Sermon Tone Analysis

“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’

He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’

He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’

He said to him a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’

He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’

He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’

He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’

Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.

Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.’ (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.)

And after saying this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’

“Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, ‘Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?’

When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, what about this man?’

Jesus said to him, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?

You follow me!’

So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?’”[1]

Few of us realise how sinful we really are.

If we actually knew how wicked we are, we would not be shocked when we fail morally, ethically, or even when we deny our faith.

However, few of us really know the depth of our own depravity.

Therefore, we are shocked, especially when we fall into serious sin.

For all our good intentions as followers of Christ, it is disconcerting to discover how very easy it is for us to deny our Master and Saviour.

When we sin—and we do sin, often egregiously—we tend to imagine that we have forfeited any opportunity to have a successful and joyous Christian life.

The devil, to say nothing of our own conscience, condemns us, accusing us of our failure and suggesting that we are no longer of any value to the cause of Christ.

I want to encourage you who are Christians that when you sin, you have not forfeited your chance for a full Christian life.

You must not imagine that you can continue sinning, but you should never think that your sin is so great that you are forever sidelined from serving the Master.

The biblically appointed way to respond to sin is repentance and restoration.

We learn this from the account of Peter’s failure in the hour of the Master’s greatest need, and through his repentance and restoration by the Risen Saviour.

*A Big Man’s Boast and Fall* — Go back in your minds to one of the great confessions made concerning Jesus.

It was great because it required courage and because it was based primarily upon what Jesus said about Himself.

You will no doubt remember the setting when Jesus asked, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

The disciples responded, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

Jesus, perhaps wishing to draw the disciples out, pointedly asked, “But who do you say that I am?”

It was at this point that Peter burst forth with his great confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” [*Matthew 16:13-16*].

This confession was the apex of Peter’s walk with the Master before the crucifixion.

Matters moved rapidly toward a finale after Jesus travelled to Jerusalem.

It was during the Last Supper that Jesus issued a new commandment, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” [*John 13:34, 35*].

The command must have stimulated Peter to think of how much he loved Jesus, because when Jesus spoke of going away, Peter understood that He was speaking of His death.

Wouldn’t you think that such a lofty command coupled with such a serious statement of sacrifice such as this would humble the disciples?

Rather than humbling him, Jesus’ words seemed to goad Peter into making a fantastic assertion.

We read that Peter boasted, “Lord, why can I not follow you now?

I will lay down my life for you” [*John 13:37*].

Jesus responded to Peter’s avowal with a sobering prophecy.

I cannot imagine that there was a hint of bemusement in Jesus’ response to Peter, only sorrow that He needed to make such a negative statement concerning Peter’s failure.

“Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied Me three times” [*John 13:38*].

Apparently, Peter was sobered by Jesus’ prophecy concerning him; he asked no further questions of the Master.

Though Thomas [*John 14:5*] and Philip [*John 14:8*] questioned the Master after this, Peter was silent.

Undoubtedly Peter was much like any of us would have been in that instance.

Perhaps he was stunned at the negative aspect of Jesus’ words.

Likely he was thinking that Jesus was wrong.

It is even conceivable that Peter was pouting at the thought that Jesus would have said such things about him, and publicly!

He was almost assuredly defensive.

“Jesus has no right to think that way about me.

He should not have spoken that way in front of all the others about me.

I will never deny Him; I’ll show Him—and all the others as well.”

I have to think this to be an accurate assessment because the subject */did/* come up again.

The disciples, together with Jesus, had observed the Pascal Meal.

Judas had departed to carry out his nefarious betrayal, after which Jesus had instituted what we know as the Lord’s Supper.

They had sung a hymn and they were walking to the Mount of Olives when Jesus said, “You will all fall away because of Me this night.

For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’” [*Matthew 26:31*].

At this point, Peter interrupted to say, “Though they all fall away because of You, I will never fall away” [*Matthew 26:33*].

Can’t you just see the sweep of his hand as he indicates the remainder of the disciples, “Though they all fall away because of you,” and the equally dramatic pointing to himself as he strikes a heroic pose, “I will */never/* fall away?”

I can only imagine that Peter emphasised the word “never.”

He was determined to present himself as different; Peter had a high estimate of his commitment to the Christ.

When the Master again warned, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times” [*Matthew 26:34*], Peter grew adamant.

“Even if I must die with You, I will not deny You” [*Matthew 26:35*], he protested!

And this time, the entire band of disciples joined in protesting their allegiance to the Master.

Luke informs us that Jesus told Peter that He had prayed for him that his faith would not fail [see *Luke 22:31, 32*].

A mature Christian would have heeded the warnings of the Master; yet, Peter continued insistent that his faith was sufficient; and in full confidence he went to his downfall.

Each of the Gospels tells us that Peter did deny the Master three times.

Even as Jesus stood trial, Peter, warming himself by a fire in the courtyard of the high priest was denying Him, “I do not know Him … I am not one of His disciples … I do not know what you are talking about.”

Even as he spoke he heard a rooster crow, and “the Lord turned and looked at Peter” [*Luke 22:61*].

Undoubtedly, you, as is true for me, have at some point failed miserably.

You wanted to do what was right and to honour the Lord.

You had every intention of standing bold in the face of opposition, but when the time to confess came, you were silent, or worse yet, you denied the Master.

It may have been among your colleagues at work as they ridiculed righteousness or exalted wicked practises, and you were silent.

Perhaps it was an opportunity to speak a word of encouragement to someone that was truly in need.

You knew that you should speak, perhaps the Spirit of God was even prompting you to speak, but because you were afraid that you would appear judgemental you refrained from speaking.

Perhaps there is something even more heinous—a dark blot, a grave sin against God and perhaps even against your fellow man.

Afterwards, you felt terrible; you doubted that God could love you.

You wanted to just forget about trying to be a Christian because you knew you couldn’t be godly.

Peter, disheartened by his utter failure, gathered with the other disciples—he didn’t know what else to do.

So, he huddled with them, his emotions undoubtedly at the lowest ebb in his entire life.

When the women came back with a report of angels and an empty tomb, Peter ran, together with John, to the tomb where he saw the stone rolled back from the entrance and the grave clothes lying on the niche inside the tomb.

He witnessed the evidence of the resurrection, he saw the Risen Son of God, he heard Him speak and even received a blessing from this Living Saviour.

However, he no longer felt worthy to be a disciple, much less an Apostle.

I know this to be the case because he was silent when the Master appeared to the disciples [see *John 20:19-29*]; and finally, he decided to go fishing.

I don’t mean to imply that people who fish are unbelievers; however, Peter resigned from the ministry because he decided that he was no longer suited to “do the job.”

“I am going fishing,” [*John 21:3*] wasn’t a statement about needing rest or needing a diversion—it was Peter’s resignation as an Apostle so that he could go back to his former life.

There are some listening today who are ready to resign from being a disciple.

“Where can I go to resign my appointment,” you wonder.

“I tried, and I failed.

I can’t seem to meet the standards that are expected of a Christian.

I guess I should just quit trying.”

If you think that way, you are in good company.

That is precisely where Peter was after denying the Master.

I recall more than one occasion when speaking with people about salvation that I’ve heard, “I’d become a Christian, but I don’t think I can live the life.”

I usually respond, “Well, of course you can’t live the life.

You will fail, and on occasion you will fail miserably!”

You see, at issue is not whether you will be a great Christian, but whether God accepts you.

Don’t you imagine that God knows your weakness and that He knew your weaknesses when He called you? Don’t you imagine that He knew you would fail long before you failed?