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Resurrection Sunday: Despair Conquered [John 20, 21; Luke 24]
2026 04/05 Resurrection Sunday: Despair Conquered [John 20, 21; Luke 24]; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20260405_resurrection-sunday.mp3
On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies, presenting himself as King of the Jews to the acclaim of the crowds. The next day he drove those who bought and sold out of the temple courts, claiming it as his Father’s house. Tuesday and Wednesday, he taught in the temple, and the religious leaders tried but failed to entrap him in his words.
Thursday, he sent Peter and John to prepare for the Passover meal in an upper room in Jerusalem. Jesus dismissed Judas, who went out to betray him. After the meal, they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. On the way Jesus warns them that they will all desert him, Peter will even deny him three times. Jesus wrestles in prayer in the garden of Gethsemane late into the night, while his disciples struggle unsuccessfully to stay awake and pray. During the night,
Judas arrives with the temple guard, betraying Jesus with a kiss, and the disciples, after a brief skirmish attempting to defend him, flee for their lives. Jesus is brought before Annas, the former high priest, father-in-law of Caiaphas, where Peter, secretly seeking to see what would happen, is confronted and denies three times he even knows Jesus.
After sunrise Friday morning, the Sanhedrin is convened, accuses Jesus of blasphemy, and sends him to Pilate. Pilate declares three times that he finds no guilt in him, yet has him scourged, washes his hands of the matter and sends him to be crucified. Jesus stumbles under the weight of the cross, and Simon of Cyrene is compelled to carry his cross.
Jesus, nailed to the cross, prays ‘Father forgive them, they know not what they do’ (Lk.23:34). When one of the criminals crucified with him confesses his sins and turns to Jesus in hope, Jesus responds with the promise ‘today you will be with me in paradise’ (Lk.23:43). Jesus’ mother, two other Marys and John were there at Golgotha watching this all unfold, and Jesus entrusted his mother into John’s care. From noon to 3pm darkness covered the land, and then Jesus cried out ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mt.27:46). Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said ‘I thirst’ (Jn.19:28), and was given vinegar to drink. He cried out ‘It is finished! Father into your hands I commit my spirit’ (Jn.19:30; Lk.23:46), and he died. The veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. His side was pierced to verify that he was truly dead, and he was taken down, buried in a borrowed tomb before sunset. On the Sabbath, the chief priests and Pharisees have the tomb sealed and guarded.
To say this was a roller-coaster of emotions for Jesus’ followers would be a gross understatement. Dismayed, bewildered, terrified, hopes crushed, filled with grief, loss, despair; these were just some of the emotions they would be experiencing. Their Rabbi, their Messiah, their friend, dead and buried. Would they be next?
The Women and Mary [John 20:1-18]
Let’s follow a few of their stories. First was the women. They are first to the tomb, early Sunday morning. They come with spices to honor the corpse. The burial was rushed to beat sunset Friday evening, when the Sabbath began. They were there watching when Joseph and Nicodemus placed his body in the tomb; they wonder how they will move the massive stone from the entrance. When they arrive, they are dismayed to see the grave already opened. Mary Magdalene runs to tell the disciples. The other women come back with stories of an angel and start a rumor that Jesus is not there; the disciples don’t believe them, but Peter and John run to see the empty tomb, and then go home.
Mary Magdalene stricken with grief, returns and stands weeping outside the open tomb. She stoops to look in and sees two messengers who ask her why she is weeping. Her answer? “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him’ (Jn.20:13). The body has clearly been stolen. After the horrific torture and shame of the crucifixion, why further dishonor the body? Who would do such a thing? Why? She turns away, and sees another man standing, who also asks her why she is weeping, and he asks “Whom are you seeking?” (Jn.20:15). She assumes he is the one responsible for tending the garden, and asks “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away” (Jn.20:15). She is there to honor the body of her fallen Lord, and she is willing to do whatever she must to treat him with dignity. Eyes swollen with weeping, vision clouded with tears, or simply looking past this ‘gardener’ to find the discarded body of her Lord, she fails to recognize him, until he calls her by name. One word. “Mary.” With a wave of recognition she instantly melts in worship and clings to the feet she (possibly) had previously anointed with her life savings. At Jesus’ word, Mary is emboldened to go to the disciples and declare to them what she had seen and heard.
Cleopas and his Friend on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)
Luke 24 records two travelers leaving Jerusalem toward Emmaus, when another traveler joins them.
Luke 24:17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. …
These followers were also reeling from grief. His question stopped them in their tracks. They had hoped Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel, but their hopes had been dashed by the recent events. Jesus of Nazareth had been crucified by their own religious leaders. Their hopes crushed, they were going home.
