Failing Jesus
Sermon Notes
Intro:
This is actually our last week, our final chapter in this series, and it’s about failure. It’s a chapter about being restored from failure, and I’m a guy who doesn’t like failure. I don’t like giving up, don’t like tapping out, don’t like admitting defeat or failure. I’m not a sore loser, I just don’t like admitting defeat, admitting there’s something I couldn’t accomplish. It’s one of the reasons I work so hard at everything I do! It’s because I don’t like failure, so I go all in on everything I do trying to prevent failure.
But sometimes your "all in" isn’t good enough, and you still end up failing anyways. You worked all the extra hours, worked all the contingency plans, did everything you could but still ended up failing. When this happens, when we face failure, some us will sink our heads down in defeat, while others will pick our heads up and ponder things we can learn from our defeat. But regardless of how you handle failure one thing is certain. Everybody fails something...Everybody eventually fails something...Maybe you’ve failed at school, failed a class or test. Maybe you’ve failed at sports, dropped a pass, missed a game winning shot. Maybe you’ve failed in your business, in ministry, in friendships, in parenting or marriage. Everybody eventually fails something. Failing is painful, and one of the most painful failures for Christians is when we fail to follow Jesus. Today’s text is about being restored from failure. It’s about being restored from failure, especially when we fail to follow Jesus. Let’s turn to John 21 and get into it. If you open your bible to the middle, turn a few books to the right you’ll find John. We’ll be in John 21:1-25. The title of today’s message is Failing Jesus, and here’s the big idea. Your failures are never beyond the restorative grace of Jesus...Your failures are never beyond the restorative grace of Jesus.
Context:
Here’s your context. At this point in Ch. 21 Jesus has already risen from the dead, so this is a post resurrection event. It’s an event circling back to Peter’s failure, giving us closure to his denial of Jesus. In fact, Peter had a history of great starts, but failed finishes. In Matthew 14 he walks on water but sinks after taking his eyes off Jesus. In Matthew 16 he identifies Jesus as the Savior but tries stopping Jesus from saving. In John 13 he says “Jesus I’ll never deny you! I’ll die before I deny you,” but then he denies Jesus 3 times. Peter had a history of great starts, but failed finishes, his biggest failure was denying Jesus 3 times. But Jesus is about to restore him from that failure, and as we study, we’ll learn 4 principles for overcoming failure. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
John 21:1-25 states, “After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called ‘Twin’), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples were together.” The text says Jesus revealed himself to his disciples again. It’s actually the 3rd time he reveals himself to them, but this time it’s different. It’s different because this time he’s focusing on restoring Peter from failure, and this leads to our 1st principle in overcoming failure.
Principle #1 Remember there’s always a Ch. 21 = When you’re dealing with failure, remember there’s always a Ch. 21. Think about it for a second. Why did John the author add a Ch. 21? Why add Ch. 21 when Ch. 20 could’ve been a perfect ending? I mean the big crescendo is the resurrection, then Ch. 20 ends stating, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” It’s a perfect ending, but instead John adds Ch. 21. Why? It’s because Peter still needs restoration from his failure, from his denial of Jesus. He’s still feeling ashamed, still carrying the weight of failing his friendship with Jesus and failing in his leadership of the disciples. The reason Ch. 21 exists is to show restoration’s available for Peter, for all the disciples abandoning Jesus at the cross, and for us too. It’s hard to pick your head up when you’ve failed, sinned, promised you’d never do it again but then you did. It can feel like you’ve lost all hope, purpose, and meaning in life, but this text is teaching us there’s always another chapter with Jesus. There’s always a Ch. 21 with Jesus. Restoration’s always possible, because Jesus’ grace is always available...Restoration’s always possible, because Jesus’ grace is always available. There’s always a Ch. 21 with Jesus.
Vs. 3, “‘I’m going fishing,’ Simon Peter said to them. ‘We’re coming with you,’ they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. 5 ‘Friends,’ Jesus called to them, ‘you don’t have any fish, do you?’ ‘No,’ they answered. 6 ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat,’ he told them, ‘and you’ll find some.’ So, they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish.” This is where we learn out 2nd and 3rd principles.
