scriptures for our instruction. And the question comes to you this morning very simply and plainly from Jesus. Do you love me? Do you love me? It could be no simpler but more important question to answer. now and for eternity. Jesus is asking here someone who was a believer, who had professed faith in Jesus Christ, who had a profession that Jesus said, flesh and blood is not revealed to this, to you, but my Father in heaven. Jesus was probing a believer and he was asking again, do you love me? We've been studying the Gospel of John for years now. You know about Him. You know what the Scriptures say about Him, who He is. You know your Bibles, you know when He was born, you know He was born of a virgin, you know He died, you know He rose again. You know the truth that we confess, that He's coming again on the clouds from glory. You know that He's the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. The Apostles beheld His glory and they tell us about Him. But the simple question is here, if Jesus was here today and he asked you the first time, the second time, and the third time as he probed your heart, do you love me? Do you have affection for me? What would your answer be? Let's pray. Lord our God, we come to you again submitting to your probing of our hearts as Peter did long ago on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. We pray that you would help us to hear, to understand, and to answer your questions of us, that when you probe and try our hearts, when you test our faith, when you ask us the deep and hard questions. Lord, that we would submit to your scrutiny. Lord, that we would pray for your searching ministry. Lord, that we would be willing to ask ourselves and test ourselves. Lord, that we would then again with joy return to you. Lord, with the confession of Peter long ago, Lord, you know that I love you. Lord, we pray now that as we continue to your table, as we are invited again to dine with you, that you would refresh us, restore us, and renew us with your love which you have first given to us. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.