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Why don't we turn back in our
Bibles this morning to John chapter 21. We're actually getting close
to not only the end of this chapter, but we're getting close to the
end of this beautiful book. And we've been looking here in
John 21 at, as John put it there in verse 14, which is the verse
we ended with last time. This is the third time that Jesus
showed himself to his disciples. after that he was risen from
the dead so obviously the lord was dealing with his disciples
in some unique and special ways and and certainly what a special
time that must have been for his disciples as they were able
to experience uh... again after perhaps they they
thought that they would never experience it again, but they
experienced the fellowship of Jesus and and the friendship
of Jesus anew and of course they even ate were able to eat some
food that was prepared by Jesus especially for them, but even
though seven just seven of the disciples were there and and
and at this point we're all warm and because they were surrounding
a fire of coals, we're told, earlier in this chapter, and
they had eaten a breakfast that Jesus gave to them, so they were
fed, and now they were dry after that long night of fishing on
the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had something more to say
to just one of them. To just one of them. And, of
course, this is probably a familiar passage to us, but he's singling
out now Simon Peter. He was still struggling, I'm
sure, from his recent failure when he denied that he even knew
Jesus, remember? Not just one time, but three
times he denied Christ. And so starting here in verse
15 of John 21, Jesus asks Peter a round of three questions. Three
questions that at first all sound just about the same. And yet,
with some fairly minor differences, they're actually somewhat different
from each other. And of course, we'll look at
some of those difference, but Jesus is trying to move Peter
from his failure to greater faithfulness in God's service. And so let's
read three verses today. John 21, verses 15 through 17.
John basically tells us what happens next. So when, or after
they had dined, we read about that in the first 14 verses,
When they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of
Jonas, or John, as some manuscripts and translations have it, Lovest
thou me more than these? He, Peter, saith unto Jesus,
Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him,
Feed my lambs. He saith unto him again the second
time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea,
Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed
my sheep. He saith unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because
he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto
him, Lord, Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee.
Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. So three questions, all
directed to Peter about his love. And so the first question that
Jesus asked Peter there in verse 15 deals with what we can say
is a competing love, a competing love. Now, we all like competitions,
right? That's one of the reasons why
people pay a lot of money to go watch games and football and
basketball and soccer and hockey and all of those things. We like
competition. But when there's competition for love, that's
usually not the competition that people like to watch. In fact,
that creates a lot more problems than even these other competitions.
But here, Jesus asked Peter a question that deals with a competing kind
of love. And so there in verse 15, Jesus
asked Simon, Son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?" Now,
it's interesting because in all three of these questions that
we just read that we're going to look at, Jesus addresses this disciple
who is most commonly called in the Gospels, in John itself,
and the rest of the New Testament, he's most commonly known as Peter,
right? In fact, that's how we're going
to, for the most part, describe him here. But Jesus addresses
all three of these questions to Simon. son of Jonas, as I
mentioned before, possibly even John. So even though Jesus is
the one who earlier in this book actually gave him the name Peter,
which we know means rock or stone. Here, Jesus calls him by the
name he always had, by the name he was always known by before
he met Jesus, Simon, the son of Jonas. It's as if Jesus wanted
Peter to start thinking about his former life, when he was
just Simon. And even his former relationships,
when he was just the son of Jonas, or John. To get Peter thinking
about the time before he had put his faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ as a Savior, and even started following him as one
of his closest disciples. It's as if Jesus was saying to
him, are you going to remain as you were, Simon? Or are you
going to become who I came to make you, Peter? Who are you
going to be now? after all of the time that you
spent with me, after all of the things that you have done for
me, even after the times that you denied me, and even after
now my death and burial and resurrection, who are you going to be now,
Peter?" And so there's a lot of things that Peter had to think
about as Jesus asked these questions. And truly this is something that
we need to consider as well when you meet with the Lord Jesus.
