That’s right, I’m not referring to your brother, neighbor, or even the pizza shop owner down the street named Peter. The one we sometimes amusingly portray as standing at the pearly whites, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles, and even the very person who Jesus requested to join him during two of His most intimate experiences (Mark 14:32-34) in the garden and at the time of His transfiguration (Luke 9:28-31) asked the question, “Does God love me?”
The night before His crucifixion, Jesus pointed out to Peter that he would deny Him three times. Though Peter adamantly refused to acknowledge Jesus’ prediction, when the time of trial came, Peter knowingly and willingly denied his association with Jesus out of fear of being punished. It is what any or at least most of us would have done in that very situation quite frankly. And then Jesus was gone, leaving Peter with his own looming feelings of guilt and shame. It would appear that he committed the unpardonable sin–the end of the road for Peter.
As far as Peter was concerned, he had turned his back on everything he once lived for and knew. This was the moment of truth and he had totally dropped the ball. How could Jesus love him or forgive him? If Peter couldn’t even stand with his Lord and Master during the time of His trial, then why would Jesus ever stand for him? So he said to himself, “I guess it’s time to go back to fishing.”
I would suggest reading the whole chapter of John 21 for more background, as it is a moving depiction of God’s love and grace. But in summary, Jesus has now appeared to His disciples after the resurrection, and is standing on the shore looking out at Peter and a few others while they are trying to catch fish. They eventually realize it is the Lord and head back to the shore to meet Him. Now i encourage you to watch this short video the whole way through as it addresses the question, “Does God Love Me?” The ending of this is what really matters. So our story ensues:
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