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Jesus Corrects Your Direction – By Father Andrew Bahhi

May 16, 2021
in The Word
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This Sunday is the 2nd Sunday after Easter, and in these times since the Resurrection Day, we read how Jesus began to appear to His disciples. The Bible says Jesus was teaching His disciples the secret of the kingdom, which is why this time is very important.

We spoke about “life” on Resurrection Day, then “restoration” last week. And this Sunday we see in John 21 – when Jesus appeared to the disciples – that now we speak about this being the Sunday of the “correction.” Namely, with Peter.

First, when Peter confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus responded to Peter “on your faith that you just confessed I will build my church.”

Yet, Peter was always rushing to do things, talking fast without thinking. For instance, when Jesus said, “I have to die and after three days I will rise.” Peter said, “forbidden, there is no way.” Then Jesus rebuked him.

And another time, Peter said “If anybody ever rejects you, I am ready to go to death.” But then Jesus said, Peter you always go for an answer very fast. Tonight, before the rooster crows three times, you will ignore me and reject me.

On Peter’s faith, the Lord built his church, and the man will still need to be corrected.

I wonder how Peter felt after denying Jesus. Maybe he felt “I admit, my savior, the last three years I have spent with you, maybe that was the most beautiful time.”

Or “I denied you, and you felt love and patience, you did not cast me out. And I think I failed in my test.”

The most beautiful gift he received, he lost.

Peter must have felt a failure, or a miss of a direction of his master. In his heart he told Jesus, I wish you continue your ministry without me. In other words, he told the Lord, “Can you accept my resignation?”

Inside Peter was broken. But during this period of disappointment, failure, guilt, and feelings of unworthiness of serving his master, Jesus appeared while they were fishing.

For the whole night, they initially did not catch any fish. This truly described the situation for Peter.

And then the master appeared, and the Bible said something especially important. “He was preparing food for them.” And Jesus told them, catch fish on the right side of the boat. And when they threw their net, they got more than 153 big fish.

Then he asked Peter three times, “do you love me?” And Peter responded “Yes” three times.

Jesus did this to correct the direction of Peter.

Correcting Our Direction

The word “sin” is the opposite of repentance. It means the Greek word for missing the goal or the target. While repentance means correcting the direction. Peter was a sinner, and Jesus came to correct Him to become the head of the disciples and announce the faith to the whole world.

The purpose of the resurrection is to correct our direction. Each one of us is going in the wrong direction. Your repentance that comes through your faith in raising Jesus will help you to correct your direction, and so you can accomplish the will of God in your life so you can inherit the eternal life.

Jesus put in everyone heart and faith. The savior came to correct your direction to fix your life. When Jesus appeared, he is saying “don’t worry, Peter. Your sin is big, but my love for you is way bigger.”

If you have feelings that your heart is not in the right place, then this Sunday is your Sunday. Because Jesus came for those people to correct the place of their heart in order to be in a perfect place with Jesus the savior.

I said this on the Day of the Resurrection. Resurrection of Jesus is not an event we celebrate on one day. It is a style of life that we live daily in order to be with Jesus, confess and be His true disciples.

Learn more in Father Andrew’s sermon video here.

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