Luke 24:21 …Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”
There were rumors started by some of the women, and the body had gone missing. This strange traveler rebukes them for their unbelief:
Luke 24:25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
He led them in a Bible study surveying how the entire Old Testament points to a Messiah who would necessarily suffer for the sins of his people, and then be glorified. He rebukes them for being slow of heart to believe what the prophets had written. They convince this stranger to stay with them, and
Luke 24:30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.
The risen Jesus had given them an incognito Bible study showing them how Moses and all the prophets were pointing to him. That it was necessary that he suffer, and then enter his glory. Their hopes had been dashed by the recent events, and yet those very events fulfilled the prophecies; prophecies like Isaiah 53. They were lost, confused, they had given up hope. But some of their expectations were unfounded.
With new insight into the purpose and necessity of the crucifixion, with hope re-ignited and hearts aflame, although the hour was late, they immediately got up and rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the others.
Luke 24:32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Doubting Thomas [John 20:24-31]
Unfortunate for him, but such a blessed providence for us, Thomas wasn’t there that day.
John 20:24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Thomas was resolute in unbelief. He would not believe the testimony of others. He demanded irrefutable proof. He must see for himself. He, like the others had hoped that Jesus was the one; earlier he had been ready to go to Jerusalem and die with Jesus (Jn.11:16). But now that his hopes had been demolished, he was settled in his unbelief; ‘I will never believe.’ Oh, Thomas! If only you had enough faith, faith to believe in spite of the evidence, enough faith to disregard the evidence. Blind faith, a leap in the dark. But faith is not hoping against hope that something most unlikely and contrary to the evidence is true. That’s more akin to stupidity than faith. Jesus doesn’t require Thomas (or us) to take a leap into the dark.
John 20:26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
Jesus offered Thomas real tangible verifiable evidence. By the way, Thomas was not the only one. None of the disciples believed until they were confronted by Jesus himself. Each of the eyewitnesses was an eyewitness of the resurrected Jesus. The law refused to establish anything on the basis of one eye witness testimony alone (Deut.19:15; Mt.18:16,20). Jesus didn’t demand blind faith, he invited reasonable, substantial, substantiated faith. He offered evidence. And to a resolute skeptic, he offered more, he offered patience and grace. He didn’t rebuke Thomas, he invited Thomas to examine the evidence and believe. And he had a gracious purpose in all of this that went far beyond Thomas himself.
John 20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
This happened for you! Yes, you, right here, right now, today! Thomas was given abundant evidence, more tangible evidence than any of the other disciples demanded, so that we right here today, you and I, reading Thomas’s testimony thousands of years later, would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing in Jesus as ‘my Lord and my God,’ we would experience life, eternal life, real living relationship with him. John invites you, today, through the eye witness account of a resolute unbeliever, to enter in to the story.
Peter [John 21:1-25]
Some time later, Peter is with Thomas, Nathanael, James and John, and two others back in Galilee,
John 21:3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” …
I don’t know what was going through Peter’s heart and mind. I do know that Simon Peter was back where he started.
Mark 1:14 …Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
Now Simon Peter is back in Galilee, and he goes back to fishing for fish. Jesus had already appeared to him. He was the first one to go in to the empty tomb that first resurrection Sunday. The Lord had appeared specifically to him (Lk.24:34). He was with the others that first Sunday night when Jesus appeared in the upper room where they were hiding in fear. Peter was there the next Sunday when Jesus presented himself specifically to Thomas. The angels at the tomb had even named Peter specifically; ‘go, tell his disciples and Peter’ (Mk.16:7). It wasn’t that Peter didn’t know that Jesus was alive. But it seems Peter was still struggling.
Remember, Peter had been the one to say ‘Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!’ (Mt.26:33-35). And after Peter denied his Lord the third time with cursing and oaths,
Luke 22:60 …And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.
Peter had been self-confident, arrogant, boastful. But now he was humbled, broken, a failure. He proved himself in the time of testing not to be a man of his word. Peter probably felt despair; useless, worthless, so he went back to what he knew; he went fishing. And he even failed at that. ‘They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing’ (Jn.21:3).
A man showed up on the shore, asked them how it was going, and told them to cast their net on the other side of the boat.
John 21:7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
Jesus cooked them all breakfast.
John 21:14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
After Peter’s three denials, Jesus asked him three times to affirm his love for him; ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ And three times Jesus recommissioned him; ‘Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.’ Now that Peter is humbled, broken, at the end of himself, he is useful. Later, Peter writes:
1 Peter 5:1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 …Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
The resurrection of Jesus changes everything! And even after his resurrection, Jesus is pursuing the lost. He pursues those blinded by grief, those whose hopes have been dashed, those in despair, skeptics, doubters, resolute unbelievers, even those who have denied him, who feel broken and useless. Jesus is alive, and he is pursuing you today!
