LOVE, What and Why

LOVE, What and Why

¶ 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.”
John 21:15

 Jesus asked a question, that I’m pretty sure every wife frequently asks her husband, “Do you love Me?” But the question Jesus asked of Peter was not the same as the similar sounding question that wives ask their husbands. The kind of ‘love’ that Jesus was asking of His disciple was extremely odd. And while many a sermon down through the centuries has claimed that Peter’s answer to the Christ was not satisfactory, I think they may have missed the point of this profound exchange between the Saviour and one of His servants. It is from this exchange that we are gifted one of the greatest insights into what love really is and why it requires something in particular.   

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.”
John 21:16

 How would you have answered Jesus? It seems that Christianity is the only religion that involves love in every aspect of its expression. Devotees of other religions often offer their forms of worship in the hope of appeasing their deity/ies. In these religions there is often a lot of fear on the part of the worshiper. The ancient Incas and Aztecs would offer thousands of human sacrifices to appease their concept of the Supreme Being—lest that Supreme Being smite them with some disastrous calamity. When the Conquistadors arrived in the land of the Aztecs in 1511 they discovered mounds of human remains which they came to realise were the result of their murderous worship practices. 

 While this might be an extreme example of how many religions are grounded in fear, it stands in stark contrast to the way Jesus revealed we can find mercy, peace and acceptance from GOD. The apostle John noted this contrast in First John 4:18-

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
First John 4:18

LOVE IS NOT LOVE

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 21:17

 Nearly every sermon I have ever heard preached on this passage points out that Jesus used the word ‘agape’ in His question to Peter while in Peter’s response to Jesus he responded with another Greek word, ‘phileo’. In Biblical (Koiné) Greek, there are four words that can be translated into English as love. Both of these words are best translated into English as ‘love’. Most preachers I have heard preach on this text have pointed out that Christ used the Greek word for ‘supreme love’ (agapé) while Peter responded with the Greek word for ‘human love’ (phileo). Thus, they claim, Christ was asking something of Peter that Peter was not prepared to agree to. There are, however, two problems with this understanding of what was happening on this beach—and when we solve these problems we discover one of the most amazing insights into what real love is, and why we should make it our goal.   

 Here’s the first problem we need to resolve as we seek to understand what Jesus was actually asking, and how Peter responded. Of the three times that Jesus questioned Peter’s love for Him, only in the first two times did He use the Greek word ‘agapé’. The second problem is that the Greek word agapé at that time meant a cold, formal, theoretical love for another (often where there was no intimacy or relationship). No wonder then that Peter responded with the commonly used word phileowhich was the word people ordinarily used when they felt an emotional connection with another person. From Peter’s perspective he may have felt that he was expressing a higher love for Christ than what Jesus was asking for. But over time, Peter realised what Jesus was doing. Christ was taking the word used for a sense of loyalty to an authority (agapé) and redefining it as the word Christians would come to see was the kind of love that God shows His people and expects His people to show Him.

¶ Love (Gr. agapé) is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ¶ Love never ends.
First Corinthians 13:4-8a

 When Peter swam to shore to be with Christ, what was he expecting the One whom he had just betrayed days earlier to say to him? Remember Peter had just publicly denied even knowing Jesus three times. When Christ was taken and crucified, Peter had fled (only John, the author of this account, remained with Christ till His death). If you were in Christ’s place and the one you had just invested years of your life into had just denied knowing you in your hour of greatest trial, how would you have felt if you now sat alone with them on a beach? But Jesus did not speak to Peter in a way we might have expected. While I find this scene somewhat comical in the sense that the disciples had almost given up on Christ and had gone out fishing (returning to their old way of life) perhaps to find some breakfast, they find Jesus on the shores of Galilee cooking fish for breakfast. This itself was a subtle statement that they need not doubt how their needs would be met as long as they remained faithful to Him. It also reveals that God’s kind of love is a humble and forgiving love. The fact that Jesus, the Invincible-Omnipotent Creator of the Universe would stoop into the sands of Galilee and act as their servant is the second shocking insight we get into what God’s kind of love looks like: God’s kind of love is selfless serving kind of love. 

 Christ’s questioning of Peter’s love for Him reveals that God’s kind of love is a demonstrated-love that strives for the highest welfare of others. “Peter, if you really love Me, feed My lambs, tend My sheep, and feed My sheep.” While this might sound like the stuff of Renaissance religious oil painters, Christ’s injunction to Peter to get up close with lambs and sheep and pick them up; carry them; lead them; protect them from predators; and to feed them, would have conjured up all kinds of smells to a first century Jew (although I’m not sure who smelled better – a fisherman or a shepherd?). Loving others the God kind of way involves getting down and dirty, so to speak. But also notice that Christ starts His love challenge with lambs, and ends with sheep. Agapé love, God’s kind of love, involves commitment! Each of these aspects of love have enormous implications for marriages, families, and churches. There was one more lesson Peter received about God’s love on that beach. 

Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This He said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this He said to him, “Follow Me.”
John 21:18-19

 “Do you love Me?” Jesus asked Peter three times. Each time Peter replied that he did. “Then lay down your life for Me” Jesus tells him in John 21:18-19. Peter could hardly look Christ in the eye and say, “Now You’ve gone too far!” since everyone of Christ’s love-challenges to him, Jesus Himself had demonstrated. Just days before this beach exchange, Jesus had laid down His life for Peter (and for you, and for me). 

WHY DO YOU LOVE WHO YOU LOVE?

Loveable people are attractive. Spend time with Jesus and you will be attracted to Him. Isaiah the prophet tells us that there was nothing physically appealing about Jesus. While someone who presents themselves well is going to be initially ‘attractive’, being truly attractive is not merely skin-deep. What made Jesus attractive was how He spoke to people, who He spoke to, how He treated people, and the kind of people He associated with. I’ve often heard that the only people Jesus didn’t like were the ‘religious types’, but this is not true. Jesus had a problem with those people who used religion as a veil to deceive, oppress, or abuse people! There is a kind of religion that is sincere, kind, generous, and God-honouring (James 1:26-27). Religion is not the problem that Jesus called out. 

¶ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
Matthew 23:13-15

 If Jesus asked you “Do you love Me?” how would you respond? The reason we might give is not the same reason God loves us! God’s love for us is undeserved, lavish, extravagant, and gracious. But our love for God is grounded in gratitude and demonstrated by how we love others on His behalf.

¶ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
First John 4:7-8 

This exchange on a Galilean beach between two Galileans has revealed to us what real, true, authentic love is. Love is not love! God’s love is love; and, it never rejoices in wrong-doing (1Cor. 13:6). God’s kind of love is humble, selfless, serving, others-focused, and sacrificial. It begins by loving God and then loving on behalf of God. This exchange between Peter and the Supreme-Being veiled in human flesh also why we should love God (and others). Put simply, it is out of deep gratitude for what God has done for us through Christ.

We love because He first loved us.
First John 4:19

Can you imagine how this revelation would transform singles, marriages, families, and churches? I pray that we would not merely have to imagine it, but that increasingly we will witness it.

Pastor Andrew

PRESENT

What would it have been like to have been with Christ? 

Was there ever a man in more demand than Jesus of Nazareth? Thousands upon thousands of people waited eagerly day after day to see, hear, and meet Jesus the long-awaited Christ. Royalty wanted to meet with Him. Religious leaders wanted to meet with Him. The sick and infirmed queued to touch Him. All the while Jesus was on a mission of paramount importance and not only had all these enormous physical demands laid upon His shoulders, He also had unimaginably evil forces attempting to oppress, distract and thwart Him. Yet, with all this happening, the Gospels are punctuated with individual encounters with the Christ.

He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
¶ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
John 1:41-43

A night with Jesus by Nicodemus

I’m trying to learn from Christ. This involves paying prayerful attention to what He taught, but it also involves how He taught. For me this encompasses how He interacted with people. His interaction with Nicodemus is fascinating. 

The first thing I notice in John’s third chapter is that Jesus risked His reputation by befriending someone from a group of people He had publicly condemned for hypocrisy. Jesus didn’t just spend time with those who were already His friends.

And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that He was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to His disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:16-17

Jesus was surprisingly accessible to individuals. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. Jesus made Himself available. Perhaps He had developed a habit of being in a particular place at night. Nicodemus knew where to find Him. When Nicodemus met with Jesus He attempted to give Christ His due, and while many preachers would welcome the stroking of their egos, Jesus immediately overlooked this and looked directly into Nicodemus’s heart, and answered the Pharisee’s unasked question. This exchange exposed Nicodemus’s religion as mere cold formalism – and not the heart-connected, soul-satisfying, intellectually enriching, entrance into GOD’s intimately love-drenched presence. Christ was not intimidated by speaking to ‘The Teacher of Israel’ and was prepared to give the first properly done rebuke in human history.

Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.
John 3:10-11

The rebuke that Christ had offered in public to the Pharisees, He now gave personally in private. Unlike our rebukes, Christ’s must have been tender and soothing. Nicodemus welcomed what followed. What followed was Jesus giving the light that Nicodemus lacked.  