Of course, if you've been here at any length of time, at some
point you have met the Lord Jesus of this Bible. It doesn't mean
that you've done with Jesus what you are meant to do with Jesus,
but you certainly have met him. What are you going to do with
Jesus? Who are you going to really be with Jesus? Are you going
to remain your old self with your old characteristics and
your old relationships? Or are you going to become the
new creature that Jesus actually came to make you be? Are you
going to remain a Simon or are you going to let Jesus do his
work so that you become that kind of Peter or to be that new
creation? And of course, we know that that
is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus came and lived
for us and why Jesus came and died for us, why Jesus came and
then rose from the dead for us. It was so that he could change
us from our old self to a new creation. To change us from being
just a mere Simon to being a Simon Peter. to be a follower, a true
follower and faithful follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
so truly, the important thing is, are you letting Jesus have
his way with you? To make you into who he came
to make you. But for Peter, this first question
is all about a love for someone who did come to Christ, who did
believe in Christ, a love that is competing with a love of others. Again, lovest thou me more than
these, Peter? Now, in these three verses, there
are two different Greek words for love. It doesn't necessarily
come out in some translations, others it does, but in this verse,
Jesus asked Peter, and he uses a word that is often considered
to be a higher and a stronger form of love. The word might
be one that you've heard before, agape love, or agapao is the
actual verb for love. But when Peter answers, not only
in this verse, but in all three verses, Peter doesn't use the
same word that Jesus uses here, for lovest thou me. Instead,
he uses another word that is sometimes considered to be a
more inferior kind of love, that is based more on feeling. That
word is phileo. So you have two competing Greek
words, right? You've got the agape love and
you've got the phile kind of love. And we know that word or
know that word for love because of the city, one of the main
cities in Pennsylvania, which is known as Philadelphia, right? The city of love or the city
of brotherly love. And so we're familiar with these
two words. But both of these words can be
and are properly translated love. there might not be much of a
shade of difference between them. In fact, when you go through
the Gospel of John, both words, both Greek words for love, are
used for God's love for us. Not only does God have agape
love for us, he also has phileo love for us. But it's also used
throughout the Gospel of John for our love for God. So even
God's people, God's followers, can have an agape form of love
for God, as well as a phileo kind of love for God. And so
the question is, well, what's the difference? There may be
some difference between these two words. I've seen it expressed
this way, whereas agape is the love of devotion, whereas phileo
is the love of emotion, but I think that's simplifying it a little
bit too much, and maybe perhaps giving more distinction than
there really should be between these two words. There might
be some difference between them. But for the most part, they both
describe real love and real affection, real moving of the heart towards
someone that you admire and have affection for. And yet, for some
reason, when Jesus asked Peter, lovest thou me, and he uses one
word for love, Peter just can't get himself to use the same word
that Jesus does. And I think that's probably the
significance there. Jesus says, do you really love me? And Peter
says, well, I do love you. I just can't say that I love
you the way you're asking me if I love you. And of course
he answers that all three times, thou knowest that I love you. I love you in a way that might
be a little different than what you're asking me, Lord. Perhaps
it was because Peter knew that he could never love Jesus the
way Jesus loved him. And of course, that's the case
for all of us. We may want to, we may aspire to, but we know
in our heart of hearts, we know our failures, we know our denials,
we know our faults. And if Jesus asks us, do you
really love me? Well, Lord, we do, but we certainly
don't love you the way you deserve and even the way that you may
desire. And this would be especially
true for Peter because of that biggest failure. that is written
for us in these pages, for the world to know that Peter, this
rock of Jesus, denied Jesus three times. So Jesus wanted to test
Peter with these questions. Simon, verse 15, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? Do you really love me,
Peter? Of course, one of the big questions
about this passage is, what's Jesus talking about when he says,
then these? Maybe he did a sweep of the hands,
or maybe he was pointing with his finger. We're not sure, but
some think that Jesus is talking about the boat and the net and
