Jesus and Peter, and agape love

In John chapter 21, we read the story of Jesus' post-resurrection meeting with his disciples by Lake Galilee (Tiberius). The disciples go fishing, catch nothing, and, in the early morning light, they see a person on the seashore asking if they have caught any fish. They say no, and the person on the seashore tells them to cast their net to the right side of the boat, and they will catch something. They do this, and their nets are full of 153 large fish; this was the catch of a lifetime.

John is the first to realise that it is Jesus. He realised that this is a similar situation to when Jesus first called them, in Luke 5:4-11. At that time, there was Jesus and a boat and a large catch of fish and ... a call to follow him and become fishers of men. John says, "It's the Lord," and Peter swims ashore to see Jesus.

What follows is the first men's prayer breakfast. Some men meeting with Jesus over breakfast and there in that context, Jesus speaks to them. 

Jesus has some special words to say to Peter in a very famous conversation, recorded at the end of John chapter 21.

On the night of Jesus' arrest, Peter had denied Jesus three times. In this conversation, Jesus asks Peter three times do you love me? and reinstates Peter as a disciple. He then says to Peter, "Follow Me!" 

Let's look at the conversation.

So 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, “Tend My lambs.” 

He *said to him again 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, “Shepherd 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 all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.

Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” 

Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He *said to him, “Follow Me!”

John 21:15:19

This book of the bible was written in Greek. The Greeks had four words for love. Agape, Eros, Phileo, and Storge.

Agape = selfless, unconditional, and sacrificial love.

Eros = passionate, romantic, or sexual love

Phileo = love of deep friendship and companionship.

Storge = familial love, particularly the natural affection between parents and children

In this passage, two of these Greek words are used, but are only translated as love in English. Let's look at those same verses with these words emphasised.

So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you agape Me more than these?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I phileo You.” He *said to him, “Tend My lambs.” 

Jesus is asking Peter if he will unconditionally and self-sacrificially love him. To which Peter replies, " Sure, Jesus, I will be your friend". 

Jesus asks him the same question again.

He *said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you agape Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I phileo You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 

And the third time, Jesus asks a slightly different question.

He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you phileo Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you phileo Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I phileo You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.

So what is going on here? Why this play on words? When you consider that Jesus spoke Aramaic, not Greek, what is John trying to tell us here with his choice of words?

Peter had always been loud about his love and faith in Jesus. It was Peter who made the confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16). It was Peter who declared that whilst all may fall away from Jesus, he would never fall away.  (Matt. 26:33). It was Peter who tried to defend Jesus and chopped off the ear of the High Priest's slave's ear in Gethsemane. (John 18:10).

Peter had been big and bold in his love for Jesus, but when the chips were down, he had ended up denying him three times. I think Peter was unsure of himself and doubted that he could love Jesus with the unconditional love he was asking for, but he was certain he could love Him as His friend. We can see that Jesus accepted the love that Peter offered in His third question. Peter, son of John, do you phileo me? (Will you be my friend?)

Jesus then goes on to describe how Peter will die, and you have to ask, was Peter's death based on friendship (phileo), or deep unconditional love (agape)? (History tells us that Peter died in Rome, where he was crucified upside down.) 

I think Peter restarted his discipleship with phileo love for Jesus, but as he walked with Jesus again, his love and passion increased and developed into agape love. At the time of his death, it was Peter, who requested that he be crucified upside down. He did not see himself worthy to suffer the same way as Jesus did. That was an act of self sacrificial love, not just friendship. 

So, why am I saying all this? Well, you might find yourself in a place where you doubt if you can follow Jesus with the passion and unconditional love that He deserves. Well, start with what you have, follow Him with the love of a friend, and watch as he deepens your love for Him as you walk with Him day by day. 

One day, you will realise that your love for Jesus has transformed into the deep and unconditional love that He asks for and deserves. By walking with Jesus every day, you will find it easy to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deut. 6:5)

Like the boy who gave Jesus his lunch, (John 6:9) and watched Him use it to feed a multitude. Take the small bit of love that you have in your heart, and give it to Jesus and watch it grow and deepen as you walk with him. 

It’s A Balancing Act!

​Politics in the last few years has become very polarised. All sides accuse the others of extremism and wrongdoing. You can be accused of being either too left or too right, or if your views are in the middle, you can be accused of being too indecisive! We are indeed in the era of political extremes.

The left side of politics gathers around the idea of tolerance, mercy, and looking after the disadvantaged. The right side gathers around the idea of justice, law and order, making people accountable for their actions, and so the debates, endless fights and accusations begin.

 

So, what does the Bible say? How do the scriptures guide us?

In Jesus, we see his compassion and mercy at work, such as his interaction with the woman caught in adultery, and His healing of the two blind men in Matthew’s Gospel. 

