Why Jesus called Peter "The Rock" even after he failed.

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Welcome back to Becoming a Boss. Today, we're wondering are the prophecies in the Bible true? Imagine you're sitting at the dinner table with your very best friend knowing that one of them is about to betray you in the worst way. Not about to steal your boyfriend, but about to hand you over to the corrupt authorities who have been planning to end your life for 2 days. And this isn't a rando friend, this is a refrigerator friend. This is a person who barely even knocks before they let themselves in. They know where you keep the cereal and they feel totally free to go in your fridge and make themselves a sandwich. And that's the context for when Judas betrays Jesus. These boys have been rolling together for 3 years already. They're living together, they're traveling together, they're eating together every single meal. Every meal, every day for 3 years. Today, we call that our family. And they act like brothers, too, because we know Peter got a big mouth, James and John just want to be first, and Judas is regularly skimming money off the top of the lunch allowance. And even though Skim Jim Judas is outrightly stealing, he has the gumption to sell out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. And Jesus knows what's about to happen, but he does not shy away from confrontation. In fact, he brings it up as a dinner topic at the table saying one of you is about to betray me, which caused Judas to reply, "Surely you're not talking about me, Rabbi." And Jesus says, "You have said so." Savage. And that's that, because the word of God will not return void. If he said it, it's happening. So, just before dessert, Judas takes off to go do his evil deed. And it's hard to believe that Judas would actually go through with this, but you know what's even harder for me to believe is Jesus' reaction. If Judas was trying to kill me, I don't know how I would acted. And I've got at least two friends that would have throw punched them across the table, but that's not how Jesus acts. He sits calmly at the table in the middle of the most insidious and infamous betrayal of all of history sharing pita bread with his betrayer just hours before. Nobody ever talks about this, but how many people do you know that you have seen act like that in real life? Yet, if you identify as a Christian, that's exactly how we're supposed to act. Jesus himself tells us to love our enemies and to pray for the people who treat us like that. In fact, even while he hung on the cross and was suffocating, he used what little breath he had to say, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Because we look at these people and we see fools, but Jesus looks at them and he sees God's children who have lost their way because the things of this world are not always what they seem. And speaking of which, it seems like Skim Jim Judas was the worst betrayal of all, but actually, I don't think it is. He wasn't the only one knifing people in the back that day. After dinner, they go for a walk to the garden and I don't know if they're talking about Judas, but it comes up. And Jesus tells them, "Actually, y'all, Judas is not the only problem. The rest of y'all going to abandon me, too." And Jesus knows that they are because there's this prophecy from Zechariah saying that they will. And he knew the prophecy had to come true. He even rehearsed it to them saying, "I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered." He knew they were going to abandon him. Yet, he walked calmly alongside them all the way to the garden. But of course, he says that and the boys are like, "No, no, Lord, we would never abandon you." Especially Peter because Peter is emphatic about everything. He's saying, "No, Lord, I would die for you. I would die for you this very night." And you have to give Jesus credit because he doesn't laugh, he doesn't cry, he doesn't yell, he doesn't holler. But I imagine that he stops walking. He puts his hand on Peter's shoulder and he says, "Bro, even you. You, too, will abandon me this very night before the rooster crows. In fact, you yourself will deny me three times." And just a few hours later, the corrupt authorities arrive and sure enough, they all fall away. Boop, even Peter. But to his credit, after running away initially, he does turn around and come back and start following Jesus to find out what's going to happen to him. And he does follow him all the way to the house of Caiaphas where Jesus is being interrogated. After all, Jesus did say Peter was the rock that he was going to build his church on. So, he's outside of the house of Caiaphas warming himself by the fire. And he sure does deny the king of kings three times, just like Jesus said. And I don't know about you, but this is the worst part for me because I feel like Peter was Jesus' bestie. And if I think about my bestie for even 1 second and she abandoned me, oh, I don't even want to think about it. So, poor Jesus, he was beaten, he was tortured, and he was also betrayed by Peter, Judas, and everybody in between. It was crazy. And he knew it was going to happen and he chose to get up on that cross anyway. Now, I don't like to think about this part. I don't like to think about him getting up on that cross and dying for our sins and he knows we're going to abandon him, Peter, Judas, and everybody. And I don't even want to think about it. But, it does give me a strange sense of comfort in a way because I know I've abandoned him, too, intentionally and unintentionally, many, many times throughout my life. And what I felt reading the scriptures is that he knows. He knew. And he still chose to forgive me. And he chooses to forgive you, too. He loves me anyways. He chooses me anyways. And he calls me daughter anyways. And if you think that's an incredible display of love, you're not wrong, but there's more. The ending is even better. Now, remember when Jesus first called Peter all the way back at the beginning of the 3 years, Peter was fishing. He had fished all night and he didn't catch anything. Jesus tells him, "Let down your nets here." Peter does so and all of a sudden he has so many fish he has to call another boat to help him carry them in. Now, we fast forward to after Peter denied him and again Peter is fishing. Again, he hasn't caught anything. Again, Jesus shows up on shore and he says, "Let down your net there." And he does and guess what? Billions of fish. Well, 153, but who's counting? So, Jesus is sitting by the fire and he asked Peter three times, "Do "Do love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?" And Peter says, "Yes, I love you. Yes, I love you. Yes, I love you." Three times. Three times denial, three times restoration. And if you think that's crazy, what's even crazier is the word that they use for fire there is only used twice in the whole Bible. It's used once when Peter's denying Jesus and once when Jesus is restoring Peter. It's crazy. And it's such a beautiful picture of redemption because essentially Peter had really messed up. He had royally messed up. And he probably thought that God couldn't use him anymore. He's definitely not going to be able to do what he was supposed to do. He's ruined everything. But Jesus reappears and tells him, "Actually, Peter, you're forgiven. And actually, you need to go do the job that I gave you to do, which is to go be the rock that I told you." Jesus says, "You're forgiven. You messed up, you're forgiven. Now go do the job that I created you to do." And not many days later in the book of Acts, Peter absolutely does go on to deliver a sermon in which 3,000 people are saved. Therefore, becoming the foundation of the church that he was created to be in the first place. And we are no different, friend. We are truly flawed and truly forgiven, too. And I'm praying that both of us will do the job that he created us to do. Praying for you, friends. Talk soon.