Seth Carter

Have you ever smelled a smell, or heard a sound, or looked at a color that brought you to a place in your memory that you didn’t expect? The way our senses can be linked to past experiences is powerful.

Reflect on a couple of Scriptural accounts with me, and let your senses explore the scene.

Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee, and sees people working in the fishing industry. Some are mending nets, maintenance for their critical equipment. Some are throwing nets out, hoping for one last haul before coming off the water to rest. Perhaps pausing to watch for a moment, Jesus calls out to some brothers casting their nets, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:18-22)

That may have been intriguing, and it would feasibly be better than sitting around mending nets and hauling them, full or empty, in and out of the boat. Perhaps it would be a deviation from the hard work, the long chilly nights, the tedious tasks?

The brothers left the boat, the nets, the family business, to be disciples, become followers, of this up and coming rabbi, Jesus. 

Over the course of the next three years, the brothers and a prayerfully chosen selection of others become quite close to Jesus, relating to him not just as a student but a friend. They get a front row seat to the wisdom of Jesus, the miraculous power of his miracles and a quiet rebellion of sorts as both Jews and Gentiles grapple with the idea that this humble teacher could be the
promised messiah!

As it dawns on the disciples that Jesus is truly the promised savior — and as Paul later said, “the fullness of Deity in bodily form,” (Colossians 2:9) — the religious leaders are calculating how to get rid of him. But, if he really is the son of God, that won’t be possible! 

On a frigid night, Peter finds himself trying to stay physically warm near a fire while, emotionally, he is near frozen. Jesus has been betrayed and taken into custody by the religious elite to face mockery and false accusations. Peter stays nearby, at least until he is identified in the firelight as one of the close associates of Jesus. No longer able to hide in the smoke, Peter panics and denies even knowing Jesus, his close friend. 

Peter, distraught at his own betrayal of Jesus, runs away to languish in his crisis of belief. Jesus does die, and Peter must be rocked with confusion. Had they been tricked? Or just wrong? And yet three days later, he sees with his own eyes the empty grave and not long after, Jesus appears to him in the company of several others. Relief! Joy! This may be better than he initially hoped!

Yet when Jesus’ instructions are too vague for his liking and Jesus’ presence is less close than he’d prefer, disillusionment starts to set in again. Days later, the excitement dies down and Peter and the boys are lost, let down, listless. Peter goes to his default setting: fishing. 

It is there that Jesus finds Peter again, pausing to watch him throw his net again over the side of the boat and bring it in empty. 

Again. 

And again Jesus, the teacher with no apparent fishing expertise, advises them on where to place the nets and the catch is so huge they almost can’t bring it in! (See Luke 5:1-11 for reference)

Soon, Peter finds himself in the proximity of his Lord again. The familiar chill coming off the water collides with the smell of campfire smoke as Peter looks at Jesus in the flicker of firelight. As they walk together on the beach, Jesus asks, “Simon, son of John do you love Me?” 

Just as Peter had denied knowing him three times, just a few days ago really, Jesus asks him three times, and three times instructs Peter to “feed My sheep.”

Jesus didn’t say, “I told you that you were going to deny Me!” He didn’t say, “How are you going to pay Me back?” Without avoiding the issue of Peter’s disavowal, Jesus renews the bond between them. Then he asks Peter to be a shepherd. When they first met, Jesus called Peter to fish for men; now he asks him to take the role of a shepherd.

What about you? Maybe there’s a sound or smell that triggers a memory, some souvenir from the past that has convinced you that Jesus can’t or won’t love you. It isn’t true. Paul was convinced that “nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:39)

He won’t bring up your past to shame you but he’s inviting you to “confess your sins” and he will “cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

And Peter (the shepherd!) later wrote, “The Lord is not slow about His promise … but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

When your senses tempt you to fear the worst and take you back to places that you feel you can’t escape from, remember Peter. Don’t turn away in fear or pride, but turn toward Jesus, confess the sin of your past, repent and ask him to help you. He wants to love you and use your life, like he did with Peter!

(Seth Carter is director of Campus Ventures in Powell.)