The Only Question That Matters

The Only Question That Matters...

"Do you love me?"

John 21.16

Gospel for the Third Sunday of Easter : John 21.1-19

We begin the third week of the Easter season meditating on the only question that matters- Do I love Jesus? In this Sunday's Gospel, Peter is asked that very question, but something is definitely "lost in translation". Here is a quick lesson in Biblical Greek...

 Three Words, Three Meanings

There are three words in Greek that translate as the English word, "love". There is eros, which is the fiery, passionate love, that is the energy found in our sexuality. It is the root of the word "erotic". In our passage today, eros is not being used.

The second Greek word for love is phileos, which in English connotes deep friendship and familial love. It root word found in Philadelphia, which is why it is known as the "City of Brotherly Love".

The third Greek word for love is agapeos. The best way to describe it is "sacred love". It is the love that is sacrificial. Jesus described agapeos best "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15. 12-13)

The distinction is important for understanding the conversation between Jesus and Peter on the beach in John 21.

The Price of Love

We know the story- Jesus asks Peter three times, if he loves him, Peter says yes each time, and Jesus tells him to "Feed my sheep" and "Feed my lambs".

Knowing the Greek makes a HUGE difference. Let's look at this closely.

v.15 ...Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love (agapeos) me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes Lord; you now I love (phileos) Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."

First of all, it is quite telling that Jesus does not call him "Peter" or "Cephas" (The Rock). Is it because of Peter's threefold denial that he perhaps lost his solid status? Is this a re-commissioning? In any event, Jesus is asking him if he truly loves him- if he is willing to give up everything, including his life. In his weakness, Peter can only give him his fidelity and loyalty, but not his life. Jesus, in his loving mercy, accepts Peter for who he is, and commissions him to feed the "lambs"- to care for those most in need. Perhaps it is a call to evangelize, since "lambs" do not really know the shepherd's voice

v.16... a second time he said to him... 

Again, Jesus asks for agapeos, and Peter can only offer phileos. And again, Peter receives a commission, this time to "tend the sheep", a sense here perhaps that he is being asked to care for the Church about to be birthed in the coming age of the Holy Spirit.

v.17 ...He said to him the third time...
When Jesus asks Peter the third time, he no longer uses agapeos. It is a recognition that Peter is simply not ready for what Jesus asks of him. So when "Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time 'Do you love me?'", it is not because Jesus asks three times, but that he he "came down to his level" by using phileos,  and not agapeos. Peter again responds with phileos, and again Jesus calls him to "Feed my sheep." Jesus then adds that Peter will be taken where he does not wish to go... in his own death, he will come into agapeos.  The "punchline" of the whole scene comes at the very end, when Jesus says to Peter, "Follow me."

Follow me??? Isn't that what Peter and the disciples did for three and a half years? What is curious about John's Gospel is that  Jesus does not invite Peter to follow him until the last chapter! It was his brother Andrew who brings Simon to Jesus, and Jesus names him Peter (John 1.41-42).

Again. John's Gospel invites Peter (and us) to something new. When Jesus says "Follow me" in chapter 21, he is saying:

Follow me, the Risen Son of God! 

Follow me, Jesus the Christ! 

Follow me through death and into Resurrection! 

Follow me into union with the Father, through the the power of the Holy Spirit! 

There is Peter in all of us

Jesus, ever the Good Shepherd, shows his compassion for Peter, while at the same time, never relenting on Divine Love, and the mission.

We, who make up the Body of Christ, are now called into that Divine Love. It is our mission. 

We are called to agapeos.

Can we love Jesus that deeply? IS he the source of our life and love? Or do we offer him phileos, just a part of our love, equal to the love we have for our spouses, our family, our friends, our work, our play, our distractions... ??

There is Peter in all of us.

Yet without agapeos none of our phileos is worthy of who we are called to be.

Agapeos is scary. 

 Because it means complete surrender. Complete emptying of self. It's just too hard. Too impossible.

One Question

Do you love me?

One Response

Follow me.