Again

This week, we are talking about failure by walking through five scenes in the life of Peter. So far, we have experienced the depths of Peter’s denial and the hope of Jesus’ resurrection with him. Today, we see Peter encounter Jesus.


John 21
1 Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened.
2 Several of the disciples were there - Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.
3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
4 At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was.
5 He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied.
6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore.
8 The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore.
9 When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them - fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.
10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said.
11 So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.
12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.
13 Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish.
14 This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.


Again. Typically, failure leads us away from the people we have failed. It creates a fear within us that the people we have failed will reject us. I think that fear is exponential when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. How could Jesus continue to love me ... accept me after I have failed Him, again?! That is why I love the phrase “Jesus appeared again” in this passage. If you live in fear that your failures have caused Jesus to abandon you, I encourage you to mediate on that phrase ... Jesus appeared again ... Jesus appeared again ... allow it to bypass your fears and touch the depths of your heart and mind.