07/02/2025
This morning let’s ask ourselves the same question that the resurrected Jesus asked Peter repeatedly... “Do I love Jesus?” And, as we hear those words ringing in our ears, let’s think about what love truly is. Then, knowing love, let’s measure the depths of our ability to love and ask yet again, “Do I love Jesus?” Finally, as we continue our exploration into what Jesus truly wants from us let’s ask for a third time... “Do I love Jesus?” Do we know the answer? Are we worshiping, obeying, and following what Jesus expects of us out of love? Is our love the same one that He asked Peter if he had?
“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.”
John 21:15-17 ESV
Jesus posed the question "do you love me" three times to Peter; the first two times using the word agape as the word for love, and the third time using the word phileo. Twice he asked "do you love me unconditionally, and the third time he asked, do you love me as a friend. Yet all three times, Peter responded using the word Phileo. How will we respond? Will we respond like Peter did by saying that we love Him as a friend, or will we be bold and sure enough in our feelings to respond, "I love you unconditionally with all my heart?" just as God has asked us to love Him?
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.”
Deuteronomy 6:5-6 ESV
Each time Jesus asked the question He gave Peter a directive... "feed my sheep." This morning we should be listening intently for what Jesus asks of us, then, knowing what He asks, we must respond, and not as a casual friend, but as someone who truly loves Him unconditionally. We should be prepared to do whatever it is that He desires of us. Will we do this? Will we tell Jesus how much we love him and then show Him the depths of that love by doing His bidding.
In our earthly lives there are those we love so completely that we will do whatever they ask without hesitation, but there are others, who we call friends, whose requests we must weigh out. Which role does Jesus fill in our life? Is our love for Him agape, or is it phileo? Do we respond immediately and without reservation to His call, or do we weigh out His requests to see if they fit neatly into our day?
When Jesus asked Peter "do you love me?" He already knew the answer to that question. What he wanted to convey to Peter was that if he loved Him... he would take care of those who the Lord was entrusting to him, and He was telling him that this would require unconditional love (agape) to achieve. We have the advantage of looking back on Peter's life and knowing that, yes, he was able to love completely, but at the time when Jesus asked these questions Peter wasn't all there yet. After all, he had just denied Jesus three times, and although he was being led forward in faith... he wasn't where God needed him to be. He wasn't quite "the rock" that he would become.
When we ask ourselves if we love Jesus we may not be where He wants us to be in our relationship with Him, but He still desires our commitment and for us to begin doing what He has asked. He wants us to begin “feeding the sheep” or obeying Him in some other fashion while God uses His Holy Spirit to work perfect us.
“for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,”
Philippians 2:13-15 ESV
When I was eleven years old, I lived in Augsburg Germany, and was the youngest boy in my boy scout troop. That summer my troop hiked fifty miles, under full pack, to the town of Berchtesgaden. It was to be a grueling hike into the Alps, and I was asked if I could make it. I responded "yes" without knowing if I really could... after all, I had never been on a hike with a pack before. I am certain that my response wasn't an "Absolutely! There is no doubt!" But, much like Peter, just a simple "yes I can." So, early one morning the hike began and as we walked through the days I gained in strength and confidence. In the end I was able to complete the fifty miles without issue. I grew a lot in those few days, just as a Peter was about to grow as he began feeding Christ's sheep.
As Peter approached the end of his days, I wonder how he would have answered Jesus if asked that question again. Would he have continued to use the word phileo, or felt comfortable enough in his love and faith to use agape? My heart tells me that his relationship and confidence would have been elevated to the level of agape love that Jesus knew he had within him all along. Peter had become the "Rock" on which Jesus had built His early church... and continues to build it today. No more doubt, no more denial... just the fulness of agape love. Are we ready to love completely? Or maybe we are still feeding and hiking despite the doubt we have in ourselves... placing our faith in the Holy Spirit who will lead us to become more than we can imagine.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for loving me completely, and for teaching me to return that love in its entirety to you. I thank you for Jesus who asks me the question "do you love me completely?", and for your will which He conveys and asks of me thereafter. Holy Father, your faith in me often exceeds that which I have in myself, but you know my heart and my ability, even before I take my first step in completing your desire of me. I am so grateful for the power your Holy Spirit imparts to me, and the assurance your hand gives me as it rests upon my shoulder. I pray that I answer your call to "do", even as I answer your question concerning my love... "Completely." Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who has loved me, loves me now, and will always love me. Holy are you whose mercy and grace shows me the reality of your love, and leads me as I grow to love you in kind. Help me Father in my unbelief, and strengthen me in my faith so that my love for you will grow in its strength as well. Hear this my prayer, and perfect the love I seek today, and every day. Receive these my requests in the name of your son Jesus so that your will might be done in me, and I would be found worthy in Him to spend eternity in your loving presence.
Amen, Amen, Amen!
“ And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Colossians 1:9-14 ESV
Rich Forbes