The Rooster Crows

The Rooster Crows

Experiencing Resurrection: Part 2
April 19, 2026

John 21:4-19

Jesus asked a third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was sad that Jesus asked him a third time, "Do you love me?" He replied, "Lord, you know everything; you know I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep."

~ John 21:17

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As the others began cleaning up after the meal, Jesus turned to me.  He looked me dead in the eye, called me by name, and asked “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

I froze. 

I knew he had no reason to believe that I loved him after what I had done.

With tears welling in my eyes, I told him, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” 

I couldn’t have been more sincere, but in my heart, I didn’t really expect him to believe me. 

“Feed my lambs.”

His response was not what I expected. 

It was just like the day he first called me.  He wanted me to take care of his people.  Why me?  How could he trust me with such an enormous task? 

Then he asked again, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” 

I knew it.  He didn’t really trust me.  I responded more urgently this time, and I couldn’t hold back the tears.  “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”  And again, he said, “Tend my sheep.”

We just stared at each other for a moment.  Even through the blurriness of my tears I could see the gentleness in his eyes. 

He asked a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” 

This was harder than anything I could have imagined.  My mind kept reliving those moments in the courtyard the day he died.  “You were with Jesus,” someone said pointing at me.  “No, no I wasn’t.  You must be mistaken.”  Three different people.  Three times I said I didn’t know him.  And now for a third time, Jesus questioned me.  How could I convince him that I loved him when I had denied even knowing him?  How could I ever expect him to trust me again? 

I wasn’t even sure I believed it myself anymore.  Did I really love him?

I just sat there sobbing, knowing my words couldn’t possibly have any meaning to him, but I responded anyway.   My voice cracked with desperation.

“Lord, you know everything, you know I love you.” 

This time my answer felt more like a question. 

Lord, you know me better than I know myself… you tell me, do I love you? I think I do… I want to love you more than anything… but I failed you, I doubted you, I turned my back on you?  You knew I would deny you.  Will I do it again?  I can’t stand the thought of letting you down again. 

He had to know that I was doubting myself more than I had ever doubted him. 

He answered gently, “Feed my sheep.” 

Then he told me to follow him. 

Jesus still wanted me by his side.  I don’t think I’ll ever understand it.  There are many days I don’t feel forgiven, but that’s exactly what he did.  Jesus forgave me. 

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This week’s reflection is an excerpt from my new book, Real Life Resurrection.

For more information, purchase links and study guides, click here.

How Many Times?

How Many Times

November 17, 2024
Matthew 18:21-35, Matthew 6:14-15, Colossians 3:12-14

Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Should I forgive as many as seven times?”

 Jesus said, “Not just seven times, but rather as many as seventy-seven times.

 Matthew 18:21-22

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Seventy seven or more accurately 70 x 7 times.  In one humorous telling of this story, Peter continues the conversation…

“Seriously Jesus, first you tell me to forgive the one  who sins against me and now you’re going to make me to math too?!”

Taken literally, I suppose that means we only have to forgive someone 490 times, but if we’re counting that high, I’m not sure genuine forgiveness is really on our minds.

Seven is commonly used in scripture as a number of completeness or fullness.  In other words, we are to forgive the full or complete number of times… which would be every time.  At first glance, this seems a bit unreasonable, until we understand the parable that follows. 

A servant owed the king 10,000 talents.  I have seen several different calculations on what this would look like in 21st century American dollars, but needless to say, they are all exorbitant amounts.  There is no way this debt can ever be repaid, and yet the king releases him of the debt rather than forcing him to pay for the rest of his life. 

Of course the servant is beyond grateful, until he comes across someone else who owes him a much smaller amount, perhaps only a few dollars by comparison.  In turn, he refuses to forgive the debt owed to him.  When the king learns of this, he is furious.  He reinstates the tremendous debt and throws him into prison.

Perhaps one reason we struggle so much with forgiveness is because we don’t realize just how much we have been forgiven.  We don’t appreciate the value of the forgiveness and mercy we have experienced in our lives, not only from God but also from others.

It’s amazing how stark this truth becomes when we look at it in the financial terms Jesus lays out.  Forgiveness sometimes feels abstract.  We can’t always put a price on how much someone has hurt us.  But when money is involved, we know exactly how much we are owed and how much we owe others.  When we see others in debt, we can be quick to judge.  We don’t ask what happened that led to such debt, what tragic circumstances or exploitive systems may have led them to being in over their head.  We simply demand that they pay up, just like the man who the servant refused to forgive.  Yet when it comes to our own, though we my do our best to pay, there may very well come a time when we ask for mercy, for an extension, for a reversal of unfair fees, or some other relief during a hard time when other expenses overwhelm us. 

When Jesus forgives those who hung him on the cross, he declares that they do not know what they are doing.  Perhaps that alone is a good reason to forgive.  We simply don’t know what’s going on in the other person’s life.  Maybe they don’t fully understand what they have done.  Maybe a bit of mercy will help them turn things around.  May we forgive as God has forgiven us. 

When the Rooster Crows

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When the Rooster Crows
I Have Seen - Part 3
Sunday, May 1, 2022
John 21:4-19

He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

John 21:17

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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We had seen Jesus several times since that unbelievable morning when we found the tomb empty.  There was no question for any of us now that he was alive, but life still wasn’t quite the same. 

The roosters still crow every morning, reminding me of all I’ve done wrong.  They remind me of how unworthy I am.  I thought I was a sinful man when I first met him, but now I knew that I was even more of a sinner than I had once realized.  I wonder if he still would have wanted me to join him if he knew how much I would fail him.  Would he have still called me a friend if he knew that when he needed me the most, I would turn my back and claim not to know him?   

I was the chief of sinners, but Jesus forgave me.  Jesus loved me.  And I wanted so badly to love him no matter what the circumstances.  Every morning I hear the roosters crow and I hear those people in the courtyard saying “Aren’t you one of Jesus’ disciples?”

“Yes, yes I am a follower of Christ,” I answer myself.  “Not a very good one at times.  And I certainly don’t deserve to be.  But I still love him and he told me to fish for people and to feed his sheep.  And no matter how many times I fail, that’s exactly what I’m going to keep doing…”

“…I know now that Jesus will forgive me when I fail, but I don’t want him to have too.  I can’t stand the thought of disappointing him again.  I wonder sometimes, if he still feels the nails every time I fail.  Does he hear the crowd cry “Crucify” again.  If I’m causing him pain, then I really need to change, because I just can’t bear the thought of hurting him.” [1]

When the rooster crows reminding me of all I’ve done, I know I’m forgiven, but I also know that Jesus has trusted me with so much more.  “The world will fasten a belt around you and take you where you don’t want to go,” he told me… but then he said, “Follow me.”

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[1] lyrics from “Can You Still Feel the Nails”, Ray Boltz