the fish that were all part of Simon Peter's former life. So
maybe he was sweeping his hand to show the Sea of Galilee and
the place where they had just come from, where all night they
had labored and they hadn't caught a thing until Jesus shows up,
right? And yet more than likely, I think Jesus is talking about
not the former life, but even the people that were around Peter
right then and right there. Those other disciples, those
other six who are sitting there around that fire, just like you've
probably done many, many times, and you're warming yourself,
you're drying yourself. And I can imagine Jesus saying
to Peter, Peter, do you love me more than these? Do you love
me more than these men love me? You see, even though Peter never
came right out and said, I love Jesus more than these. I love
Jesus more than the other disciples. He may have certainly felt like
he did. After all, think back through the life of Peter in
the ministry of Christ. Remember when they were all together
back in the upper room with Jesus? And Jesus was talking a little
bit more about what was going to happen to him and how he would
die for them and be raised again the third day. But in Matthew
26, 33, Peter, that really strong disciple, says to Jesus, Who
are the other men in that room? the other disciples, including
the other six that were here surrounding the fire. And maybe
Peter was saying to the other disciples, look at my love for
Jesus. The rest of you might be offended
at Jesus, but not me. And then, of course, Jesus said,
Peter, you don't know what you're saying, because in just a very
short time, you'll deny me three times. But then in the Garden
of Gethsemane, in John 18, we learned this a few chapters ago,
who was it that took a stand for Jesus as these soldiers and
these Romans were coming to arrest Jesus? It was Peter. It was Peter
who took that sword and drew it and smote the high priest's
servant and cut off his right ear. If no one else is gonna
defend and stand up for Jesus, I'm gonna do it because, in his
mind, I love Jesus more than these. He may not have come right
out and said it, but he certainly may have thought it and demonstrated
it. But then even now, remember in
chapter 21, when they had been fishing all night, and there
at the Sea of Galilee, and of course it was John who recognized
Jesus first, but then it was Peter who took action for Jesus
first. In verse 7, we saw this earlier,
after he heard that the one on the shore was the Lord, what
did he do? He cast himself into the sea so that he could get
to Jesus as fast as he possibly could. And so there's Peter saying,
well, if they're not going to do it, I'm going to do it. I'm
going to dive in to get with Jesus as fast as I can. Again,
maybe not saying it out loud, but certainly showing it and
maybe even thinking it. I love Jesus more than these. Maybe he felt he had a stronger
and superior love for the Lord. After all, he was the one that
Jesus named Peter. He was the one that Jesus named
Rock. But now Jesus is questioning out loud and in front of everybody
what Peter had kept secret to himself. Simon, verse 15, Simon,
son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? You may not
have said it, Peter, but I know hearts. You may have thought
it, Peter, and I know what you've been thinking. Do you love me
more than these as you think you do, as you perhaps have shown
that you do, even after you denied me on that cold night of the
arrest and trial? That question must have cut Peter
to the heart, because in his answer, he seems to remember
then the feebleness of his heart. Go on verse 15. Here's the answer
of Peter to Jesus. And he seems to remember the
feebleness of his heart. He says to Jesus, yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He just can't get himself to
use the same word that Jesus does. Now, when Peter said yea,
Lord, he's not saying, yes, Lord, I do love you more than these
others. No, he's not saying that. Instead, he's just answering
very honestly. Yes, Lord, I do love you. And he uses that different word
for love in his answer than the word that Jesus uses in his question.
Peter searched his heart and he knew that even though he did
love Jesus, he could not say that he loved Jesus more than
anyone else, at least not now. Because he remembered. He remembered
his failures. He remembered how he had denied
Jesus. He had remembered how perhaps
he was proud of what he would do for Jesus. But now, he could
not get himself to say, I love you, Jesus, the way you are asking
me, and I certainly can't say I love you more than these. He remembered that his heart
for the Lord and his faith in the Lord was something feeble.
It was certainly far less than what Jesus deserved. And isn't
that the case for all believers? Isn't that your case today? We
know that Jesus deserves our love. He deserves all of our
heart. And yet we know that our love and our heart still are
feeble, aren't they? Because we're still falling. We remember those
times in our past that we have failed him over and over again.
