Daily Devotionals

december 21, 2020

This is the fourth week of Advent. Our devotions this week center on the theme “Jesus came into the world to bring...”


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.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

 

John 21:15-19

Jesus came in to the world to bring HOPE.

 

I was never the type of person who would stop in the middle of a book and turn to the last few pages to see how the story ended.  While I’m not sure why that was never the case when reading a Tom Clancy thriller, I have learned over a lifetime of studying Scripture that I need to read the totality of the story. My mind will not allow me to sit in expectation of Christmas morning without the reality of the crucifixion or without the joy of the resurrection.  The fullness of Jesus’s birth, life, death, and resurrection cannot be untangled from one another. 

 

Jesus’s interaction with Peter that we see here is one we must read in the completeness of the gospel as a whole.  After having denied Jesus on the night of His arrest, the Rock on which the Church will be built sees the resurrected Lord.  In their dialogue, I see much more of myself than I would like to admit.  I can almost feel the tension as Peter awaits Jesus’s reply to him.  Surprisingly, rather than asking Peter why, Jesus simply looks at him and asks the same question three times: “Do you love me?”  Peter’s responses to the first two queries seem nearly shy and dismissive, unlike his third response, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

 

Acknowledging that Jesus knows not only Peter but all things, the disciple finally grasps something much deeper, something that is truly mind-boggling. Despite anything that Peter did or will do, Jesus will still forgive him. In this moment of forgiveness, I see the surest sign of the hope that Christ offers to us. It is not a hope purely for something that our minds cannot fully grasp but rather a personal experience of forgiveness, an experience of being called into a deeper relationship with our Lord and Savior.

For Reflection


With whom do you most closely identify in this passage and why?


How can you share the experience of the hope of forgiveness with others in your life?

Prayer


Lord Jesus, You call us each to love You and to feed Your sheep. Yet even as You have called us, many of us turn our hearts and minds away from You. We are grateful that You, nevertheless, offer us forgiveness and continue to seek to know us in ever deeper ways. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.

Rev. Scott Tucker
Pastor for Grand Adults
404-842-3172