An excellent illustration of mercy is given near the end of John’s Gospel. While Jesus was being interrogated by the high priest, Peter, one of Jesus’ three closest disciples, was waiting outside. As he warmed himself by the fire, Peter was confronted by a servant girl who accused him of being one of Jesus’ disciples. He replied, “I am not.” Twice more Peter denied being one of Jesus’ followers (Jn. 18:15-18, 25-27).
Peter had been following Jesus for about three years. During that time he saw Jesus perform all kinds of miracles and heard him teach about God’s kingdom. What Peter saw and heard convinced him that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). But now in Jesus’ greatest time of need, Peter deliberately and repeatedly denied having any connection with Jesus.
So how would you feel if you were Peter? Would you feel like a complete failure? Would the guilt crush you, killing any hope of forgiveness? Would you walk away from it all never to return?
Peter certainly felt awful about what he had done. Luke says that Peter “went out and wept bitterly” (22:62). But Peter stuck around. When he heard that Jesus’ body was missing he ran to Jesus’ tomb to see what had happened (Jn. 20:3-6).
Some time later, Peter and a half dozen other disciples went fishing. A man on the shore called out to them and told them to let down their net on the right side of the boat. When they did, they caught 153 fish. As soon as Peter heard a fellow disciple announce, It is the Lord!” referring to the man on the shore, he dove into the water and swam to Jesus (Jn. 21:7-8).
Upon reaching shore, the disciples noticed a charcoal fire with fish and bread laid out on it. The resurrected Jesus then invited them to have breakfast and proceeded to serve them. After breakfast, Jesus addressed Peter with the same question three times: “Do you love me?” (Jn. 21:15-19). That question seems to be Jesus’ way of confronting Peter for his three-fold denial. But notice Jesus didn’t immediately bring up Peter’s mistake, and when he did, he didn’t ask directly, “How could you have denied me?” or “Why did you do it?” Instead Jesus waited, then asked a question that focused on the present and the heart: “Do you love me?”
But why did Peter respond so enthusiastically when he heard that Jesus was on the shore? Why did he jump in the water and swim to Jesus? Wouldn’t you want to avoid seeing the one you recently denied knowing?
Peter had already met the resurrected Christ. After Peter went to the tomb early in the morning, Luke writes, “he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened” (24:12). He then returned to the others and reported what he had seen at the tomb (24:24). Some time later on that resurrection Sunday, Peter must have been by himself. Perhaps he was walking through a field or on a boat—we can’t be certain. But while he was alone, Jesus appeared to him, which makes sense of these statements: “The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon” (24:34) and “he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve” (1 Cor. 15:5).
That is all the information we have about this private appearance. But it is safe to assume that Jesus extended forgiveness to Peter during that first post-resurrection encounter. That is why Peter swam to Jesus.
Peter shows us that when we really mess up, deliberately and repeatedly, we shouldn’t lose hope. Instead we should dive into the water and swim to Jesus. Jesus will be waiting for us on the shore and he will be merciful.
After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I served as a high school Bible teacher in Asia. I enjoy traveling, writing, and playing the drums. For a deep dive into church history and the character of God, see my book Surprised by Hell.