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” (John 21:17).

[Editor’s Note: As the writing team continues their summer hiatus, we’re drawing on the September 2022 archives for a set of devotionals from the sermon series, Soar!” Be blessed and challenged!]

I am a responsible and dependable person, and I follow the rules. I’m only human, though. I mess up just as much as anyone else, and when that happens, no one is harder on me than me. As a child, I needed very little in the way of consequences for poor choices, and as an adult even less. Remorse and regret post-mistake are immediate. I’m sure to relive the blunder for years to come, so I’d rather not talk about it in private or public…ever…please and thank you.

How much good does it do to shed light on our sin? (Spoiler alert: much good!)

How are we to Soar! with the burdens of sin tied to our ankles and wrists, chained around our necks, and strapped to our backs? Sin is sin is sin, and all of it weighs us down.

Peter was historically impulsive and headstrong, and holy mother meatballs…that mouth! Just a few days earlier, Peter had bragged about loving Jesus the most, but when confronted, Peter publicly denied him three times. Peter really messed up, and he knew it: “He went outside and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62). (This sounds like something I’d do after making a mess of things!) Jesus knew, after all that, that Peter would need reassurance of his forgiveness, and he knew the other disciples would need reassurance of it, too. 

What follows is Jesus publicly forgiving and restoring Peter to a place of leadership. Sin, after all, doesn’t necessarily cancel calling, and Peter had a big one (Matthew 16:18). Sin does have consequences, but there’s always something more powerful than sin at work: the grace of God. 

After the third time Jesus asked “Do you love me?”, “Peter was hurt…” (v17). Every other time I’ve read this, though, I’ve seen it as though Peter was offended that Jesus asked three times to confirm his love. Putting myself in Peter’s shoes, however, perhaps it had more to do with Peter facing what he’d done, the person he had wronged, and taking steps to fix his mistake.

What a beautiful picture of redemption! Sin weighs us down, but here we find encouragement to acknowledge when we mess up and do the work to make things right for the sake of soaring. Is some sin weighing you down today? Now is the perfect time to take a step to make it right!