Have you done something wrong?  You knew that it was wrong, yet you still did it?  Whatever “it” maybe, you did it.  Peter did it.  His “it” was betraying Jesus.  Now that is a big “it.”  Betrayal is a difficult wrong to forgive.  Standing before Peter at the Sea of Galilee was the very man he betrayed.  He has seen Jesus two times before, but Jesus remained quiet about Peter’s sin.  At the seashore, where Peter’s walk with Jesus began three years before, stands Jesus.  Peter jumps out of the fishing boat to see Him.  When the boat arrives at the shore, it is the brute strength of Peter which drags the nets.  It is like Peter is trying to show Jesus his worth.

 

Jesus does not forget.  Three times he asks a question,”Peter do you truly love me?”  Peter replies the same all three times, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.? 

 

Jesus was not trying to anger Peter.  Jesus was not trying to remind Peter of his three betrayals.  Personal, I believe, Jesus was trying to remind Peter that Jesus loved him.  That the love of Jesus would be Peter’s strength in the days to come.  His last words to Peter were His first words to Peter, “Follow me.”

 

While there are several discussions concerning the importance of forgiveness for the individual, forgiveness from Jesus and reinstatement is the most important.  Without Jesus’s forgiveness and reinstatement, any attempt of forgiveness will not end well.  Forgiveness begins and ends with Jesus.