This is a copy of my talk given at Ayia Kyriaki and Saint Stephen’s in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Sunday 4 May 2025. The Bible reading was John 20:1-19.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your word.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit,
May You speak to my heart,
And change my life.
In the precious name of Jesus I pray.
Amen.

Introduction

One of the (many) things that I like about the Easter stories in the gospels is that there are a lot of them. After Jesus is raised from the dead, he appears to the disciples on several occasions. Last week, we heard the story of Jesus appearing in the Upper Room (John 20:19-31) where He offered them peace, showed them the scars on his hands and side, and gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit. Today, we have another story of Jesus appearing to the disciples. This time it’s not in Jerusalem, as on the previous two occasions, but in Galilee, ‘home’ for many of the disciples. Jesus appears on the shore cooking breakfast while they’re out fishing. But this story is about Peter rather than the disciples.

1) Peter The Bold

Peter had been the boldest of all the disciples. Whatever Jesus was doing, Peter was never far away. From the moment his brother Andrew introduced him to Jesus, Peter was all in. Where Jesus went, Peter would go too.

What would you have said about Peter if you were one of the twelve? You would have said he is bold, brave, brash, and utterly committed. You might not always have got on well with him, he was the type of man who ‘called a spade a spade!’ But you would always have wanted Peter on your team. He was the guy that jumped out of the boat and tried to walk on water in Matt 14, he was the one that answered Jesus’ identity question with “You are the Christ” in Mark 8, he was one of the three that got to see Jesus transfigured in Mark 9.

He argued when Jesus taught that he would have to suffer and die, he promised Jesus he would stay by his side even to death, he grabbed a sword and was willing to fight for Jesus in Gethsemane. From the Peter left his nets and his boats and his business (in Matthew 4) to be with Jesus, Peter saw his whole future as being tied up with Jesus – wherever that would take him. Peter was a bold follower of Jesus. And he really did love Jesus.

2) Peter The Broken

In 21:3 Peter says: “I’m going out to fish.” It is such a poignant moment in the gospels. Why is Peter going back to the business he had left? Why has he given up fishing for men and is back to fishing for fish? You could understand this if it was the day after the crucifixion of Jesus, and he thought that Jesus was dead and gone – but Jesus has already risen from the dead, and Peter has seen him on at least two occasions already. Peter has no doubt that Jesus is alive and was one of the disciples trying to convince Thomas that this was the truth.

There are lots of stories you can read of young footballers who get released by their clubs and who just give up football entirely – even though they have loads of talent and have been trained and coached for years. When it doesn’t work for them at a club, they can’t face keeping going. In their own eyes they have failed, and they walk away from football feeling broken by their failure. This happened to a player we knew who was released by West Ham in his late teens.

Peter is “going out to fish” because he is utterly broken by his own terrible failure. As he looks back to the courtyard where, three times in a row, he denied even knowing Jesus; where he broke his promise to go with Jesus even to death; where he let Jesus down at the point when he most needed support. As he remembers Jesus turning to look at him as the cock crowed, Peter was filled with shame and crushing disappointment. And I think that the result of all of this is that Peter is broken by his failure and ready to walk away.

In his mind, his failure disqualifies him from any future service for Jesus. He had been a fisherman, then for a couple of glorious years his whole life had been about something bigger, grander, something of eternal significance and impact, but now that is all over. He has ruined it all with his broken promises. So, it’s back to earth with a bump. “I’m going out to fish.” The once bold but now broken disciple goes back to fishing. And the others? They said, “We’ll go with you.”

3) Peter The Restored

But this is where the story changes – unexpectedly. Because Peter the broken meets Jesus again and becomes Peter the restored.

My wife Paula is a nurse (as well as a midwife, health visitor and now lecturer in community nursing). In fact, I have a family of nurses: my sister, sister-in-law, son and daughter-in law.  They are all great nurses and one of the things that makes them great nurses is that they have learnt what people need to get better. They don’t spend their time on the ward giving sympathy. They give proper care which often involves forcing people to get out of bed and taking those first painful steps. Real care means wanting patients to go through the pain barrier to get better. To be restored to full health.

Jesus, the Son of God, through whom everything was made, in whom everything holds together, and by whom God’s people are redeemed, is the ultimate caregiver. He loves his people; he knows how to restore them to full health. The cross and the empty tomb mean he has the right credentials for the job!