We have sinned against him over and over again. And so when Jesus
asks us in our heart, do you love me? You say, well, I do
love you, but I can't even get myself to say that I love you
the way you deserve, the way you desire, the way you love
me. But you do know that I love you, Lord. How does Jesus respond? He doesn't respond to Peter with
criticism. He responds to Peter with kindness, doesn't he? He
accepts Peter's admission of love such as it was. Peter, I
know that you can't love me and don't love me the way that I
deserve to be loved, the way I desire for you to love me.
I know that. I know your heart. I know that you're a flesh. But
he accepted Peter's love such as it was. And then he offers
Peter a way to show that love to him, even through a caring
ministry to his people. And that's why Jesus then says
there in verse 15 to Peter, feed my lambs. The connection seems
pretty close. Lord, or Peter, if you love me
as you say you do, even if it's a feeble love, then show me that
love, reveal that love, demonstrate that love by feeding my lambs. You see, Jesus knew all about
Peter's love for him. even a love that was somewhat
feeble and weak. And again, we might sing later
on here, more love to thee, Lord, more love to thee. We wanna have
greater love for you, but Jesus knows the kind of love that you
have for him. and the kind of heart that you have for him,
feeble and weak as it is. But then Jesus gives Peter and
us this privilege, this high opportunity to show our love
through service. Whatever love we have, if it's
based on faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior from sin,
whatever love we have, he gives us the privilege and opportunity
to demonstrate that love, not just in service for him, but
in service for his lands, we're told. Of course, earlier in Jesus'
ministry, Jesus described how He was the good shepherd. What
a good, gracious, kind, compassionate shepherd Jesus is. And those
who followed Him, and those who would follow Him, even those
that were not of the fold of the Jewish people, they were
part of His sheep. They were His lambs. And now
Jesus is telling Peter, if you love me, Peter, even as you say
you love me, even though it may not be the strongest kind of
love, you can still show your love such as it is by serving
my sheep. Serve my lands. And in your position,
Peter, which you will have, and in your role and with your gifts,
feed my lambs. Do to them what I've done for
you. Give them to eat what I've given to you. Feed them as Jesus
fed them. Care for them as Jesus cared
for them, because that is what love for Jesus entails. Love
for Jesus entails not only thoughts, not only words, but it involves
actions. It's not just how you feel about
Jesus. You know, there's a lot of people that say, I love Jesus,
and they describe it as just a warm, fluttery feeling. But
Jesus doesn't just want your words, nor is it just what you
say about Jesus. You know, we're going to sing
again about more love. And how many other songs are
there? Even as little children, we sing songs about, oh, how
I love Jesus. And that might be all good and
well, like Peter says it here, but what is it that Jesus wants
is a demonstration, an evidence, a proof of that love. It's not
what you feel about Him. It's not what you say about Him.
It's even demonstrated in what you do for Jesus and for His
flock. His flock, His people, His church,
His lambs, even those who might be young and weak in their relationship
with their shepherd. How do we show our love for the
Lord? By serving His flock. That's what he's telling Peter.
And that's certainly what he's telling us as well. It doesn't mean that
we have to be like Peter. It doesn't mean like we have
to be a pastor or an elder or a deacon, but in whatever gift
or whatever position or whatever role or whatever opportunity
that God has given to you, where you are, where you're able to
serve, this is how you show your love for the Lord. It may be
feeble, it may be weak, but whatever love you have, he'll accept.
