“Peter, do you love me?”

There’s just something about Simon Peter. He always had that comeback spirit. After Jesus was crucified and Peter denied Him three times, he began to lose hope of God ever using him in ministry again.
From every indication, he went back to his fishing business. Jesus never stopped loving Peter, and He knew that there was much for Peter yet to do in the Kingdom.

The Bible says that when Peter recognized that Jesus was calling him from the shore, he immediately jumped out of the boat and swam for over 100 yards (John 21:8). When Peter got to Jesus, Jesus did not say, “Why did you run, Peter?” He did not say, “Why did you cuss?” He did not say, “Why did you deny me three times when I needed you the most?”

Instead, Jesus simply asked one question three times.

“Peter, do you love me?” All he cared about was if Peter still loved Him. Jesus never brought up his past.

I don’t know how many times you’ve run from Jesus, and I don’t know how many times you have failed. But through it all, Jesus has a question for you. He’s not asking what you’ve done because He knows your past does not define you.
He’s asking one question, “Do you still love me?” Because if you still love Him, He’s not here to condemn you.

God can see the heart of somebody who has sinned and messed up but whose heart is still devoted to Him. I’m not glorifying sin, but I’m telling you that when the devil whispers to you, “You’re not worthy. You don’t measure up. You’re disqualified,” just ask the devil,

“Who DOES measure up? No one. But Jesus has me covered under His blood.”

Jesus’ final words on the cross were both powerful and telling. First, He pardons the sinner next to Him and promises paradise for that condemned criminal. And then He does something unprecedented. He asks His Father in Heaven to forgive all the people responsible for this whole spectacle by saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).

After He had suffered all He had to suffer and completed His cause, He uttered these unforgettable words, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (v. 46). And then He breathed His last breath and died.

As discussed, Friday of Holy Week is called Good Friday because without the shedding of Jesus” blood, there could be no salvation It’s also Good Friday because it is the day that finished the most difhoult race in history.

You and I stood condemned, caught in our sins, with a certain penalty of death separated from God. All that changed on a hill in Jerusalem, by the blood of Jesus, who was innocent.
THAT, my friend, is the best news we could ever receive.

1 Peter 1:18-19