"... So he went out and wept bitterly..."
Jesus knew Peter's heart. He knew there would be a day when this young optimistic apostle would pass through a tunnel of torment and feel so rotten about it afterwards that he would doubt his Call and his Place in the Kingdom. So he sought to comfort Peter - way out in advance - not only to prepare him for the ordeal but to remind him that, as he himself would prove, there is Life on the backside of the Cross.
“Simon, Simon," Jesus told him once. "Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31)
(I can see Peter looking to heaven and thinking that sort of thing could never happen to him. "Sure, whatever, Lord." But it did. Just like Jesus said it would. Only then did the Holy Spirit remind Peter of what Jesus was really saying.)
We oftentimes misunderstand what the Lord is saying to us until after the affair. Before the betrayal we may hear his warning - along with his absolute assurance of restoration on the other side - but we don't really take it to heart. We make light of it - even turning it into something spiritual or parabolic. What nice words, we think. Perhaps somebody needs to hear those words. Our Jesus is such a nice Shepherd. He is filled with such a great big, gushy love! Sweet, sweet Jesus! But it's only after the the betrayal when we realize the thing deafening us to God's Word in our hearts was at the very heart of our betrayal.
Humility is a wonderful thing, isn't it? It's the stuff of Biblical Heros. What you thought you were perhaps exempt from the process? Think again.
In the story above it's important to remember that Jesus was far more interested in Peter's recovery - his return to ministry - than what took him out. Betrayal takes a heavy toll on a person, regardless of the circumstances. Jesus is aware of that. He walks it through with us, pours out the Father's love to us, and reminds us there is Life beyond life. All the same, Jesus is insistent: Peter needed to know that, after all was said and done, he still had a call to ministry, he still had Purpose and, indeed, he was still to play a crucial role in the Plans of God.
Peter's sin, as rotten as it was, did not cause God to run and hide in a closet. No, Jesus is a Friend of Sinners. He drew closer to Peter. He singled him out and used the denial for a Future Glory - a glory perhaps greater than could have been previously.
Gods Word never returns void. He's not going to let a speed bump take us you of the Race. He has much bigger fish to fry.
A few days later, on the beach, Jesus says nothing about Peter's sin and says everything about the original Call on his life. "Do you still love me? Then, let's get on with it. Feed my sheep"
What? Even when I've sliced off the ear of a solder and you had to heal him? Feed my sheep. What? Even after I've denied you three times before others who need to know the Love of God? Feed my sheep. What? Even when I've suffocated the your Fire by warming myself around the fires of my own comfort and misplaced passion? Yes, dude, feed my sheep! As I've told you before, when you are restored, strengthen your brothers.
A well-healed limb is often stronger than the original. What is it with our God? He not only restores the years the locusts have eaten, but he makes the remaining years even more fruitful so that the glory of yesterday is shadowed in the glory of the Day.
Such is the power of God's forgiveness in a heart of flesh.
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