And he says, show it. Because as you show it, guess
what happens? You grow it. That love will grow the more
it's shown, and especially as you tend to those who are the
weakest among them, the little lambs, you know, the little ones
that are even able to be held in the arms of a shepherd. He
says, feed my lambs. But then, without giving Peter
a second chance, or a chance to respond, Jesus asks a second
question, right? And this time it deals not with
a competing love, but now with a committed love. Okay, Peter,
I've got you to think about it, and yes, you're gonna say that,
Lord, I can't say that I love you more than anyone else, because
I know the weakness of my love. But now, What about a committed
love, Peter? We find this question in the
next verse, verse 16. Jesus, he saith to him, Peter, Simon,
again, the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? So once again, Jesus addresses
Peter the old way. And once again, Jesus asks Peter
about his love using the same word that he did before. But
this time, Jesus doesn't ask Peter to compare his love with
others. Instead, he simply asked Peter,
do you then love me? not in comparison to others,
but do you love me personally? Now, it may have been that Peter
was only following Jesus because of the blessing and benefits
that he experienced from following him. We saw that example throughout
the book of John, how there were people, oh, Jesus did a miracle,
we're gonna go follow him, we're gonna see what he's doing, we're
gonna listen to what he has to say, because he does these miracles. You know,
there was 5,000, then there were 4,000 that Jesus fed and they
said, hey, we've gotta follow this guy because he's gonna meet
all our physical needs. We got some benefit out of this,
and so we're gonna follow after him. And of course, that morning,
Peter and all the other disciples, they experienced the blessing
and the benefits of Jesus's presence with them, of his power to give
them fish and the provision that they were fed by. How many people
still follow Jesus because of how they think it might benefit
them? Come to Jesus and all of your
problems will be over. Just come to Jesus and you'll
be happy no matter what the circumstances you are. And people are like,
oh, that sounds like a great message. So I'm gonna follow
Jesus for that reason, for the benefits and the blessings that
he offers. And yet Jesus asked Peter, lovest thou me? Do you love me personally? Not just because of what I provided
for you, not just because you can have peace when I'm present
with you, but do you love me? Do you love me? I think if my wife asked me that
question before she was my wife and we were dating and we were
thinking about getting married and all those things, I'm not
sure I would be married if she asked, Steve, do you love me?
And I said, oh, I love being with you. But that's not what
I asked you. I asked, do you love me? Oh,
I love how you make me feel being with you. But that's not what
I asked you. I asked, do you love me? And
if I would have hemmed and hawed around it, instead of saying,
I love you personally, not for what I get out of it, but I love
you because of who you are. If I didn't say it that way, I probably
wouldn't be married. But guess what? Jesus is asking
Peter about his love, because that's what Jesus is after. to
everyone who believes in him. And of course, we saw back in
chapter 20, that's the purpose of John. These are written, verse
31, these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, but it's not just stopping with faith.
It's not just stopping with belief. He wants that belief to blossom
into love, to greater love, to growing love, to showing love.
And he says, love me. He wants you to love him because
he first loved you. So once again, this caused Peter
to search his heart. Is it about what Jesus gives
me or is it about Jesus himself? Do I really love him personally? And through his answer, I think
he also further reveals the fragility of his heart. His heart was fragile.
His heart was fragile. In verse 16, he answers again,
Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. Here, Peter answers,
not just in an honest way, but also in a very humble way, a
very humble way. He answers Jesus the same way
that he did before, as his own Lord. Now, of course, throughout
John, Lord sometimes is just a word that is used for master,
all right? But this, remember, is after Jesus's death, after
Jesus's burial, after Jesus's resurrection, and so I think
Peter is calling Jesus Lord in the full sense of Lord. In the
same way that Thomas, when Jesus showed himself after he had risen
from the dead, and he said, Thomas, go ahead and look at me. Go ahead
and put your hands on me. Go ahead and put your finger
in the prints of my hands and my feet and even in my side.
And what does Thomas do? He bows before him. He falls
before him. He says, My Lord and my God, my Lord and my God. Peter says here in a very humble
way, Lord, You're my master. You're my God. I'm going to submit
myself to you. And the truth is, Lord, I just
can't get myself to say that I love you using the same word
that you asked me. Do I love you? Because I know
that my love is not only feeble and weak, it's also very fragile. It's prone to wonder how many
times does our love for the Lord get divided and get distracted
by other things in this world? Little idols that creep up into
our lives or maybe idols of the past. And we start thinking more
about them instead of the Lord. We start serving and living for
those things instead of the Lord. We need to be honest and humble
and say, Lord. I just still struggle with my
love for you. I do love you. That's what Peter
says. I do love you, Lord. He just knew that he did not
love Jesus the way that Jesus loved him. He did not love Jesus
the way that Jesus deserved. He did not love Jesus the way
that Jesus even desired. His love was still apprehensive
and even uncertain. And isn't this the way love is
between people that are recently married? You know, they're newlyweds
and they have this love, but I think it's still a little tenuous.