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
John 3:19-21

Jesus was a friend to Nicodemus.

In John chapter 4, Jesus befriends a Samaritan woman and heals her soul.

In John chapter 5, Jesus befriended an invalid and healed his lame legs.

In John chapter 6, Jesus has a conversation with Philip, then a small boy, and then Simon Peter, and then feeds them.

In John chapter 8, Jesus spoke with a woman dragged out into the dirt to be stoned and saved her life.

And so on.

In each of the nine days that John selects to paint a picture He depicts Christ as being present with individuals. Now that Christ has been resurrected and glorified, and dwells in eternity, how much more does He now have time to be with individuals? 

What did people feel who had been with Christ? 

It’s possible to be physically and geographically with someone but not present. What I am learning from Christ’s interactions with this sample of people whom He was present with, is that being present is a demonstration of God’s love. With each person that Christ engaged with, whether it was a religious Pharisee, a woman with a reputation, an elderly invalid, a young boy about to eat his lunch, an adulterous woman, a blind man, a grieving sister, a Roman Procurator, a thief on an adjacent cross, a beleaguered disciple, Christ was present.

We busy people are generally lousy at being present. We can be with someone and be a million miles away at the same time. While someone is chatting with us we are continually checking our phone screens. This is rude and a denial of our presence. Presence involves seeing and hearing. It involves connecting to some level with someone’s heart. This all takes practice. In the Gospels I see Jesus being present. What must people have felt when Jesus was present with them? We can do more than surmise the answer, we can experience it now.    

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am (present) with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20

Pastor Andrew.

For The Love of Peter

For The Love of Pete

Of the many interactions that The Christ had with people, He had two particularly extremely curious conversations with his chief apostle, Peter. Curious may not be the right word. Bewildering may be more apt. One of them required Peter to act, the other required Peter to answer. My suspicion is that these two poignant conversations give us insight into the two greatest struggles anyone desiring a deeper spiritual life will have to face.

These are the Twelve:

¶ Simon (Jesus later named him Peter, meaning “Rock”), 

Mark 3:16, The MESSAGE

Satan’s Sift

Having changed his name from “A reed that bends in the slightest breeze” to “Strong and solid as a rock”, Jesus reverts to Peter’s birth-name in addressing him now. “Simon, Simon” He says. It seems that Jesus was reminding Peter of who he was - one easily influenced by others. The world loves to sway people away from following God. Sometimes Satan orchestrates this. A young man gives his life to Christ and becomes a real threat to the powers of Darkness. Satan begins scheming. 

¶ “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Matthew 6:16

Most of us, left to our own devices, are reeds that bend in the slightest breeze. We want to be “in”. We want others to accept us. We want the approval and affirmation of the crowd. This will cause a child of God to succumb to the devilish temptations that the world offers if they lose their vision of their Saviour. But I have slightly rushed ahead to the second curious conversation that Jesus had with Peter. 

“Idou” is the Greek word that Jesus uses to begin His address to Simon. Pay attention to what I am about to tell you is the sense of the Greek word idou. It carries a sense of gravitas (stern importance). Imagine Jesus taking you aside from the crowd, putting His hand on your shoulder and looking you square in the eyes and saying, “My little lamb, you are so easily swayed by the world. Pay attention to what I am about to tell you!” Can you hear the tone in Christ’s voice? Can you feel the weight of this moment? Idou. Behold. Listen very carefully. 

Following Christ is no trivial, frivolous exercise. While our salvation is won for us at the Cross our journey with Christ does not stop at the Cross. Our journey has twists and turns, mountains and valleys, crowds and isolation, plenty and want, moments of urgency and moments of rest. But idou, we have an Enemy lurking!

“Simon, Simon, behold: Satan has demanded to have you!” In a scene reminiscent of the Book of Job where the God of Glory had Satan make a similar demand for the soul of Job, the Son of God had Satan demand the soul of Peter. Like Father like Son, Jesus was stunningly confident that Peter would remain loyal to Him despite Satan’s best efforts to lure him away. At this point in the Gospel account of this sombre episode I expect the next statement from Christ to be something like, “But I have rejected his request! But it stuns me that it isn’t. Jesus granted Satan’s request! 

Many a young man has been introduced to Jesus in their youth then had Satan lure them away before they could idou the Christ. The world has its pleasures, delights, and attractions. 

