Peter Restored, Part 3: The Commission
Your Calling Was Never About Your Readiness
Part of a short series on Peter’s restoration
The conversation on the beach was not over. After the three questions and the three commands to feed his sheep, Jesus looked at Peter and spoke about his future. He said, “When you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (John 21:18). The scripture tells us plainly that Jesus said this “to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.” The stretching out of the hands points to crucifixion, and this is exactly how the early Church recorded Peter’s martyrdom. Some ancient accounts even suggest that Peter felt unworthy to die in the same manner as his Lord and asked to be crucified upside down. There is not a great deal of support for this particular detail, yet it is interesting to consider all the same.
Think about what is happening here. Just moments earlier, Peter could not even claim agape love for Christ. He could only muster philos, a brotherly fondness. He was not yet the man who would lay down his life. He knew it, and Jesus knew it. Yet in the very next breath, Jesus told him that one day he would do precisely that. Peter would stretch out his hands on a Roman cross and die for the faith he could not yet fully embody. The love he lacked on the beach would one day grow into the very thing he had once so arrogantly claimed to possess.
This is a staggering act of trust on the part of Christ. He did not wait for Peter to arrive at agape before commissioning him. He did not say, “Come back when your love is stronger.” He did not bench Peter until he proved himself worthy of the assignment. Jesus took Peter exactly as he was, with his philos love and his shattered pride, and said, “Feed My sheep.” The calling remained. The mission did not change. Peter would grow into the fullness of his love for Christ over the years that followed, and the Holy Spirit would supply what Peter could not generate on his own. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit fell upon the Church, and Peter was suddenly a different man. From that point forward, he only did what he saw the Father doing, and it made all the difference in the world.
The very last thing Jesus said to Peter in this passage deserves our attention. When everything had been said and done, Jesus spoke two words: “Follow Me” (John 21:19). This command carries layers of meaning. Jesus had been speaking about sheep and shepherds, so “Follow Me” recalls the passage where Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27–28). Jesus was reassuring Peter that he had not been disqualified by his failures. He was still a sheep of the Lord’s pasture. There is also a second reading here, since the command comes immediately after the prophecy about Peter’s death. “Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!’” (John 21:19). The two phrases are separated by a single breath. Jesus was not changing subjects. He was putting the exclamation point at the end of the sentence. Peter would follow Christ all the way to the cross.
So what does this mean for us? It means our calling is not based on our abilities, our spiritual maturity, or the quality of our love on any given day. Peter was called to feed the Lord’s sheep, and it did not matter whether his love was up to the task. He was not yet ready to die for the Lord, yet his calling to shepherd the Church remained unchanged. If you are called, then Christ will equip you. It has never been about us. It has always been about Jesus and his glorious Church. If a person is called to serve as a shepherd, to feed the sheep, then he should do so from the situation he finds himself in, trusting that the same Holy Spirit who transformed Peter will do the transforming work in him as well.
Serve the Lord with gladness and without concern for your preparedness. The One who calls you is faithful, and he finishes what he starts.
This concludes the Peter Restored series.
About this series: Drawing from the Gospel of John, these posts explored one of the most powerful restoration stories in all of Scripture. Peter’s arrogance led to a devastating fall, but Christ met him on the beach with grace, honesty, and a commission that never wavered. Our calling is not based on our readiness. It is based on the faithfulness of the One who calls us.
Also at Arrow Song: A companion series is running in parallel at the Arrow Song Blog. The Quantum Sifting of Peter explores the same story through the lens of quantum architecture and the mechanics of the unseen realm. The two series are designed to be read together. You can find the full series here.