But do you LOVE me?

Read John 21:15-19 (NRSV)

Was the question really whether Peter loved Jesus more than Peter loved the other disciples, or whether Peter loved Jesus more than the other disciples loved Jesus?  Yes.

Peter was singled out for his claims, his struggles, his false bravado regarding his devotion, his words of hubris regarding his faith followed by failing to follow through in the living of it.  I do not believe that Jesus in this Gospel singled Peter out so that He could shame Peter, but rather to use Peter, the epitome of one who claims the name without following the Way, as an example of coming to walk a faithful walk.  Peter had failed Jesus, just as Jesus in John had said he would.  Peter is us.

Jesus asked Peter if Peter loved Jesus (agapas).  Did Peter love Jesus in active commitment on Jesus’ behalf, even to self-sacrifice (a meaning derived from study of agaph in “Little Kittel”)?

Peter’s answer was classic Peter – “Yes, Lord; you know that I love (filw - like a best friend, in this case, I believe) you.” 

Jesus admonished Peter like a best friend, “Feed my lambs.”

Again, Jesus asked if Peter loved Him (agapas), as if to say, “But Peter, do you love me in an unconditional, self-sacrificing way?”

Peter’s answer was consistent in its limitation – “Yes, Lord; you know that I filw you.”  Like a brother, Peter loved Jesus.

Jesus, acknowledging the limitation, instructed Peter, His brother, “Tend my sheep.”

Finally, Jesus asked Peter if he loved (fileis) Jesus.  In other words, “are you sure you even love me like a best friend or brother?”

At this Peter was hurt.  Indeed, Jesus did know everything (in John’s Gospel), and Jesus questioned whether Peter even loved Jesus in his limited capacity to love.  Peter's answer was emphatically limited.

Jesus commanded Peter, “Feed my sheep.” 

Jesus then told Peter that he would indeed die for his faith, and gave Peter one more imperative, “Follow Me.”

The significance of this text is NOT that Jesus asked three times to illustrate the three times Peter denied Jesus, at least not that alone.

The significance of this text is twofold.

1.       Jesus pointed out Peter’s inability to love Jesus (and Neighbor) with agaph.

2.       Jesus still commanded Peter to take care of Neighbor and follow Him by living agaph for God and Neighbor.

Peter, in the end, was faithful, even to giving his life out of faith in his Lord.

Peter is us.

We claim Jesus, even sometimes with great hubris and bravado.

We fail to live the agaph that Jesus commanded us to live for God and Neighbor.

We are still COMMANDED by Jesus to follow Him in the living of that agaph in the world.

Thanks be to God for Grace, and that God does not give up on us but continues by the Holy Spirit to DRIVE US to the living of agaph in the world around us, even though we fail to live it perfectly.

In the end, it is my hope that I and you will be faithful in living our lives, even giving them to the one who gave His life for us, which means following Jesus in how we live agaph in the world around us.

Learn more about Jesus’ teachings, commands and examples in the Gospels.

Strive to live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us, as we have that in the Gospels.

Grow from mere “filw Lord and Neighbor,” to “agapao Lord and Neighbor.”

Feed His Lambs.  Tend to His Sheep.  Feed His Sheep.  Follow Him.  In that, you are loving God and Neighbor.

Pastor Jamie