It's still a little uncertain, especially if they haven't been
together very long, and they think, wow, how can this person
love me, and how could I really love that person? I mean, I think
about my past, I think about my present, I think about all
of these others vying for my attention, and yes, I do love
you, but I wish I could love you more. I wish I could love
you the way that you deserve. I wish I could love you in the
way that Christ loves you. And so we struggle with that,
as Peter struggles with it. But once again, how does Jesus
respond? Once again, not with criticism of Peter's feeble and
fragile love, but rather with kindness. Jesus accepts once
again, Peter's admission of his love, such as it was. Even if
it was just a small seed of love that sprang from his faith in
Christ, he knew that that love could grow. and blossom and be
the kind of love that Jesus wanted it to be. And so once again,
Jesus offers him a way to strengthen that love, to show that love
and to strengthen love. And that is even through a comprehensive
ministry, not just a caring ministry, but a comprehensive ministry.
Jesus says to Peter again there in verse 16, then feed my sheep. Again, the connection is the
same. Peter, if you say that you love me, even if it's a weak
love, even if it's a feeble love, even if it's a fragile love,
then feed my sheep. Now, the interesting thing is
that, once again, different words are used. Different words are
used here in verse 16 than the ones that are there in verse
15, even though the basic meaning is the same. Feed my lambs, feed
my sheep. The word for feed is different
and the word for lamb and sheep is different as well. The word
for feed here has a much broader idea of more than just feeding. I mean, if you wanna be a shepherd,
I guess the basics is make sure they have grass and water. I
mean, I'm no shepherd, but I think that's pretty much what they
need to live and survive, right? But that's not what he's saying
here. He's actually using the word for shepherd. Don't just feed
him. Shepherd. tend to them, care
for them. It's about shepherding and tending
to that flock in so many other ways as well. And also the word
for sheep here is different than the word for lambs in verse 15.
Maybe this is to show that whether a member of the flock is young
or old, or a member of the flock is growing or fully mature, Jesus
wants Peter to serve and administer to them all using the gifts that
he had been given by the Lord. And so even though Peter knew
that his own heart and love for the Lord was still feeble and
still fragile, the Lord still called on Peter to show his love
for him through service. By love, serve my flock. And this would give Peter a chance
to grow himself even as he guided others for the Lord. Do you want
to grow in your love for the Lord? Then serve his flock. because
as you serve his flock with whatever gift God has given you, guess
what's going to happen? You're going to have a shepherding
heart for that person and for God. You're going to learn what
love really is. And so this is what he needed
to serve. He needed to serve as Jesus did,
the good shepherd. In John 10, verse 11, Jesus says,
I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd giveth his life
for the sheep. And Jesus says, you've got to
have the same character that I have. shepherd my sheep, shepherd
my flock, and use the same character, have the same character. Remember,
it's my flock, they're my lambs, they're my sheep, not yours,
they're mine, they're still mine, but I'm giving you the opportunity,
I'm giving you the privilege, I'm giving you the responsibility
to go out and to tend to them with the same character, also
with the same compassion as Jesus. In Matthew 9, 36, Remember, Jesus
said that, or it says that when Jesus saw the multitudes, he
was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and
were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Now, obviously,
Peter is going to be an apostle. Peter is going to be an elder.
Peter is going to be a pastor of the flock. But that's the
role that God gave him. Those are the gifts that God
gave him. But God has given gifts to all of his flock, all of his
church, all of his members, to be able to exercise, as Jesus
exercised his shepherding, with the same character, with the
same compassion, and especially with the same counsel. How does
Jesus feed us? through his word, through the
word of God, through the very counsel. In fact, Paul even used
the imagery of being a shepherding and said, I did not neglect to
share unto you the whole counsel of God, the whole word of God.
