John 21

I can only imagine how Peter must have felt after having denied Christ three times, being the one who had said “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” (Matt 26:33) But, whether or not he still felt like it, he just was a natural leader (e.g. John 21:3).  We're not told why he and the disciples went fishing, but, they likely just didn't know what else to do; and went back to what they used to do before Jesus called them to be "fishers of men" instead.  By providing a large catch of fish, after they had caught none the night before, Jesus probably effectively reminded them of their calling and showed them that they are most effective in obedience to Him.

With quiet grace, Jesus, their Lord and Savior, serves them breakfast.  And, in a conversation with Peter, in vs 15-17, Jesus lovingly restores and reinstates Peter as teacher and pastor of the Church.  First, Jesus addresses him as "Simon", maybe to bring him back to the beginning and rebuild the foundation, because Peter didn't quite feel like "the Rock".  When Jesus asks "do you agapeo me more than these?",  Peter felt he could only reply "I phileo you"; because he didn't feel like he could claim to love Christ supremely and unconditionally, after the denial.   The second time Jesus asks, He drops the "more than these" because maybe Peter didn't feel like he could admit to loving Him with supreme priority.  The third time, Jesus used Peter's word "phileo", and Peter was grieved, probably b/c this seemed like Christ acknowledging his flawed love.  But, each time (once for each denial), Christ still commissioned Peter to feed and shepherd His flock.  And He even told Peter that he would glorify God even in his death (vs 18-19).

Through this passage, it makes clear that even if we may have experienced personal devastation and feel like we have failed God, He can restore us, and we can still be used by Him as long as we LOVE Him and are willing to "bear the cross".  In fact, we may even be better able to be used because of it.   We know that God was able to use Peter as one of the great leaders of the early Church.  Maybe, the boldness and courage he showed in Acts, like when he appeared before the Sanhedrin and responded to their command to stop teaching about Christ by saying that he could not stop teaching what he had seen and heard, came from what he had learned through his experience with denying Christ and knowing that he never wanted to go through that again.

Also,  we will be most effective when doing what He has called us to do.  And, we are to be focused on following Christ, and not be distracted by what others are called to do (vs 20-23).