Fresh StartSample

Jesus forgives

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.

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.

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.

(John 21:15-17 NLT)

It’s interesting to me that Jesus would ask this question to Peter three times after Peter had denied Him three times.

It’s only conjecture but it’s almost as if Peter is being reinstated as one of Jesus’ faithful followers by the repetition of this question which matches the repetition of his denial.

Jesus was not holding Peter’s fall from grace over him but was entrusting the care of His followers (His lambs/sheep) to him. What a beautiful act of trust toward someone who had recently let Jesus down.

Jesus’s heart to forgive with such deep-reaching compassion was and is shocking at times.

If anyone had the right to hold the wrongs and sins of man against them, it was and is Jesus.

But He doesn’t.

He forgives.

In Mark 2:5-11, we learn just how shocking this power to forgive was to the teachers of religious law in Jesus’ day:

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralysed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”

Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralysed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralysed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”

As well as healing the paralysed man, Jesus forgave his sins and set him free in every sense of the word. The paralysed man would have walked away from his encounter with Jesus well in his body and free in his spirit.

This is the power that Jesus has over sin and death. He conquered the grave and sets us free to live with Him in this life and into eternity. We have everything we will ever need in the person of Jesus, as well as forgiveness and a fresh start in life.

If you would like to know Jesus, the One who forgives sins and holds the power of reconciliation with the Father in His hands, please reach out to us via our website or to an individual who you know has faith in Jesus.

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