And that's one of the ways that you, no matter what gift God
has given you, can show your love for Jesus by shepherding
his flock, by sharing the word of God with each other. Maybe
that's through a text, or an email, or a letter, or maybe
it's just coming alongside and saying, this is what God has
taught me this week, or this morning, or whatever, to encourage,
and to develop, and to share, and to tend with each other.
Yes, Peter has some great gifts, but God has given all of his
people great gifts in his church. Because that is what love entails.
Again, it's not just how you feel about Jesus. It's not just
what you say about Jesus. It's not even what you're going
to sing about Jesus here shortly. It's what you do for Jesus and
his flock that reveals that love. Galatians 5.13, Paul says, By
love serve one another. And it's not just out of love
for each other. It's primarily out of love for the Lord. But
then once again, Peter's thinking, all right? Peter might have been
known as a man of action, but I think he was also a man of
thinking, of deep thoughts. Jesus has been asking him, does
he love him, twice, and now he's probably starting to think, well,
I've said that I love him twice. Maybe I don't love him as I think
I love him. I mean, if someone were to ask
me, it would be probably me thinking, well, maybe there's a reason
why he's questioning my love. He's probably thinking, who is
sufficient for these things? But then Jesus asks that third
question, which then deals with a candid love. He really wants
Peter to assess his love for the Lord, a candid love. It's
not just competing with others. It's not just one that is dealing
with Everything else that we find in these verses, but is
it true? Is it honest? Is it right? We find this there
in verse 17. Jesus again says to Peter that
third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Now again, Jesus
continues to use Peter's old name and identity. We saw that
this time, though, Jesus uses the same word for love that Peter's
been using. Remember, Jesus asked Peter,
do you love me using this word? And Peter says, I can't get myself
to say that. He uses a different word. Second
time, Jesus says, do you love me using this word? And then
Peter says, I can't get myself to say that I love you using
that word. Then Jesus now says, well, using the same word that
you use for love, do you really love me the way you say you do?
Do you really love me the way you say you do? It's as if Jesus
is saying, though you can't get yourself to say you love me in
the same way I'm asking you, do you even really love me the
same way you say you do? That seems to have shaken Peter
to his core. So much so that John tells us
that he, Peter, was grieved. That is, he was hurt. He was
upset by Jesus' question this third time, and the sting might
have been so great, because Jesus's three questions started to match
the three times that Peter even denied Jesus. And of course,
his mind is probably thinking back to, how can I say I even
love him in any way if I denied him? Maybe Jesus has questioned
me not to get me back into service, but to say I'm not qualified
for service. Maybe I should go back to fishing
anyways. And so likely with some passion and in a strong, heartfelt
way, Peter reveals the very fervency of his heart and the very true
fervency of his love. He answers Jesus yet again, Lord,
you know all things. And you know that I love you.
You know that I love you. Now, since Peter knew that his
own heart for the Lord was both feeble and fragile, he also knew
that he could only appeal to the knowledge of the Lord about
his love. Maybe Jesus knew something that Peter didn't know about
his heart. And obviously, Jesus does know a lot about our hearts
than we know. But at this point, as one writer says, Peter did
not dare to appeal to anything within himself. He doesn't say,
Lord, I know I love you. He says, Lord, you know I love
you. Because that's the basis. the
Lord alone. And this is right where Jesus
wanted Peter to be. And so with that first question
there in verse 15, Jesus sought to strengthen Peter's feeble
and weak love and heart. With his second question in verse
16, Jesus wanted to stabilize Peter's fragile love for him. But with this question, this
third question in verse 17, Jesus is stirring up Peter's love to
a greater fervency. Jesus knows how to get us to
grow in love and in service for him. He knows what we need, and
he knows that Peter needed this prodding, this constant poke,
this constant question to get under his skin so that he can
say, Lord, you know I love you, and my love really is a fervent
love for you. And so the Lord says, Peter,
if you really have this fervent yet feeble and fragile love,
then do this for me. I want you to have a compelling
ministry with my flock." A compelling ministry. This time, Jesus actually
combines the words that he used in verse 15 and in 16 and says,
feed my sheep. It's interesting how all the
words shift and change, yet the meaning doesn't. Do you remember
back in chapter 14, verse 15, Jesus said to his disciples,
all of his disciples, if you love me, keep my commandments.
