Introduction

Today, many in our culture are deeply concerned about bringing justice to places of past harm. For example, we recognize the negative legacies of colonialism, sexism and racism. Our society calls out those harms and seeks to empower people whose voices have historically been silenced. This is a positive development.

But if our movement toward justice is going to match the good news of God’s kingdom, it can’t just expose past wrongs. It also needs to invite those who have done wrong, or benefited from it, back into loving relationships. You see, God’s justice is not about excluding people who have failed, but about bringing people back to God and to each other. True justice always leads to restoration.

Today, we’re going to look at how this works in the story of Peter’s restoration following his failure on Maundy Thursday. Peter’s story reminds us that our failures do not mean God is done with us; God’s goal is to restore us through accountability and mercy into right relationship.

I. Peter’s Misplaced Confidence

A. Peter Is Still on a Journey of Change

To understand Peter’s restoration, we must first look at his failure. Peter was a leader among Jesus disciples, but he occasionally showed impulsiveness and arrogance. We see this on display at the Last Supper, when Jesus, somewhat cryptically, explains what’s about to happen. The following conversation happens after Jesus tells the disciples he will soon go away:

³⁶ Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?” 

And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.” 

³⁷ “But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.” 

³⁸Jesus answered, “Die for me? I tell you the truth, Peter—before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me (John 13:36–38, NLT).

In the other gospels, Peter’s pride is even clearer. In each, he says a variation on, “if everyone else abandons you, I won’t, even if I have to die” (Mt. 26:35, Mk. 14:29, Lk. 22:33).

I think Peter truly believed he would stand by Jesus no matter what. But Jesus knew Peter and the others weren’t yet ready to face certain death. This story reminds us that Jesus works in people who have not yet been perfected. He knows our transformation is a slow, painful process that often takes a lifetime. As Jesus told the disciples, “You can’t follow me now, but you will follow me later.” In other words, you’re not ready yet to stand firm when it’s hard, but one day you will be.

B. Peter’s Immaturity Leads to Failure

At first, Peter tries to keep his promise to stand by Jesus when things go wrong. When Jesus leads the disciples to an olive garden (not the restaurant), Judas arrives with a posse of soldiers and temple guards to arrest Jesus. Peter reacts quickly, pulling out a sword, and cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Here, Peter missed the mark both literally—he surely wasn’t aiming for the guy’s ear—and figuratively, because his actions went against Jesus’ teaching and showed total incomprehension of what Father was asking Jesus to do.

After Jesus’ arrest, Peter tagged along to see what would happen:

¹⁵ Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples [Traditionally understood as John]. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. ¹⁶ Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in. ¹⁷ The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?” 

“No,” he said, “I am not.” 

¹⁸ Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself John 18:15–18, NLT).

And then a bit later,

²⁵ Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?” 

He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.” 

²⁶ But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?” ²⁷ Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed (John 18:25–27, NLT).

Peter was willing to fight for Jesus, dying in a blaze of glory, but he couldn’t trust God to save him when his sense of agency was taken from him. Peter’s failure must have been especially painful, not only because Jesus had predicted it, but also because Peter never got to tell Jesus he was sorry. They didn’t speak again before Jesus was crucified.

II. Jesus Meets Peter in His Failure

Of course, we wouldn’t be gathered on a Sunday morning if the cross was the end of Jesus’ story. Three days after his death, the Father raised him to life. John tells us how Jesus appeared to his disciples twice after his resurrection, but the gospel never says Peter got a chance to speak directly to Jesus on either occasion. Peter’s place among the disciples still seemed uncertain.

This is the context for the epilogue to John’s gospel, where Peter’s character arc finally gets completed:

¹ Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. ² Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. 

³ Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” 

“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. 

⁴ At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. ⁵ He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” 

“No,” they replied. 

⁶ Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. 

⁷Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. ⁸ The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. ⁹ When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread. 

¹⁰ “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. ¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn. 

¹² “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. ¹⁴This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead. 

¹⁵ After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” 

“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” 

“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. 

¹⁶ Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” 

“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” 

“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. 

¹⁷ A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” 

Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” 

Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep. 

¹⁸ “I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.” ¹⁹ Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me” (John 21:1–19, NLT).

This story shows us how accountability and grace come together in restorative justice.

A. Peter Goes Fishing

The story doesn’t tell us the character’s motivations, but to make it more relatable, we can speculate. So it goes without saying that this is my best guess, not established fact. Perhaps because Peter feels unworthy to continue following Jesus, he returns to his old life as a fisherman. I also wonder if the other disciples understand Peter still has a place, but since Peter can’t see it, they agree to go along to try to encourage him.

