On the night before Jesus was killed, Peter promised that he would always follow Jesus. To the death. It’s the kind of promise we want to make to God.

Within a few hours, to three different people, Peter denied that he had been with Jesus, that he had known Jesus. Three times. He was scared. It’s understandable. And it was predicted by Jesus.

But Peter still felt awful. He felt like a failure.

He watched from a distance when Jesus died. He showed up the morning that Jesus was raised. He was with the disciples when they saw Jesus the night of the resurrection, but he was still at a distance.

But he was still a leader. He went back home, from Jerusalem up to Galilee, a few days trip. He went fishing with a few of the other disciples. And they caught nothing.

Peter failed at following. Now he was failing at fishing.

What was he going to do?

We can’t live up to Jesus. We can’t live without him. We’re pretty useless.

Until Jesus starts a process of restoration, of healing, of bringing Peter back, and us back.

Fish on the other side of the boat. They caught fish. In the middle of their failure Jesus doesn’t rub it in, he helps them out.

Bring me some of the fish you caught. They got to help, to participate in what he was doing, in a very small way. He broke the ice.

Have some breakfast. They were welcomed to a table, they were served by Jesus, rather than being dominated by him.

And then Peter gets three chances to declare his love for Jesus. Just like the three betrayals.

The last time, Peter is pretty intense, just as he had been about the last denial.

Jesus gives him directions to feed his sheep.

Then Jesus tells him how he’s going to die. Which on one hand sounds pretty awful. But when you promised to follow someone to the death and you messed that up, getting another chance to be faithful is a big deal.

And then Jesus says, “follow me.”

Jesus isn’t sending Peter, he’s taking Peter. He’s not abandoning him to his own resources, he’s leading him through the valley of the shadow of death. Unlike the night he died, Jesus is not going to leave the disciples alone ever again.

And Peter followed.