Failure

Jesus says these simple words; "come and follow me." 

He said these same words to His disciples. The disciples did just this, they were a constant companion to Jesus when he began his ministry. It wasn't until the first night of the Feast of Unleavened Bread that Jesus predicted they would all leave Him;

³¹ Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ Matthew 26:31

Peter proudly disagreed with Jesus, boasting that he would never stumble, even if he had to die , he would never deny Jesus. 

That very night Jesus went to pray and he asked the disciples to pray and watch 

He told them; 

⁴¹ Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41

Regardless of the words of Jesus, they fell asleep. Jesus was betrayed by Judas and the soldiers came to arrest Jesus. 

⁵⁶ But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled. Matt 26:56

They completely deserted and abandoned Jesus when his needs were the greatest at that moment. I think that Peters name is the most mentioned because Peter is the only one who believed in his heart that he would never do such a thing. Jesus sees our hearts better than we do. Sometimes we have an inadequate picture of who we are and what we can do. After the resurrection, Jesus went to see the disciples. Jesus was on the shore, and some of the disciples were on the fishing boat. John figured out that it was Jesus on the shore and he told Peter. When Peter heard this he jumped into the water and headed for shore. 

Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. John 21:7 

Peter was excited to see Jesus. Peter knew the nature of Jesus and knew that he was already forgiven. Jesus specifically talked to Peter and asked Peter if he loved him three different times, and each time Peter said yes Lord. Peter knew at that point that the love he had for Jesus was more of the friendship sort of love, not the kind of love that will lay their life down for a friend. He had a correct view of where he was at in his relationship with Jesus. After the conversation, he told Peter:

Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. ¹⁸ Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carryyou where you do not wish.” ¹⁹ This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me." 

After he betrays Jesus, Jesus still says, "follow me."  Jesus sees the complete picture of each one of his children, we only see the partial picture, we get discouraged, and we don't feel worthy, but because of the love and grace of Jesus, we can move forward in victory, knowing that his grace is enough. Peter was a changed man, but it was a process that took time and many more mistakes. Like Jesus was faithful to Peter , he is faithful to each one of us and even after our biggest failure he still says, "follow me."