“Stolen water is sweet,

and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

Proverbs 9:17

Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit,

Deuteronomy 29:18 

But these pleasures are fleeting, these delights are dangerous, and attractions are often traps. “Simon, Simon, behold: Satan has demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat!” Sifting wheat involves shaking, wind, and fire. The sift allow the wheat to pass through and the chaff, the husks, and the debris to be removed. The weightier wheat drops down while the lighter chaff is blown into the fire. 

His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Luke 3:17

What does it take for Satan to lure a child of God away from their Redeemer? A relationship? A drink? A pill? A bed? Chocolate? A football game?

But

After announcing to Peter that he was to be sifted by Satan - with Christ’s permission - Jesus assures Peter that his impending failure will not be his final doom. “But I have prayed for you” Jesus tells him. It seems that even the Son of God thinks prayer does something eternally significant and immediately helpful. Jesus prayed for Peter. For facing Satanic sifting, Jesus prayed for Peter. Satan will attack, but Jesus is praying. But nearly always changing everything. Given the choice between having Jesus guarding us against Satanic attacks and having Jesus pray for us while we go through them, how many of us would choose the prayer option?

But what Jesus prayed for Peter is even more curious: “but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.” Even after three years of spending everyday with Jesus, Peter still needed the Son of God to pray for him to keep believing, keep trusting, and keep being confident in what he had come to know as the truth. If the Apostle Peter could have his faith in Christ rocked, so could we. If he needed assistance to keep believing the truth, so do we. Prayer, daily Bible reading, and Church attendance are each ordained by the God of All Glory for His children to grow and thereby be able to withstand the onslaught of our Enemy.

For us today who do not have the privilege of walking each day around the shores of Galilee with the incarnate Christ, we have to inform our souls of the truth by acquainting ourselves with the Word Made Flesh in the Word made of words, the Bible. It is in times of Enemy sifting that we need to be reminded of the truth from God’s Word so that we can stand firm. 

¶ “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Luke 22:31-32

Do You Love Me?

Jesus went on to describe Peter’s failure during this coming time of sifting. 

Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”

Matthew 26:34

As a result of Satan’s sifting of Peter, the chief apostle would publicly deny, three times, even knowing Jesus. But this would not be the end of this sad episode. There was hope for the fallen apostle - “And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers!” There is hope for us too.

This charge to Peter about strengthening his brothers was repeated by Christ in the other very curious exchange he and Jesus had after the resurrection of Christ. Perhaps in a one-for-one correspondence to Peter’s denial of knowing Jesus, the Son of God asked him three times do you love Me? 

¶ 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.”

John 21:15

It really is the question. Do you love Me? I’ve met people who love Jesus. They are different from most people. Even though they suffer at times, they remain exceptionally positive - because they love Jesus. Despite struggling with their church fellowship from time to time, they would never walk away from it - because they love Jesus. In face of Satanic sifting they are able to stand firm, because they love Jesus. And because they love Jesus they have dedicated their lives to serving and strengthening their brothers while doing what they can to feed the lambs of Christ.

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.”

John 21:16

Jesus could have asked a far lesser question like Will you serve Me? or Will you obey Me? or Will you dedicate your life to being a pastor of My sheep?  Will you read your Bible everyday? Will you be faithful each Sunday in attending church? But He asked the question that has eternal and therefore immediate consequences, Do you love Me? And well He might us: Do you love Me? 

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 21:17

Three times. “My reed-like-easily-swayed-by-the breeze-of-other people’s-opinions Chief Apostle, do you agapas (pronounced as: argarpars , ἀγαπᾷς) Me?” ’Aγαπᾷς is translated into English as love - because we don’t have a word in English that truly captures this beautiful Greek word. The best we could do in English is to use several words such as, self-sacrificing, utterly-heartfelt and dedicated, the highest commitment and affection for, (12 words) to translate this word into English. But each of the three times that Peter was asked by the Son of God about whether he loved his Lord, he did not answer Christ’s question. Instead, Peter replied, “Lord, you know that I really like you a lot.” Instead of agapas, Peter used the word, philoh (φιλῶ). I wonder how many people today, who identify as followers of Christ, would answer like the recently-sifted Peter if they too were asked how they feel about Jesus?

It is my mission as a pastor to help those entrusted to my care to love, in an agapas type of love, the One Who Is Love. It is my greatest burden to achieve this pastoral mission. But it is my saddest confession that it is my greatest deficiency as a pastor. To this end, I would value your prayers - especially after learning what we have just learned about prayer from Luke 22:32. And in the meantime, I too will apply Luke 22:32 and pray for you to love Jesus, withstand the sifting of Satan, and to strengthen your brethren.

Pastor Andrew Corbett, 1st April 2016

Pastor of Legana Christian Church, Tasmania