Day 21
John 20:15-16
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
In the book of John, Jesus refers to Peter directly by name twice, in the very first and last chapters. On both occasions, he doesn’t actually call him Peter. He calls him Simon, the son of Jonah. In John 1:42, when Simon Peter is brought to Jesus by his brother Andrew, Jesus looks at him, sees him, and speaks to him, saying, “You are Simon, son of John, and you are to be called Cephas,” which is translated Peter or rock in Greek. In Matthew 16:18, we read that Jesus declares, “On this rock, I will build my church.” In other words, Jesus speaks to where Peter was at that moment and where Peter’s journey with Christ would take him. When he first meets Peter, Jesus has to let him know that he sees where he is now. Still, he prophetically declares who Peter will become through intimacy with Jesus. Then, at the end of John, after three years of Peter getting so close to Jesus and yet betraying him when it mattered most, Jesus speaks to Peter again. He uses the same name that he called Peter when he first invited him to follow as a disciple– Simon, son of Jonah. However, this time, instead of just saying follow me, he asks do you love me? In other words, Jesus gives him a choice. If Peter loves Jesus, he must step into the role Jesus called him to. Jesus asks Peter if he loves him because the rock that the church is built on is not one man. It is the faith Jesus expressed through active love. This love looks like serving the flock of Christ even to the point of death. That faith in Jesus is what the church is built on, and that kind of sacrificial love is what Jesus was inviting Peter into. After calling him by the name he’d always carried, Jesus asked Peter, are you willing to take on your new name? Are you willing to become who I have created you to be, who I prophesied you would be? You have a choice, but if you love me, you will lean into your calling. What is God calling you? Jesus didn’t condemn Peter. He didn’t make him say I’m sorry or make him pledge his loyalty. Jesus offered him a choice. He said, “Follow me”. Peter had been a disciple for years, but Jesus called him deeper. He’s calling you now. The Awakening was just the beginning. Jesus is saying step into the intimacy with me you were created for, or stay who you’ve always been. Christ is always there for us on the journey of intimacy, but when all is said and done, your intimacy with God is up to you, not him. He’s inviting you to a radical love that will change everything about you as you become more like the one who made you. What will you choose?
Next Steps
Read John chapter 21 and take notes, making observations and asking questions as you read.
Mediate on 1 or 2 verses that stood out to you. Focus on what they reveal about God and how the Spirit is inviting you to respond. Find a helpful guide to biblical meditation here.
Write down whatever the Holy Spirit puts on your heart.
Reflection Questions
Imagine how Peter must have felt standing there facing the one he betrayed and being questioned about his love. Imagine what Jesus’ eyes looked like on that beach. How must Peter have been feeling? Ashamed? Distant? Discouraged? However Peter felt, Jesus extended an invitation not just to restoration but to receive radical love.
Have you ever felt like Peter did before Jesus? How would you have responded to Jesus’ questions at that moment? How would you respond to him now?
Prayer Points
Lord let me continuously accept the invitation for you to awaken new depths of intimacy in me
Lord let my walk with you and service to you flow from a place of radical love. Let me never stop saying yes to you.
Lord, by faith, let me live by the name you call me and not the name of what others have said about me or the name my past mistakes have labeled me
