Sermon
for Easter 3, Misericordias Domini, May 1, 2022
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He gave us a new birth
into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Amen.
John 21:15-25 15When they had eaten
breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more
than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you
know that I care about you.” Jesus told
him, “Feed my lambs.” 16A
second time Jesus asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said, “Yes, Lord, you know that I care
about you.” Jesus told him, “Be a
shepherd for my sheep.” 17He
asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you care about me?” Peter was grieved because Jesus asked him the
third time, “Do you care about me?” He
answered, “Lord, you know all things.
You know that I care about you.”
“Feed my sheep,” Jesus said. 18“Amen,
Amen, I tell you: When you were young, you dressed yourself and went wherever
you wanted. But when you are old, you will
stretch out your hands, and someone else will tie you and carry you where you
do not want to go.” 19Jesus
said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow
me.” 20Peter turned and saw the
disciple Jesus loved following them.
This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and
asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”
21When Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about
him?” 22“If I want him to
remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you? You follow me.” 23And so it was said among the
brothers that this disciple would not die.
Yet Jesus did not say that he would not die, but, “If I want him to
remain until I come, what is that to you?”
24This is the disciple who is testifying about these things
and who wrote these things. We know that his testimony is true. 25Jesus also did many other
things. If every one of them were
written down, I suppose the world itself would not have room for the books that
would be written. (EHV)
Follow Jesus wherever He takes you.
Dear fellow redeemed,
Tough love. That
is what some people might think Jesus is showing Peter here. They might assume that because Peter denied
Jesus three times, Jesus questions Peter three times to call him to repentance,
perhaps even to embarrass Peter for having so little faith in the Son of God. If we think that, we miss the point of what
Jesus was doing, and we don’t understand Jesus’ love. However, if we listen closely to Jesus’
words, we will learn to Follow Jesus wherever He
takes you.
On the
night Jesus was arrested, just hours after Peter had boasted that he would
never turn against his Friend, Peter’s fear led him to deny Jesus and to reject
even the suggestion that he knew the Lord, exactly as Jesus had
prophesied. Immediately after, when
Peter came to his senses, he was horrified that he had denied his beloved Savior.
Peter
stumbled in a way that was totally out of character—in fear for his life, his usual
boldness abandoned him. Then, once Peter
realized what he had done, with his self-confidence shattered, he went out deeply
remorseful, and wept bitterly. Then,
upon seeing Jesus be crucified, dead, and buried, Peter’s confidence in Jesus
was completely shaken. At that point,
Peter was without hope.
Thus, on
Easter morning, the disciples, including Peter, were shocked by the news of
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Naturally,
Peter rejoiced to learn that wonderful news, but then he may have wondered, where
did he now stand in relationship to his Lord?
How could Peter ever be forgiven for his cowardice? How could Peter recover from his shame? The answer comes, as it always does, from
Jesus.
Three
times Jesus asked Peter if he loved his Lord.
Three times Peter affirmed that he did.
Yes, confronted by His Lord, Peter’s agony was great, but what was
Jesus’ intent? Jesus was telling Peter:
“Three times you denied Me, but every time I forgave you. Three times you left Me but still, I call you
back into My kingdom. Three times you forgot
your love for Me, but because of My love for you, you are forgiven and welcome
in My circle of friends, and you will be a shepherd of My sheep.”
What a
marvelous picture this is for all of us.
How many times have we betrayed Jesus in our daily lives, or wandered
away from holy living, forgot His love for us, or neglected to serve Him as we
should? We all know and confess that the
times we sin are countless. Yet, Jesus
paid for it all, forgives us all, loves us all, and calls us back into His
kingdom of grace.
St. Paul
was moved to write, “This saying is trustworthy: Indeed, if we have died
with him, we will also live with him; If we endure, we will also reign with
him; If we deny him, he will also deny us; If we are faithless, he remains
faithful, because he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:11-13) We died with Jesus in baptism. (Romans 6:3) We deny Him when we sin, yet in repentance we
return as did Peter, and through it all our Savior remains faithful. Through it all, His love and forgiveness for
us endures. Then, following our Savior
in faith, we live and serve and reign with Him.