But it isn’t an encouraging time. After a fruitless night of labour, I’m willing to bet Peter would have been deeply frustrated. Might he wonder if God was ruining his livelihood out of spite? But this story is quite similar to Peter’s calling in Luke’s gospel. In that story, Jesus tells Peter to let down his nets after another failed night of fishing. And there, again, there is a miraculous catch of fish After which Jesus invites Peter to follow him and fish for people. Maybe Jesus is recreating the moment of Peter’s first calling to show that Peter’s calling hasn’t been taken away because of his failure.

When Peter realizes it’s Jesus, he jumps into the water and swims straight to shore, leaving the others to struggle with the mammoth catch. More than anything, Peter has wanted to speak to Jesus, and this looks like it will be his chance.

B. Jesus’ Grace Meets Peter

Even though Peter wanted to talk to Jesus, it’s Jesus who takes the initiative to make it happen. Jesus didn’t really need to come back. He had already proved he was alive, he’s given the Holy Spirit, and told the disciples what to do next. He didn’t have to come again, but he did it for Peter’s sake.

It would be enough for Jesus to appear to Peter and talk, but Jesus also feeds Peter. Jesus provides us not just with the bare necessities, but with abundant grace. Here, that’s bread and fish (a hyperlink to the feeding of the 5000 where Jesus fed everyone with bread and fish). Jesus doesn’t come back so that Peter can give him something; instead, he comes back to give to Peter. Jesus takes the first step, extending grace to us. This is why he insists they eat before they get down to business.

It’s never said explicitly, but everyone understands: Peter’s denial of Jesus needs to be addressed. One detail that’s a helpful clue isn’t very obvious when we read in English: the ‘charcoal fire’ here is just like the one where Peter warmed himself when he denied Jesus. In John’s gospel, these are the only two times that Greek word appears. This is intentional—John has woven this into the narrative to signal that Jesus is intentionally calling to mind the place of Peter’s failure.

After breakfast, Jesus and Peter finally have the conversation they’ve needed to have. Jesus asks, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon, of course, is his real name. Peter was a nickname Jesus gave him. By calling him Simon, Jesus is reenacting Peter’s call It’s like Jesus is saying, “Things have gotten off track, so let’s start over.”

His question, “Do you love me more than these?” has three possible meanings.

1. Do you love me more than the other disciples do?
2. Do you love me more than you love the other disciples?
3. Do you love me more than these, the trappings of your former life?

Scholars disagree, but reading their arguments, it’s my opinion that the first meaning is most likely. Now, Jesus is not trying to make the disciples compete to show who loves him more. But Peter’s insistence that even if everyone else left Jesus, he would stand by him, implied that Peter felt he was the most committed to Jesus. Jesus is asking, “Do you still think you’re the most committed?” He’s inviting Peter to humble himself.

Peter says he loves Jesus, and Jesus tells him, “Take care of my sheep.” This shows that Peter still has a place as a leader in the church. His failure isn’t the end.

But then Jesus asks a very similar question. This time, he just asks, “Do you love me?” Peter repeats his confession of his love for Jesus. Jesus responds with a similar charge to ‘take care of his sheep.’ Then Jesus asks the question a third time, and Peter feels hurt that it keeps coming up. Peter could look at this as Jesus rubbing salt on an open wound, but Jesus knows that this is necessary for Peter to fully face what he’s done. Because only after fully facing it can he accept full forgiveness. The process hurts (no one enjoys reliving their failures), but it leads to something wonderful: By the end, Peter now knows he has been totally restored.

Peter denied Jesus three times, and now Jesus extends grace three times. Here we see accountability and grace. Even though Jesus doesn’t explicitly say, “You failed me,” both he and Peter understand exactly what’s going on. “You hurt me three times. So three times, I will give you the chance to reaffirm your love for me.” (That’s accountability). And each of those times, I will reaffirm that your calling is still valid (That’s grace).

Do you remember how Jesus told the disciples that where he went, they couldn’t go, but they would go later? He was, of course, talking about his death. They weren’t ready to follow him in death, but eventually almost all the apostles—including Peter—accepted martyrdom for their faith.

Peter’s story encourages us if we have failed. If we love Jesus and want to follow him, he forgives us and continues to work in us so that we can be faithful in the future, even in areas where we once failed.

III. Accountability and Grace

Peter’s story shows how God’s restoration involves both accountability and grace. These two need to be balanced, but we often overemphasize one at the expense of the other.

A. Too Much Accountability

As I said earlier, our culture is very focused on accountability. This is what is often called ‘cancel culture.’ And, no, this isn’t just a problem for people on the political left. Every tribe has the ability to excommunicate those who transgress its taboos.

The push for accountability comes from a genuine desire for justice. We might see the rich and powerful run roughshod over the poor and vulnerable, and something in us demands to see justice done. But often our view of justice is about balancing the scales; it’s about retribution. We want to see those who badly failed shamed, excluded, or even prosecuted. We feel justified in breaking out the torches and pitchforks.

