Jesus the wonderful restorer
Transcript of Video.
Scene: A living room with an irony couch that has a big pink nail polish stain on it. Father reflects on how the stain got there.
‘A few years ago my wife bought this ivory colour couch for our living room. It was kind of a dangerous gamble as we have four kids running around…… but they know the rules. I mean they know that they are not allowed on the couch in that room. But one day my wife was straightening up the couch in the room and she discovered a long kept secret. She flipped over one of the cushions and found a stain. It wasn’t just any stain, it was pink fingernail polish. We called in our three daughters into the room, lined them up, and began questioning. I reached towards the couch to flip over the cushion to reveal the stain, but before I had the chance, my middle daughter cracked. The guilt was too much, she started to cry and ran upstairs. I went after her, following the sobs, and found her in the corner of the closet with her head between her knees. I got down next to her and put my hand on her back and tried to comfort her. After a few minutes, the two of us went downstairs and she told her mum and me what she had done. It was a secret she had kept for a while. She was scared to death that someone was going to find out. After a few minutes, she looked up at us with these big brown, tear-filled eyes and asked a question which just melted us. She asked “Do you still love me?” ’
Do you still love me? What a powerful, emotionally charged question! A deep question which cuts straight to the heart….. quite literally. Often it is a difficult question to hear, it confronts you head on! It can be painful listening to someone ask you: ‘Do you love me?’
Jesus asks Peter this same question three times in our text. Shouldn’t it be the other way round? Shouldn’t Peter be asking Jesus this question? Shouldn’t Peter be like the girl on our clip who asks her father ‘Do you still love me?’ So why does Jesus ask Peter ‘Do you love me?’ Because Jesus wants to restore Peter from his past failings, from his pain, from sins committed.
Let’s spend a few moments looking back at times when Peter had failed his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ- just as the little girl let down her parents in the video clip. John 13:
‘Peter asked ‘Lord why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered “Will you really lay down your life for me?’(John 13:37)
Peter proudly declares that he is prepared to lay down his life for Jesus. In Matthew’s parallel account it states that Peter declared he would never disown Jesus. Peter is going to love Jesus… unconditionally… or at least that is what he said he would do.
And then what happens? You know it.
‘You are one of the disciples aren’t you?’ ‘I am not.’
Again.
‘Are you one of the disciples?’ ‘No I am not!
How about a third time.
‘Didn’t I see you with him (Jesus) in the olive grove?’ ‘NO!’
In today’s text, Jesus gives Peter an olive branch, a chance to confess what he really believes. Jesus wants to restore Peter despite his sinfulness. Jesus wants Peter to love him unconditionally, just like the unconditional love which Jesus has shown Peter. This unconditional love becomes apparent through the two different Greek words for love which are used in our text. In Greek there is no word for love like we do in English; rather different Greek words describe different aspects of love.
The first Greek word for love, which Jesus uses, is not just asking ‘Do you love me?’ It is asking ‘Do you unconditionally love me?’ Peter responds with the second word for love—a word that means the kind of love like brotherly affection. ‘Yes Lord. You know that I love you.’ Peter is really saying “Yes Lord, You know that I love you as a friend because of what you have done for me.” It is a love built on friendship, love as a token of appreciation for Jesus’ actions.
Jesus is looking for more. Jesus is looking for unconditional love from Peter. A love which Peter is not willing to commit too. He hasn’t changed one bit! He still only wants to follow Jesus on his terms. He only wants to experience the mountain top; he doesn’t want to leave the mountain top experience and love Jesus unconditionally– he doesn’t want to walk with Jesus through the heartache of pain and suffering of being a follower. Peter didn’t want to walk through the valley of darkness and trouble in the lead up to Jesus’ death. ‘No I am not one of his disciples!’ Yes Lord, I have no other Gods, ummmm…… except when I don’t like what you are telling me, or I don’t want to follow you into death….actually I think I will NOW trust myself instead!
The little girl in our video wasn’t honest about the stain on the couch. She trusted herself by trying to hide the stain instead of owning up to her mistake. Are you like Peter trusting yourself instead of Jesus? Are you like the little girl, trusting yourself instead of obeying authority?
Friends, with the pain of sin, with the stain on the couch comes the need for restoration. Jesus restores Peter. Jesus is the one who asks him ‘Do you love me?’ Peter didn’t initiate that conversation. Peter didn’t love Jesus unconditionally, yet he is still restored. And Jesus comes to us with that same restoration even when we don’t love God unconditionally. Jesus through his grace, mercy and compassion restores us from the stain of sin.
In fact, Jesus goes one better than the stain on the couch. He completely removes the stain of sin which is on all people. He restores us back to our original condition, without blemish, making you pure white, completely righteous, blameless in God’s sight. Peter was restored by Jesus as a disciple whose responsibility was to shepherd the flock, shepherd God’s chosen people. Peter wasn’t restored to shepherd his sheep; he was restored to shepherd God’s sheep, God’s people.
Peter’s restoration points us to our own restoration, points us to our own sins being removed, points us back to the Easter cross, points us back to the Easter joy of an empty tomb, points us to the overall Easter season where we are reminded of Jesus’ redeeming, restoring actions. Jesus restores by conquering the death we deserve through his own death. The shame, guilt, embarrassment of our sins are removed, just as the shame of Peter’s pain is removed when Jesus restores him. Jesus is the wonderful restorer, even when past sins and failures make us feel unworthy. It is in these moments Jesus comforts with compassion, and unconditional love which enables restoring forgiveness to take place for both you and me.
So how can we be sure of this restoration? Through Baptism. Where you were restored by God and made his special child. Restored through the forgiveness of all your sins, restored by setting you free from the power of death and the devil.
Restored to give you everlasting life. All this restoration in Baptism if for us because of the restoring Jesus did on the cross- which allows Peter to be restored, you to be restored. Paul reminds us of this restoration in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…… not counting human sins against them.’ (2 Corinthians 5: 17-18a, 19a)
If anyone is in Christ, the old has gone. The pain of sin which Peter feels when Jesus asks him a third time ‘Do you love me?’ is gone. And our pain is removed as we are restored through unconditional love. Lets re-visit our video clip from earlier and see the response to the little girls question.
Scene: Father continues to reflect on the situation.
‘After a few minutes, she looked up at us with these big brown, tear-filled eyes and asked a question which just melted us. She asked “Do you still love me?” My wife knelt down beside her and whispered in her ear “You could never make a stain so big that it would keep us from loving you!’
‘You could never make a stain so big that it could keep us from loving you!’ Now that is unconditional love, just like God’s unconditional love. There is no sin, no stain so big in your life that Jesus can’t remove it. Jesus has restored you through his own blood that you may have eternal life! AMEN
May God the Father, who has given us new life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, fill us with living hope. AMEN
