Love conquers failure

Luke 22:61-62, “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, ‘Before a cock crows today, you will deny Me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.” Luke 22:31-32, tells us of the warning Jesus told Peter before He was seized. “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail, and you; when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Jesus knew Peter would deny Him three times. Yet, He prayed for Peter’s faith not to fail. Our faith at times is shaken. Try as we might and say we will follow Jesus, we find ourselves failing Him in some way. Peter was put to the test that night. He had followed Jesus faithfully during Jesus’s time before the crucifixion. During the time Jesus went along teaching and healing, Peter was there beside Him. Jesus told the disciples in the garden to pray, that you may not enter into temptation. Peter who moments before declared He would follow Jesus to the death, denied Jesus. Jesus even told Peter that Satan wanted to sift him like wheat and that He prayed his faith would not fail. Jesus knew what Peter would do when things got tough. Even telling him, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. He heard the words Jesus was speaking but wasn’t listening to the words being said. Peter thought that there wasn’t anything to stop him from following Jesus. Yet he slept and did not pray so as not to enter into temptation. The challenge for Peter was to tell others he was one of the followers of Jesus. He failed that challenge. Not just once, but three times. Jesus turned and looked at Peter and he remembered the word of the Lord. If we were to stop reading at this point, we may not see what happens after this. After Jesus was resurrected, He appeared before the disciples at the Sea of Tiberius on the beach. John 21:12-17 tells us Peter told the disciples, I’m going fishing, and they joined him in the boat. That night they caught nothing. When the day was breaking Jesus stood on the beach and asked them, “Children, you do not have any fish do you? Cast your net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” They cast their nets and caught so many fish; they could not haul them. When they realized it was Jesus, Peter threw himself into the sea to rush to the shore. There was already a fire burning with fish laid on it and bread. Jesus said to them. “Come and have breakfast.” When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these? Peter answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus asked him this three times telling Peter to tend My lambs, shepherd My sheep, tend my sheep. The point of this messages is Peter vowed to follow Jesus yet denied Him three times. Jesus’s question to Peter after His death and resurrection was “Simon do you love Me.” He asked this of Peter three times. When our faith is shaken, we need to be able to say, “Yes, Lord You know that I love You.” Jesus said to the disciples, “come and have breakfast.” He wants us to remember that though we may fail at times, we are restored by our love for Him. We can’t focus on how we fail, but our love for God, and that there is work to do. In John 17:15, 20, Jesus prayed to the Father saying, “I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.” “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.” Jesus prayed for us while on earth, just as He told Peter he had prayed for him, that his faith would not fail. Once we turn again to Him we can strengthen our brothers.