Principle #2 Battle the Voices = When you’re dealing with failure, you need to battle the voices of failure, by listening to the restorative voice of Jesus. The text says the disciples went fishing and caught nothing, which is another failure, another discouragement for Peter. He’s a career fisherman, the captain of his crew, one of the Deadliest Catch guys, but he can’t even catch a minnow. When you’re going through failure and discouragement like this, when you’re feeling like everything you’re touching is turning to ashes instead of gold, that’s when the voices kick in. That’s when you start hearing “You’re so pathetic...You’re so useless...You’re such a failure...You’re a failed attempt at trying to be somebody, but you’re really a nobody. Nobody loves you, nobody cares about you, because you’re a nobody.” What you need in those moments is to battle the voices...You need to battle the voices by listening to the voice of Jesus instead of the voices in your head. As you’re sinking deeper in the abyss of failure you need to listen to Jesus on the seashore shouting “You’re not a nobody, you’re a friend!” He doesn’t call Peter and the disciples nobodies, he calls them friends...You need to battle the voices by listening to the voice of Jesus, but you also need to obey his voice! I mean if you’re about to get hit by a car because you’re doing Pokémon Go, but I shout “Stop!” My voice isn’t lifesaving unless you obey my voice and actually “Stop!” In a similar way the words of Jesus won’t ever be lifesaving and life giving until you respond to his words with faith and obedience. The reason so many of us aren’t experiencing the fullness of restoration and joy in Jesus, is because we aren’t obeying the words of Jesus. The reason the disciples caught all those fish is because they obeyed what Jesus was saying. They could’ve listened to the voices of failure saying “We’ve already tried that spot and failed. We keep failing, keep coming up empty, so what’s the point?” But they battled the voices of failure, listened to the voice of Jesus, and it left them with full nets and full hearts.
Principle #3 Let go of Self-Reliance = When you’re dealing with failure, you need to let go of self-reliance. None of this is about Jesus helping them catch fish, it’s about Jesus helping them break down their prideful walls of self-reliance. It’s because how restoration begins, where self-reliance ends...Restoration from failure begins, where self-reliance ends...It begins when you can admit you’ve failed, admit you need help, admit you’re not the superhero you thought you were. It begins when you can admit you’ve tried doing things your way, you’ve tried living your life without Jesus, casting your nets without Jesus, playing the superhero role instead of Jesus, but all its left you with is an empty net and a discouraged heart. So, battle the voices, and let go of self-reliance, admit your self-reliance has failed you, and that you need the help of Jesus.
Vs. 7, “The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea.” Peter doesn’t swan dive, he cannon-balls into the sea. He isn’t a swan dive, Olympic synchronized swim team kind of guy. He’s the guy cannon balling in the middle of the swim team. He sees Jesus, cannon balls into the sea, and starts swimming about a 100 yds to the shoreline. He’s an impulsive guy who had many great starts like this, but failed finishes.
Vs. 9, “Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards, away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread.” The charcoal fire is a reminder of Peter’s denial. There are only 2 places in the entire New Testament where the word charcoal is used, it’s here and in John 18 when Peter denies Jesus by a charcoal fire. Jesus is helping Peter face his failures instead of burying them so even the darkest part of Peter’s life, can be fully restored.
Vs. 10, “‘Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,’ Jesus told them. 11 So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 ‘Come and have breakfast,’ Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared, to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.” Notice the invitation Jesus gives. He gives them an invitation to come and have breakfast. It’s a simple yet impactful invitation, because it’s an invitation for them to rest in the gospel, to rest in Jesus, which is the 4th principle.
Principle #4 Find rest in the success of Jesus = When You’re dealing with failure, find rest in the success of Jesus. If you notice Jesus already has fish on the grill. Peter’s struggling to follow Jesus, struggling to lead the disciples in catching fish, abandons ship to swim by himself, arrives on the shore huffing and puffing from self-reliance, while Jesus is chilling on the beach with a charcoal fire and fish on the grill. Peter’s working so hard, relying on his own strength and self-reliance, while Jesus is saying “Peter come, rest, have breakfast with me. You’re working so hard, but I’ve already prepared a meal for you. While you were coming up empty, I was already cooking.” It’s really a gospel invitation for Peter. It’s a gospel invitation to rest in Jesus, to rest in his love, to have breakfast on the beach spending time with Jesus. It’s a time of friendship, a time of fellowship, a time of restorative restful joy. It’s a gospel invitation for Peter to find rest in Jesus.
But Peter isn’t resting in Jesus just like we aren’t resting in Jesus. It’s because we keep stumbling over our own self-reliance. We need help in life but are too prideful to ask for it. We need restoration from our sins and failures but are too stubborn to admit it. We need salvation, but we’re trying to be our own Saviors. We’re stumbling over self-reliance when Jesus wants us to find rest in his success and finished work of the cross. The greatest hindrance to the gospel producing joy in your life is self-reliance. It’s you casting your joy net in the wrong places trying to produce a joyful life without Jesus. Some of you are very self-reliant, always prepared, always capable, always effective at things you do, and it’s caused you to forget Jesus. Your self-reliant abilities have blinded you from seeing how fragile your life really is, but when failure comes it’ll sober you up. It’ll sober you up to your need for the restorative grace of Jesus. Peter’s been self-reliant, he’s failed miserably, and Jesus is inviting him to find rest in the success of the cross.
