God's Judgment: Restoration, not Revenge

One of the most inspiring and puzzling passages in the Gospels is when Jesus, after his resurrection, confronts Simon Peter on the beach of the Sea of Galilee (John 21).  Peter, we remember, had blustered about his courage and conviction to the point of dying for Jesus (John 13:36-38 and Mat. 26:31-35) then had denied the Master three times, as we read in John 18.  In John 20, Jesus speaks with all of the disciples together, and to Thomas directly, but leaves Peter alone.  How much had Peter's conscience been bothering him since that night of his denial?  How tortured was his thinking those ten days or so until the meeting at the shore?  Did he say "I'm going fishing" because he felt he was no longer qualified as a disciple of Jesus?

Simon knew -- or thought he knew -- he was in for some strong words, or much worse, when Jesus started talking to him that day.  So what did Jesus say?  "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others?"  That was a direct reference to Peter's earlier proclamation of his outstanding loyalty to Jesus.  "Do you love me?" Jesus asked, three times.  All three times, Peter responded that he did indeed love Jesus.  "Feed my sheep / Care for my lambs" were Jesus' responses. 

Would you or I have said it that way?  Well, there are plenty of times I've spent many words lecturing someone about their inability, lack of attention or commitment, and general ineptitude.  Jesus focused on restoration.  Jesus restored Peter as an apostle by confirming that he still loved and believed in this broken, messy man.  Was Peter judged by Jesus and found wanting?  Yes.  Was he corrected?  Without doubt, Peter felt corrected by Jesus.  But Jesus' judgment restored Peter to a place of service.  Peter's gratitude and love inspired him to serve his master the rest of his days, all the way to a brutal Roman execution for his preaching. 

By looking at this example, I don't want to diminish, in any way, God's righteous judgment against sin.  Yet Jesus didn't make Peter suffer additionally for sinning; Jesus had suffered for all sin, even for Peter's sin, on his cross, to restore all humanity's relationship with the Father.  The penalty was gone, and the restoration began, with Peter here as an example.   Our problem is, we don't believe it, and think we have to make it up to God somehow on our own strength, or suffer for our sins.  We need to repent of that wrong thinking.  What will our final judgment look like?  If this example is any indication, it will be far different than some courtroom drama.  God is after restoration, not revenge. 

One more question:  how is it, today, that Jesus wants to restore your relationship with him, and service to him, in spite of your faults?  It's worth asking him, and listening carefully for the answer.