And so, as he stands on the beach watching these broken fishermen struggling with their pain and disappointment, it’s as if he is wearing scrubs, mask and gloves, with his medical bag in his hand ready to get to work. Jesus starts by reminding Peter of his first call to follow him – this miracle of the huge amount of fish being caught in vs6 takes us straight back to Luke 5 and the day Peter left his fishing business to follow Jesus. That day Peter, James and John’s boats had been so full of fish they nearly sank. That was the day Peter fell at Jesus’ feet and declared: “Go away from me Lord. I am a sinful man.”

But Jesus didn’t reject sinner Peter! Instead in Luke 5:10-11, Jesus said to Peter: “Don’t be afraid, from now on you will fish for people. So, they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”  Can you see how loving and caring Jesus is being here? Peter gets it because he jumps out of the fishing boat he had gone back to, and he swims straight for Jesus. Once more he can leave the fishing business because Jesus is calling him.

And then there is the conversation Peter desperately needed but one he probably never dreamed would happen. It is a painful conversation where three times in a row Jesus asks Peter the same question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Jesus knows that Peter’s three denials in the courtyard could hold him back forever. Jesus has got to restore Peter because the work he has for Peter to do is so important. Do you love me? Yes, Lord you know that I love you. Feed my lambs. Do you love me? Yes, Lord you know that I love you. Take care of my sheep. Do you love me. Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you. Feed my sheep.

Jesus, God in the flesh, is standing in front of failed and broken Peter and is pouring forgiveness and grace and healing into his life. When Jesus first called Peter, he changed his job from trying to catch fish to trying to catch people! But now, Jesus wants to change Peter’s job description again. He is finished with boats and nets forever. Peter’s job for the rest of his life is to look after God’s people. Jesus has made him into a Shepherd.

When we belong to Jesus, no matter what failures you have had in your life, Peter writes that you will leave your sin behind and do the job that Jesus has given you to do. Peter’s First Letter is all about the new identity that God gives sinful, failed, broken people who would believe the gospel and come to Jesus for forgiveness, new life and healing: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” That was Peter’s story – Peter the shepherd who is only qualified because of the grace of God. And it is our story too.

Conclusion

So, as we finish this morning, let me be clear as to the size of the task Jesus has given to his loved and loving followers. In verses 18 and 19, Jesus tells Peter that in following Him he is following him to death. Peter might have failed terribly but his whole life is now going to be about the supreme aim of bringing glory to God. We probably won’t end up like Peter, dying for our faith, but the call on every Christian is to give up your own life, and be prepared to suffer whatever it takes so that Jesus’ name is lifted high. It is a grace-filled wonderful task because it is what we have been called to as followers of Jesus.

Maybe you are here this morning, and you have never heard Jesus calling you to leave the fishing boat behind. If you aren’t a Christian yet, take this as the call and the invitation to bring your sin to Jesus and allow him to forgive you and give you a brand new eternally significant life of following him now and forever. I’d love to have a chat over a coffee with you.

Or maybe you are here and though you are a Christian, though you do know that Jesus died and rose again for you, you have gone back to fishing anyway, sick of your own failure and sin. Come and let Jesus restore you. God is the God of love and has done everything needed to clean you up and to make your life really matter again and to receive from him a sure faith and a future hope.

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER The text contained in this sermon (except where stated) is solely owned by its author, Revd Paul A. Carr. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name.

I LOVE YOU, LORD by Carol Owens

I love You, Lord
And You know I always meant to do things right
I love You, Lord
When I think of how I’ve failed You, I could cry
And when I hear You calling me
I want to run and hide
Yet You know I love You so

I love You, Lord
Although I know my heart may not seem true
I love You, Lord
And I’ve prayed for one more chance to prove I do
I want to leave the past behind
And feel Your smile again
Oh, Lord, You know I love You so
I love You so

So if You find it in Your heart
To let me start again
I’ll be Your witness, Lord
Your witness, Lord
Your witness to the end of my life
Let me make it right
Let me try again
I’ll be Your witness to the end

So if You find it in Your heart
To let me start again
I’ll be Your witness, Lord
Your witness, Lord
Your witness to the end of my life
Let me make it right
Let me try again
I’ll be Your witness to the end
To the end