“The one who had denied Him
Who had once walked on the water
Jumped in and swam to Him
To be confronted on the shore.”
-Stranger on the Shore by Michael Card

Have you ever wondered what Peter was feeling when they recognized that the stranger on the shore was Jesus?

Joy?  Fear?  Dread?  Desperation?  All of the above?

Maybe it was the first time Peter saw Jesus after He had risen from the dead.  Some commentaries theorize that it was so.  Perhaps it was not.  Probably Peter had already seen Him somewhere else.  But could one or even two brief encounters assuage the deep grief and remorse over his denial?  So far as we know from Scripture, if he did see Jesus earlier, there was not a private conversation between them.  Yet the unbelievable (though predicted!) had happened.  Jesus was not dead.  How could Peter possibly let another opportunity go by without making things right?

Perhaps Peter thought he could have a moment alone with Jesus while the others were tending to the boat and the fish.  Perhaps he somehow knew this would be the last time they would see Him.  Perhaps he didn’t think at all.  Perhaps it was a surging tidal wave of emotion that propelled him over the side of the boat and into the water.

I only wonder.  As I was recently listening to this old favorite by Michael Card, I felt the lyrics in a whole new way – aching with the intensity of emotions from such a scene.  Jesus is standing on the shore.  He is not dead. A glorious hope cut through the gloom in Peter’s soul.  Maybe he would not live the rest of his life with the crushing guilt of denial.  As humans we know the finality of death all too well.  Hearts can’t be mended, apologies can’t be made, hatchets can’t be buried.  It is over.

But Jesus is alive.  Yet, still, the grief over what had been done.  How could he approach the Lord?  What a juxpositioning of joy, dread, and desperation.

All of this Jesus well knew.  Was it possible that He rigged the whole thing solely for the redemption of Peter?

We do not have record of any private conversation until Jesus began asking Peter about love.  I wonder how much Peter actually comprehended what Jesus was doing.  Perhaps not entirely, since he was offended by the third question.  But restoration had happened, through the infinite wisdom and tenderness of the Master.  What Jesus had said long ago, even then knowing what Peter would do, was still true.  Peter would be the rock on which He would build the church.

How I wonder how many things changed in Peter that day.  Amid the swirling emotions, whether he knew it or not, he had experienced the power of life over death.  Life conquered the grave to give him a precious gift of reconciliation in the flesh, and even more so, a testament to the restoration of our souls.