Three times Jesus gave Peter a command, feed my sheep, feed
my lambs, feed my sheep. Here, Jesus calls on and commands
Peter to show his love, don't just feel it, don't just say
it, but do it, show it through his service to his flock. And
so, with the same fervency, and to do so with the same fervency
he showed in his reply." Now, even though these verses
are dealing with Peter in a very direct and personal way, we know
from Scripture that they are written for admonition. It's
not just about Peter, it's about us. It's about us, it's about
His people. The same questions that Jesus
posed to Peter are posed to you this morning. Lovest thou me? And they're posed to you by Jesus
for the exact same reasons. Do you love me? Do you love me? Jesus asks, do you love me? You
know, it's one thing to say that you have faith in the Lord Jesus,
which is the purpose of the entire Gospel of John, but has that
faith grown into greater love? Do you love Him? And even if
your love seems feeble, like Peter's was, because of your
past failures, your past sins, even your present failures, your
present sins, Jesus calls on you to show what love you have,
such as it is, by keeping His commandments, by obeying His
Word, by doing what He says, So again, Jesus asks you like
he asked Peter the second time. Lovest thou me? Lovest thou me? It's one thing to say that you're
following the Lord Jesus, but do you love him? And even if
your love is somewhat fragile, like Peter's was, even if you
notice in your own heart you are prone to wander, Lord, I
feel it, prone to leave the God I love, yet Jesus still calls
on you to show your love such as it is by answering his call
to be a part of his flock and to serve his flock. by love serve one another. And
so Jesus asks you again the third time, lovest thou me? Even if
you can't say that you love the Lord the way He deserves, the
way He desires, do you love Him in some way? Can you say that
you love Him in some extent? Then let these questions, let
the reasons for these questions stir up your love for Him with
a greater and growing fervency. And how can you express it? You
know, sometimes there have to be outlets for things, right?
God has given spiritual outlets for his people to be able to
demonstrate their love and devotion for the Lord. One of those ways
is through singing. One of those ways is through
giving. Another one of those ways is through serving. Serving. You've got to have an outlet
for your love for the Lord, and this is one of those ways. Let
these questions stir up your love for him to use that outlet
that Jesus himself has given you to use whatever gift he's
given you, whatever role he's placed you in, to serve his people
in love. Don't just say that you love
him. Show it and serve his flock for him in a caring, comprehensive,
and compelling way. Lovest thou me? Let's close in
prayer. Father, I thank you that you
have spoken to us even as you spoke to Peter some 2,000 years
ago. These words, these questions
are still relevant and effective and powerful. Yet, Lord, we're
so much like Peter. We look back on our past, we
look at our failures, we look at our sins, we look at how we
have failed you in so many ways, and so many times still do. And yet we still say, Lord, I
love you. My heart and love for you is
so feeble, so fragile, but Lord, what love I do have for you is
fervent. Oh Lord, I pray that you'll grow our fervency for
you and grow our love for you so much so that we will demonstrate
it. Lord, we can't do anything but
to vent that love. We're gonna explode because of
that love unless we follow after your word and serve. Feed your
sheep in whatever capacity, whatever role, whatever gifts that you've
given to us to help foster the sheep that you've placed within
the care of this fold. Oh, Father, help us to be that
kind of under-shepherd. Help us, Lord, to be that kind
of servant. Help us, Lord, to display that kind of love. Thank
you, Lord, that you knew Peter inside and out, and you knew
exactly what he needed to be restored to faithful, fervent
service for you out of love. Now, Father, I pray that you'll
do the same for us. We ask these things in Jesus precious name.
Amen.
Lovest Thou Me?
Series Gospel Of John
If you believe in Christ, don't just say that you love Him, show your love by serving His flock!
| Sermon ID | 107241338294410 |
| Duration | 44:47 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | John 21:15-17 |
| Language | English |
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