***
Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
View all episodes
By Rodney Zedicher2026 04/05 Resurrection Sunday: Despair Conquered [John 20, 21; Luke 24]; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20260405_resurrection-sunday.mp3
On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies, presenting himself as King of the Jews to the acclaim of the crowds. The next day he drove those who bought and sold out of the temple courts, claiming it as his Father’s house. Tuesday and Wednesday, he taught in the temple, and the religious leaders tried but failed to entrap him in his words.
Thursday, he sent Peter and John to prepare for the Passover meal in an upper room in Jerusalem. Jesus dismissed Judas, who went out to betray him. After the meal, they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. On the way Jesus warns them that they will all desert him, Peter will even deny him three times. Jesus wrestles in prayer in the garden of Gethsemane late into the night, while his disciples struggle unsuccessfully to stay awake and pray. During the night,
Judas arrives with the temple guard, betraying Jesus with a kiss, and the disciples, after a brief skirmish attempting to defend him, flee for their lives. Jesus is brought before Annas, the former high priest, father-in-law of Caiaphas, where Peter, secretly seeking to see what would happen, is confronted and denies three times he even knows Jesus.
After sunrise Friday morning, the Sanhedrin is convened, accuses Jesus of blasphemy, and sends him to Pilate. Pilate declares three times that he finds no guilt in him, yet has him scourged, washes his hands of the matter and sends him to be crucified. Jesus stumbles under the weight of the cross, and Simon of Cyrene is compelled to carry his cross.
Jesus, nailed to the cross, prays ‘Father forgive them, they know not what they do’ (Lk.23:34). When one of the criminals crucified with him confesses his sins and turns to Jesus in hope, Jesus responds with the promise ‘today you will be with me in paradise’ (Lk.23:43). Jesus’ mother, two other Marys and John were there at Golgotha watching this all unfold, and Jesus entrusted his mother into John’s care. From noon to 3pm darkness covered the land, and then Jesus cried out ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mt.27:46). Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said ‘I thirst’ (Jn.19:28), and was given vinegar to drink. He cried out ‘It is finished! Father into your hands I commit my spirit’ (Jn.19:30; Lk.23:46), and he died. The veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. His side was pierced to verify that he was truly dead, and he was taken down, buried in a borrowed tomb before sunset. On the Sabbath, the chief priests and Pharisees have the tomb sealed and guarded.
To say this was a roller-coaster of emotions for Jesus’ followers would be a gross understatement. Dismayed, bewildered, terrified, hopes crushed, filled with grief, loss, despair; these were just some of the emotions they would be experiencing. Their Rabbi, their Messiah, their friend, dead and buried. Would they be next?
The Women and Mary [John 20:1-18]
Let’s follow a few of their stories. First was the women. They are first to the tomb, early Sunday morning. They come with spices to honor the corpse. The burial was rushed to beat sunset Friday evening, when the Sabbath began. They were there watching when Joseph and Nicodemus placed his body in the tomb; they wonder how they will move the massive stone from the entrance. When they arrive, they are dismayed to see the grave already opened. Mary Magdalene runs to tell the disciples. The other women come back with stories of an angel and start a rumor that Jesus is not there; the disciples don’t believe them, but Peter and John run to see the empty tomb, and then go home.
Mary Magdalene stricken with grief, returns and stands weeping outside the open tomb. She stoops to look in and sees two messengers who ask her why she is weeping. Her answer? “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him’ (Jn.20:13). The body has clearly been stolen. After the horrific torture and shame of the crucifixion, why further dishonor the body? Who would do such a thing? Why? She turns away, and sees another man standing, who also asks her why she is weeping, and he asks “Whom are you seeking?” (Jn.20:15). She assumes he is the one responsible for tending the garden, and asks “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away” (Jn.20:15). She is there to honor the body of her fallen Lord, and she is willing to do whatever she must to treat him with dignity. Eyes swollen with weeping, vision clouded with tears, or simply looking past this ‘gardener’ to find the discarded body of her Lord, she fails to recognize him, until he calls her by name. One word. “Mary.” With a wave of recognition she instantly melts in worship and clings to the feet she (possibly) had previously anointed with her life savings. At Jesus’ word, Mary is emboldened to go to the disciples and declare to them what she had seen and heard.
Cleopas and his Friend on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)
Luke 24 records two travelers leaving Jerusalem toward Emmaus, when another traveler joins them.
Luke 24:17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. …
These followers were also reeling from grief. His question stopped them in their tracks. They had hoped Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel, but their hopes had been dashed by the recent events. Jesus of Nazareth had been crucified by their own religious leaders. Their hopes crushed, they were going home.
