Like the prodigal’s father, insulted and abandoned by his son, the risen Savior faces a dearly loved disciple who rejected Him in His most dire hour. After they finish eating, Jesus lovingly reinstates Peter. Imagine how awkward that meal must have been. By asking Peter the same question three times, Jesus erases the three times Peter had denied association with Him.


Is there anything that can put us beyond the restoring love of Jesus Christ? Are the ways you and I have ignored, betrayed, or outright rejected Him any less offensive than Peter’s betrayal?


Yet the love of Jesus restores all things, renewing even our worst choices for His glory. At the outset of His ministry on earth, He unrolls the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and proclaims the heart of His mission. “The Spirit of the Lord… has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). This is why He came for you and me! In a word: Restoration.