The conversation taking place in today’s verses happens just after the resurrection of Jesus. To understand the context, let’s back up to John 18, where the path to the cross picks up speed and begins to unfold with the betrayal, arrest, and trials of Jesus. These verses describe Christ’s suffering along with Peter’s three denials of Him. The contrasting storylines of suffering and denial drive home the idea that Peter represents all of us.  

‍

Peter was passionate and bold in spreading the gospel and was integral in founding the early Church. In fact, Jesus referred to Peter as the “the rock” on which He would build His Church (Matt. 16:18). This “rock” describes the same man who went down in history for denying Jesus three times. Why is that important? Because it shows the fallibility of mankind. Even Peter, a great man of God, was imperfect and in need of a Savior, just like the rest of us.  

‍

None of us, on our own, are good enough to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, I believe one of the biggest strongholds opposing God’s truth is believing we are enough. Culture preaches, “You are enough,” but this is a lie. This belief fosters the idolatry of self – the very thing we must lay down to follow after God (Matt. 16:24). When we accept the lie that we’re enough, we are instilling the wrong things into our hearts and minds. We are accepting a worldview built on elevating self as the highest God, in which we rely on our emotions, desires, and opinions to form our truth and determine our reality. Anything we could use to prove our “enoughness” would be what Paul calls “worthless” (Phil. 3:8-9). And yet, we are loved enough to be covered by the blood of Christ, adopted into His family line, and given a new identity as a child of God.

‍

As great as he was, Peter failed, and so do we, because life lived in our own strength will never work. If we were enough on our own, we wouldn’t need a Savior. We don’t sin when we desire to be a great spouse, parent, student or leader – those are all great things. Sin lies in believing we are enough to do those things through our own effort. Instead, we must submit ourselves to God, put on the new identity He gives, and choose to walk in His Spirit daily.

Today’s verses bring Peter’s story full circle. Jesus didn’t leave things unfinished, but instead, He restored him to intimacy through His unparalleled grace, forgiveness, and love. Just as Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus asked him three times, “Do you love Me” (John 21:17)? Jesus gave Peter the chance to make it right and then called him to feed His sheep and follow Him, because intimacy restored leads to responsibility and action (John 21:17, 19).  

‍

God doesn’t want us to wallow in the mistakes we’ve made or to strive to be enough on our own merit. Instead, He wants us to confess, be restored, and get back to the business of following after Him. God in you is enough, and He has work for you to do (Eph.2:10). Today is a good day to step into your true identity as a Child of God.