Read:
We all know how it feels to know we messed up with someone we care about. We’re afraid to face them again, to look them in the eye. We convince ourselves they’ll never forgive us or look at us the same way again. While that may be how it goes with people sometimes, that’s never the case with Jesus.
The end of the Gospel of John gives us a beautiful picture of Jesus’ forgiveness. On the night Jesus was arrested, Peter acted like he had never known him. Peter, the first of Jesus’ followers to believe he was the Messiah. The one who trusted when Jesus told him to step out on the water. The one who was with Jesus, James, and John on the mountain when Jesus’s glory was revealed. Yet, Peter was the one who betrayed Jesus by pretending he didn’t even know him.
But Peter’s faith was powerful. Jesus had promised forgiveness for sins. When others might have hung their heads in shame at what they had done, Peter saw his savior on the beach and didn’t hesitate. He dove into the water and swam to shore. He had to be where Jesus was!
Before all this, when Peter first declared Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus made him a promise: “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means 'rock'), and upon this rock I will build my church.” Surely Peter’s denial should have meant he could no longer serve God! Right? But Jesus forgave Peter and reinstated this promise.
Have you ever felt that your mistakes disqualify you from serving God? Jesus says the opposite. Jesus gave Peter a job to do, to teach and care for God’s people—to “Feed my sheep.” He forgave Peter, looking right past his mistakes and inviting him to step into a new, greater purpose.
If you believe in Jesus, you’re forgiven, and you have a job to do: to help introduce people to Jesus and together fully follow him. When we believe, God turns the mistakes we’ve made into the story he uses to prove the truth: God loves and forgives.
Pray: Dear God, I believe that you have forgiven me because of Jesus’s death on the cross. Use me and my story to help others know you. Amen.