Jesus told
Peter, “Feed My sheep.”
“Shepherd My sheep.” “Feed My
sheep.” This is the role and task Peter
was given as an apostle of the risen Savior.
Our God works through means. He
saves by giving faith in Jesus through the Good News of the sacrifice God’s Son
made to reconcile sinners with God.
Jesus no longer walks with us physically on earth, yet the Spirit He
sends works through those means and through those who share the Gospel with
others. Not all will be called as
apostles. Not all will be called as
pastors, teachers, or missionaries. Yet,
every Christian has his or her appointed place in bringing the Good News to the
people Jesus loves, which is everyone.
Maybe
your call is humble service to your family and neighbor. Maybe you have been privileged with resources
to share. Maybe you will be put into
position to invite, or to welcome. Many
or most of us have children of our own to whom we can bring the Good News of
Jesus. Jesus said, “Let the little
children come to me and do not hinder them, because the kingdom of heaven
belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14) So, we raise the children teaching them the
skills they need for daily living, but as servants of the Lord Jesus, we will especially
teach them the things that will give them eternal life. In this way, the invitation to Peter comes
also to us, Follow Jesus wherever He takes you.
Now,
Jesus also had a forecast of what would come to Peter later in life. Where once he had gone and done as he
pleased, the day would come when his hands would be bound, and he would be led
to a death he didn’t want. Peter had
promised Jesus he was ready to die with Him, and then he stumbled in fear. Peter wasn’t yet ready the night Jesus was
betrayed. Still, God would allow Peter
to die in a way that brought glory to God; not that death on a cross is glory,
but death for the name of Jesus—persecution and execution because of the name
of Jesus—is a testimony that is glorious to our Creator. Through this horrible death, the world would
learn that Jesus had kept Peter faithful, and that God-given faith would take
Peter to the glories of heaven.
As is
often our want, we find it easy to compare ourselves with others. We see that Peter fell prey to that as
well. He saw John and asked Jesus what
his friend’s fate might be. Jesus’
answer shows us that what God has planned for others isn’t relative, or
important, to God’s plan for us.
In the
Lord’s great measure of love and wisdom, some will be given much on earth and
others very little. Some will have
success and as we saw with Lazarus, some will endure poverty and pain. Some might live long on the earth and others
through no fault of their own might die young.
Some Christians endure horrible persecution and live in a constant state
of danger, while we have thus far been privileged with safety and relative
peace. Should we consider ourselves better
than those who suffer? Hardly. Should we be proud if we endure hardship? Again no.
Whatever God deems for the believer is enough. Follow Jesus wherever He takes you.
Dear
friends, while we have so far been privileged to live in a society and place
that doesn’t actively persecute Christians, we dare not take our eternal safety
lightly. Privilege, wealth, prosperity,
and earthly peace can also be dangerous traps.
The Jews of Jesus’ day assumed that those who were blessed on earth must
be receiving God’s favor because they deserved it. They were dead wrong—dead spiritually because
they didn’t think they needed a Savior—dead eternally if they remained in their
unbelieving ways.
The
writer of this Gospel tells us that only a small portion of what Jesus did
during His earthly ministry was recorded for us. In His divine wisdom, the Holy Spirit
determined what is needed and best to bring people to faith in Jesus. We need nothing more. We don’t need to know in advance our futures
here on earth. The Word has told us that
this world is passing away, but also that our home is in heaven, and Jesus has
secured our place in it.
Most
important, the Word tells us that we are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. It tells us that the Son of God came to earth
to reconcile God with us. By His life,
Jesus fulfilled every requirement of holiness we need. By His death, Jesus paid for the sins of the
world. By His resurrection, the world
was shown that everything God promises is true.
By Jesus’ gracious invitation in word and Sacrament, we are brought into
His kingdom of grace with our sins forgiven, our future secured in the heavenly
realms, and our service to God and our neighbor acceptable to our God through
faith in Christ Jesus. “So then,
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans
8:1) Want to be confident about your
future? Follow Jesus wherever He
takes you. Amen.
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