Then Jesus asked him again, “Peter, son of John, do you have great affection for me—more than these?” Peter was saddened by being asked the third time and said, “My Lord, you know everything. You know that I burn with love for you!” John 21:17
You probably know the story… Jesus had been crucified, buried, and now had risen from the dead. Jesus’ trial had not been Peter’s finest hour. In the Upper Room, before Jesus’ arrest, Peter had made the grandiose statement of his commitment to Jesus: “Even if everyone else abandons you, you can count on me.” That hadn’t worked out so well.
In fact, reading of the post crucifixion gospels accounts, Peter isn’t mentioned all that much until John 21. When someone falls we tend to toss them under the bus and that seems to be going on with the other 10 disciples. In fact, Peter seems to have tossed himself under the bus. He says, “I’m going fishing,” and the others say, “We’ll go with you.”
Now we find Peter, Andrew, James & John—not out for a relaxing evening of rod & reel sports fishing, but literally back in their former employment, laboring through the back-breaking toil of nets and boats. After agonizing through a night of fishing with no fish to show for it, they recast their nets at the word of a stranger on shore, and then realized they were in the presence of Jesus. Soon they were enjoying the fellowship and nourishment of their Lord provided on shore.
Where did the boat and nets come from? There were no boat liveries where weekend sports fisherman could rent a dinghy and maybe some gear to do a little fishing. It’s most likely, Peter (who instigated this fishing excursion), still owned a boat or two and the nets to carry out his former employment. When he said, “I’m going fishing,” he had the equipment to carry out his plan—and enough for the others, as well.
Which brings us to Jesus’ after-dinner conversation with Peter in today’s verse. Jesus’ words, “more than these” have been debated theologically millennia. One obvious meaning is “more than your boats, nets, fish and your former occupation.”
Peter had given all for Jesus, so far as he knew, yet the ease with which he could back out and return to his former life was amazing for someone who was “sold out” for Jesus. And that’s a lot like many of us. Our ‘plan B’…our fallback strategy exists, even if we don’t think about it much.
God’s called us to various things and we go at them with gusto, but if it falls apart, we can always pull out ‘plan B’ and recover without too much pain, without too much egg on our face. For 3 years as an on-fire follower of Jesus, Peter looked sold out. He probably thought he was sold out… but all that time, plan B was hiding in the background. “Just in case God doesn’t come through,” was lurking, compromising his whole-hearted commitment to Jesus.
Restoration begins with passion for Jesus. Peter ended up saying to Jesus, “You know that I burn with love for you!” That kind of love is comprehensive. It leaves no back door in case things don’t work out. What’s our plan B? What do we keep from the ‘old days’ to pull us through just in case God doesn’t work things out the way we thought He would? Do we love Jesus more than these?