Luke 24:21 …Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”
There were rumors started by some of the women, and the body had gone missing. This strange traveler rebukes them for their unbelief:
Luke 24:25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
He led them in a Bible study surveying how the entire Old Testament points to a Messiah who would necessarily suffer for the sins of his people, and then be glorified. He rebukes them for being slow of heart to believe what the prophets had written. They convince this stranger to stay with them, and
Luke 24:30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.
The risen Jesus had given them an incognito Bible study showing them how Moses and all the prophets were pointing to him. That it was necessary that he suffer, and then enter his glory. Their hopes had been dashed by the recent events, and yet those very events fulfilled the prophecies; prophecies like Isaiah 53. They were lost, confused, they had given up hope. But some of their expectations were unfounded.
With new insight into the purpose and necessity of the crucifixion, with hope re-ignited and hearts aflame, although the hour was late, they immediately got up and rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the others.
Luke 24:32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Doubting Thomas [John 20:24-31]
Unfortunate for him, but such a blessed providence for us, Thomas wasn’t there that day.
John 20:24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Thomas was resolute in unbelief. He would not believe the testimony of others. He demanded irrefutable proof. He must see for himself. He, like the others had hoped that Jesus was the one; earlier he had been ready to go to Jerusalem and die with Jesus (Jn.11:16). But now that his hopes had been demolished, he was settled in his unbelief; ‘I will never believe.’ Oh, Thomas! If only you had enough faith, faith to believe in spite of the evidence, enough faith to disregard the evidence. Blind faith, a leap in the dark. But faith is not hoping against hope that something most unlikely and contrary to the evidence is true. That’s more akin to stupidity than faith. Jesus doesn’t require Thomas (or us) to take a leap into the dark.
John 20:26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
Jesus offered Thomas real tangible verifiable evidence. By the way, Thomas was not the only one. None of the disciples believed until they were confronted by Jesus himself. Each of the eyewitnesses was an eyewitness of the resurrected Jesus. The law refused to establish anything on the basis of one eye witness testimony alone (Deut.19:15; Mt.18:16,20). Jesus didn’t demand blind faith, he invited reasonable, substantial, substantiated faith. He offered evidence. And to a resolute skeptic, he offered more, he offered patience and grace. He didn’t rebuke Thomas, he invited Thomas to examine the evidence and believe. And he had a gracious purpose in all of this that went far beyond Thomas himself.
John 20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
This happened for you! Yes, you, right here, right now, today! Thomas was given abundant evidence, more tangible evidence than any of the other disciples demanded, so that we right here today, you and I, reading Thomas’s testimony thousands of years later, would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing in Jesus as ‘my Lord and my God,’ we would experience life, eternal life, real living relationship with him. John invites you, today, through the eye witness account of a resolute unbeliever, to enter in to the story.
Peter [John 21:1-25]
Some time later, Peter is with Thomas, Nathanael, James and John, and two others back in Galilee,
John 21:3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” …
I don’t know what was going through Peter’s heart and mind. I do know that Simon Peter was back where he started.
Mark 1:14 …Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
Now Simon Peter is back in Galilee, and he goes back to fishing for fish. Jesus had already appeared to him. He was the first one to go in to the empty tomb that first resurrection Sunday. The Lord had appeared specifically to him (Lk.24:34). He was with the others that first Sunday night when Jesus appeared in the upper room where they were hiding in fear. Peter was there the next Sunday when Jesus presented himself specifically to Thomas. The angels at the tomb had even named Peter specifically; ‘go, tell his disciples and Peter’ (Mk.16:7). It wasn’t that Peter didn’t know that Jesus was alive. But it seems Peter was still struggling.
Remember, Peter had been the one to say ‘Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!’ (Mt.26:33-35). And after Peter denied his Lord the third time with cursing and oaths,
Luke 22:60 …And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.
Peter had been self-confident, arrogant, boastful. But now he was humbled, broken, a failure. He proved himself in the time of testing not to be a man of his word. Peter probably felt despair; useless, worthless, so he went back to what he knew; he went fishing. And he even failed at that. ‘They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing’ (Jn.21:3).
A man showed up on the shore, asked them how it was going, and told them to cast their net on the other side of the boat.
John 21:7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
Jesus cooked them all breakfast.
John 21:14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
After Peter’s three denials, Jesus asked him three times to affirm his love for him; ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ And three times Jesus recommissioned him; ‘Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.’ Now that Peter is humbled, broken, at the end of himself, he is useful. Later, Peter writes:
1 Peter 5:1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 …Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
The resurrection of Jesus changes everything! And even after his resurrection, Jesus is pursuing the lost. He pursues those blinded by grief, those whose hopes have been dashed, those in despair, skeptics, doubters, resolute unbelievers, even those who have denied him, who feel broken and useless. Jesus is alive, and he is pursuing you today!
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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org