THIS MONTH’S BIBLICAL THEME IS: Jesus Loves Us
Jesus was betrayed by His followers, beaten and died a cruel and torturous death. When He died, He took all of our sin on Himself and paid the ultimate price for our sins. As God, death would not defeat Him. Jesus rose from the dead! If we believe in Him for our salvation, we can be with Him forever! Jesus not only forgave us like He did Peter but wants us to have eternal life with Him. Jesus loves us!
Have you ever been questioned about your faith? This theme helps kids know the truths about God in a fun True or False way.
Peter is Restored (John 21)
After they heard about the empty tomb, Peter and some other disciples were fishing. They had no luck catching fish. Jesus called out from the shore and told them to place their nets on the opposite side. When they did, their nets were filled. One of the disciples realized it was Jesus speaking to them. Peter jumped in and swam to shore. Jesus cooked breakfast for them. He asked Peter if he loved Him. Peter replied, “Yes,” and Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep. He repeated this twice more. Jesus had not only forgiven Peter for denying Him three times, but He was restoring Him to ministry.
Jesus asked Peter to say out loud three times that He loved Him, possibly reminding Peter of the number of times he had denied Jesus. Each time Jesus said “Feed My sheep,” meaning He wanted Peter to take care of those who loved and followed Him. Not only had Jesus forgiven Peter, but Jesus showed much grace and restored Peter back into a good relationship with Him and had important things for him to do. We all fail. We all mess up. The good news is, even when we mess up, Jesus forgives us and wants us close to Him again. When we mess up, our story isn’t over. Jesus loves us, forgives us and restores us. He makes our relationship with God right again. One day, everything will be made right again when Jesus returns.