Accountability matters. We need to honestly look at how our sins affect others. If we don’t admit what went wrong, we can’t learn or grow. But accountability should never mean permanent exclusion from God’s people without hope of restoration. Jesus held Peter accountable for what he did, but Peter’s failures weren’t the end of his story. 

God’s grace met him in his lowest moment. Peter was forgiven and strengthened so that he could do better in the future. The same man who had fled from danger became willing to suffer for Jesus, and eventually to lay down his life. Jesus shows us that grace, not just accountability, has the final say. This grace is not only about mercy, though, but also about the power to change. We often forget this part of grace.

B. Too Much Grace

While our culture sometimes pushes accountability so far that people have no way back, in the church we can misunderstand grace and end up with what theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.” In Bonhoeffer’s classic book on discipleship, he opens with this shocking statement:

Cheap grace is the mortal enemy of our church. Our struggle today is for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace as bargain-basement goods, cut-rate forgiveness, cut-rate comfort, cut-rate sacrament; grace as the church’s inexhaustible pantry, from which it is doled out by careless hands without hesitation or limit.

Cheap grace is when we are forgiven without accountability, repentance, or change. We might say, “Jesus paid it all,” which is true. But then we act as if that means we can do whatever we want, without thinking about how our actions affect others or reflect on Jesus. Bonhoeffer explains what this looks like to the world:

The church that teaches this doctrine of grace thereby confers such grace upon itself. The world finds in this church a cheap cover-up for its sins, for which it shows no remorse and from which it has even less desire to be set free.

We see cheap grace when abusive misconduct of church leaders is covered up. When they are forgiven but there’s no admission of guilt or recognition of the harm done. We also see it when Christians live however they want, when their faith leaves them unchanged, when they treat God’s grace as permission to sin without consequence

Cheap grace focuses on mercy but doesn’t lead us to the change God wants for us. Paul explains what it actually looks like when God’s grace works in our lives:

¹¹ For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. ¹² And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, ¹³ while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. ¹⁴ He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds (Titus 2:11-14, NLT).

When grace becomes an excuse to sin, we turn away from God’s calling and bring dishonour to his name.

C. Holding them in Balance

Accountability without grace leads to exclusion. Grace without accountability leads to harm. But when we hold both together, we find restoration. What does that look like?

First: When we’ve been wronged. In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus gives us a practical framework for resolving conflicts. We don’t have time to unpack that here, but here’s the gist: when someone has wronged us, accountability means we work towards reconciliation. We don’t demand the other person apologize before we take action to restore the relationship. We approach the person with gentleness and humility, but also with honesty about how their actions affect us.

The world tells us we should cut off toxic people, but Jesus tells us to exhaust all of our options for reconciliation before breaking off relationships. Even when that happens, we must still love the estranged person and hope that they may eventually move towards reconciliation.

When we have wronged someone else, accountability starts with humble confession. If we realize we’ve done something wrong, we should admit it to the person we hurt. If someone confronts us, we ought to listen with an open heart and let them share how our actions affected them. This is important whether or not they approach us in the right way.

Not every accusation against us is fair, but we should listen humbly and bring it to God. If there’s truth in the criticism, we should accept it and apologize. The other person may accept our apology and the relationship can be healed, or they may not, and we remain estranged. But we should still hope for reconciliation, even if it’s out of our hands. We may not always be able to reconcile with others, but we should never be the reason it can’t happen.

Conclusion

We live in a world that is desperate for justice, but deeply confused about how to get there. Society offers us accountability without grace, which leads to cancellation, bitterness, and permanent exile. On the other hand, distorted religion offers us grace without accountability, which leads to spiritual apathy, hypocrisy, and unhealed harm. But Jesus shows us a third way: Restorative Justice.

At the cross, God did not minimize our sin, but neither did he abandon us in it. He held us fully accountable, yet extended unimaginable grace. The same Jesus who met Peter by the charcoal fire meets us today. He knows every promise you’ve broken. He knows the ways you’ve failed him, the people you’ve hurt, and the mistakes you carry in secret. And yet, he doesn’t banish you. He prepares a table for you. He looks you in the eye and asks, “Do you love me?” When we truly receive that kind of costly grace, it changes how we live with one another.

If you are carrying the weight of past failure today: Stop running, and stop trying to prove yourself. Let Jesus meet you in your brokenness. Accept his accountability, receive his grace, and let him restore you. Your story isn’t over.

If you are holding a grudge or nursing a hurt: Remember how much you’ve been forgiven. Choose the hard, slow work of reconciliation over the easy route of writing people off.

If you’ve been living on “cheap grace”: It’s time to take your discipleship seriously. Let the grace that saved you be the power that transforms your actions, your desires, and your relationships.

May we be a community marked by this radical, God-shaped justice—a people who refuse to hide from accountability, but who never run out of grace, and who continually point a fractured world back to the One who makes all things new.