Vs. 15, “When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said to him, ‘you know that I love you.’ ‘Feed my lambs,’ he told him. 16 A second time he asked him, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said to him, ‘you know that I love you.’ ‘Shepherd my sheep,’ he told him. 17 He asked him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ ‘Feed my sheep,’ Jesus said.” The reason Jesus asks if Peter loves him 3 times is to help Peter face his failures, face the fact that he denied Jesus 3 times. It’s an invitation for Peter to repent so he can rest in the forgiveness and restoration of Jesus. Peter accepts the invitation, he responds ‘Yes’ all 3 times, and is fully restored from his 3 failures. But I want you to notice it’s Jesus who initiates the restoration not Peter. This shows us just how willing Jesus is to forgive and restore us when we sin and fail. He’s the one initiating the restoration! He’s even restoring Peter’s leadership role in front of the other disciples saying, “Shepherd and feed my sheep.”
I also want you to notice the truth and love approach of Jesus. Some Christians speak truth without love, some speak love without truth, but Jesus speaks both truth and love. He addresses Peter’s sins and failures, but in a loving way. He doesn’t approach Peter like the voices in our heads saying, “You’re so pathetic, so useless, such a failure!” Instead, he says “Friend. Come rest, have breakfast with me,” then he asks some probing questions to get to the root of Peter’s failure which is really an issue of love. Peter says he loves Jesus, but he really has a narcissistic love for himself. He loves the attention, loves to be first, loves to look good in front of a crowd, loves to be the top dog in the room. It’s why he struggled so much with his failure! It’s because denying Jesus exposed him as a cowardice dog instead of a top dog, and it wrecks his entire identity and reputation. So, Jesus is helping Peter get to the root of his failure which is a narcissistic love for himself. When Peter says in John 13 “Even if all these deny you, I’ll never deny you!” He’s basically saying he’s better than the other disciples and his love for Jesus is stronger. “Even if all these deny you, I’ll never deny you!” So, Jesus asks him “Do you really love me? Do you really love me more than these?” He’s getting to the root. Repentance that leads to restoration entails more than feeling bad about sin, it entails getting to the root of your sin. It entails turning your back to sin, turning to Jesus for forgiveness of your sin, and loving Jesus more than your sin.
Vs. 18, “‘Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.’ 19 He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, ‘Follow me.’” Peter does follow Jesus, except this time he keeps his promise of not denying Jesus, even to the point of death. History tells us he was eventually crucified, but upside down because he didn’t feel worthy of dying like Jesus. He was crucified, for not denying his faith in Jesus.
Vs. 20, “So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, ‘Lord, who is the one that’s going to betray you?’ 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, what about him?’ 22 ‘If I want him to remain until I come,’ Jesus answered, ‘what is that to you? As for you, follow me.’ 23 So this rumor spread to the brothers and sisters that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not tell him that he would not die, but ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?’” Peter is asking about John, who ends up dying of old age in Ephesus. Peter wants to know how John’s going to die, and Jesus is like “Don’t get distracted Peter! Don’t worry about what my plans are for John, stay focused on what my plans are for you!” We can be far too easily distracted after being restored, which is why we need not just a Sunday morning reliance, but a daily reliance on Jesus.
Vs. 24, “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.” Now that’s a perfect ending to this book, because John’s basically saying we haven’t even scratched the surface regarding Jesus. He’s saying there’s so much more to the story of Jesus, than what he’s been able to tell us. He’s saying even if the entire world was one giant book, it still wouldn’t be big enough to contain the massive impact Jesus’ words and actions have had on human history. Peter’s life is just 1 example of millions of lives throughout history who’ve been changed by the restorative grace of Jesus, and his restorative work is still growing today in us, and through us as we live as instruments of grace! The words John uses to describe Jesus and his restorative work are miniscule, compared to the magnificent glory of who Jesus really is, and what Jesus is really accomplishing through his restorative, joyful, saving grace.
The Big Idea:
So the big idea is our failures are never beyond the restoring grace of Jesus...Your sins and failures, my sins and failures are never beyond the restoring grace of Jesus. It doesn’t matter how big your sin is, how big your failure is, how big of a mess you’ve made out of your life, you can always start over! You can always have a fresh start, because there’s always a Ch. 21 with Jesus! There’s always a chapter of restoration with Jesus!
Do you want to be restored this morning? Do you want to be restored from sin, restored from failure, restored in your relationship with Jesus? The same question Jesus asked Peter, is the same question I’ll ask you. It’s do you love Jesus? Do you love Jesus? Your restoration will begin if you answer “Yes Jesus. I do love you,” and your restoration will continue growing into an abundantly joyful life the more you follow Jesus’ voice. Peter states in 1st Peter 5:10, “The God of all grace...will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you...” Say yes to Jesus, let the restoration begin, and never forget...there’s always a Ch. 21 with Jesus.