Restoration

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Opening Prayer

Everlasting Lord, thank You for the gift of Life, but more, for the gift of new life in Your Son, Jesus.

Read John 21:20-25

^[20] Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) ^[21] When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” ^[22] Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” ^[23] Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” ^[24] This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. ^[25] Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Meditate

“Peter is me. Peter is you. Peter is us. Each of us has fallen. Each of us needs forgiveness. We need to grow like Peter in the light of our Risen Savior” (Richard Bodini).

Think Further

After breakfast, they started to walk (20). Peter then is moved by his adolescent sense of justice and asks, “Why me and not him?” One may have thought that Peter had grown up by now, but he turned around to compare himself with others (20,21) with a competitive attitude. Jesus, in his stern and firm approach, told Peter to focus on his own personal growth. Learning to follow the Master is to grow up, leaving behind the adolescent self-centered life. The order, “Follow me” (19), invites Peter to move away from an independent and self-centered life where he “went where [he] wanted” (18).

Restoration begins at the point at which we recognize with honesty the state of our inner being. God can make us do it, but that would not be transformation, rather a mechanical and forced change. Restoration, at its beginning, needs to be based on repentance, the strong emotional sorrow and pain for our misdeeds. We saw Jesus taking Peter to that point of hurt (17), a good and healing hurt, which transforms attitudes and perspectives of the self.

Then, restoration sets the person in a direction for life. For Peter, this was the mission to be like the Good Shepherd: “Feed my sheep” (17). This became the model for him to emulate: “Follow me” (19). But Peter interrupted the restoration process by comparing himself with others’ good fortune. Jesus reprimanded him by refocusing him: “You must follow me” (22). Good followers, as they follow, are renewed and matured in the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). In line with Jesus’ model, as individuals we experience the Gospel in our personal lives before we can share it with others; we need to follow the Good Shepherd before we can help others to follow.

Apply

John testifies of Jesus’ action on earth (24,25) so that we may believe (John 20:30,31): his writing had a mission. Do you have some activity with the same mission?

Closing prayer

Lord, thank You for Your work in Peter’s life–and in mine. May my mission in life help others believe.

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