We also see the other side at work, His calling out the Pharisees in Matthew 23, and we look at his actions when He overturned the money changers' stalls in the temple. 

In Jesus, we see the foundational values of both the left and the right sides of politics at work. So, which approach is more Biblical, left or right?!

Psalm 145:17 gives us an idea of God’s view. 

The LORD is righteous in all His ways

And kind in all His deeds.

In God, both mercy and justice are in perfect balance. 

We see this at the cross. Justice demanded that humans pay the price for the sins they committed: death! God’s mercy sent Jesus as the God/man to die in our place. In the cross, we see both the justice and mercy of God in perfect balance. 

(Some years ago, I made a video about 4 reasons why only Jesus could save us. If you are interested in seeing it, you will find it at the link below.)

https://youtu.be/DSbnHOd4Q94?si=UEUuDUAxXEbC5hk5

God wants us to live justly and to live mercifully at the same time. Just like He does!

He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the LORD require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?

                                                             Micah 6:8

We find it hard to find the perfect balance of these two ideas in a sinful world; that’s why governments change from time to time, and people emphasise the extremes rather than the strengths of the opposing view.

The extremes are not where God dwells because one extreme will try to cancel out the other view, and God wants both views to be active in our lives at the same time. 

If we believe that government comes from God.

Be Subject to Government

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Romans 13:1

Then perhaps when the other guys are elected to office, it is not because they cheated or ran a dirty campaign; it just might be God’s way of bringing balance into our community. To save us from the extremes. 

In a sinful world, we will never get the balance right; in God’s Kingdom, the balance is natural because it is an expression of who He is. 

Re-building the Tower of Babel

In Genesis 11:1-9, we read the story of the Tower of Babel. Of how the people

of the Earth sought to make a name for themselves by developing new

technologies, starting with a tower that would reach into the heavens. It is

doubtful that they would have reached the heavens with this one construction

project, but they were not focused on God and His purposes, but on sin, and

they wanted to do great things for their own glory. 

God's response to them was to confuse their language, so that they could not

work together. People who ended up speaking the same language clustered

together and drifted away, and so God slowed down their ability to be united in sin.

God’s invention of other languages

somewhat slowed down their

technological advancement. And

so, with different languages, different

civilisations developed at the same

time. These cultures never really

united in purpose but mainly clashed

with one another as each strove for

dominance over the others. 

God knew that if people had one language and one focused purpose, it would give

them greater ability to unite in sin and develop sinful technologies through which

to extend their influence and drive the rest of humanity into greater sin. Multiple

languages meant the development of different cultures and ways of doing things.

Maximising the reach and impact of sin became more difficult with the confusion

of languages.

If God were able to predict that the Hebrews would turn away from Him and go into

exile, hundreds of years before it happened, He was more than able to see what

humans united in sin would have been able to accomplish.

So, humanity was given a divine slowdown to prevent them from falling into greater

sin.

We know that the first ones to sin were not Adam or Eve; it was, in fact, the devil, 

and according to the scriptures, one-third of the angelic host fell with him. 

These now demonic beings were united in sin, and the devil was their undisputed

leader. Knowing that God’s judgment was upon them, they sought a place of their

own in which to dwell and wage war against the Almighty. To understand their

structure, we only have to look at Nazi Germany. 

Hitler was the undisputed leader of the Nazis. Once elected to power by the German

people, he passed what was called the enabling law, which gave him the authority to

legislate independently of Parliament. He united the offices of President and

Chancellor and proclaimed himself to be Führer and Chancellor over Germany. He

was now a Dictator.

His next step was to make all the armed forces swear allegiance to him (not to the

constitution or to Germany), which particularly included the German High Command.

So, Hitler had political power and military power. Then he began to purge the judiciary

and all those who were opposed to him. 

Based on his early victories and the invasion of France, Hitler was hailed as a

military genius. But it wasn’t long before his military decisions were not so

brilliant, such as the invasion of Russia and his missteps when the Allies invaded

at Normandy. Hitler was sure that the invasion was going to happen at Calais, and

had moved the bulk of his army there, when the invasion happened at Normandy, 

people were too scared to wake Hitler up and tell him, so they had to wait for him to 

get out of bed before they could fully react.  He was still sold on Calais, though, as 

he said Normandy was a decoy and the main invasion was still coming at Calais.

We know that the powers of hell

have structure. Paul outlines this in

Ephesians 6:12,  and somewhere

in Hell, there is an agreement

that the devil is in charge and like

Hitler, he too has made a huge 

mistake by crucifying Jesus. 

By killing Jesus on the cross, the devil thought he was finally getting rid of God on 

earth, and his grip on the real estate was now permanent. God had given dominion 

over the Earth to humans, and humans were now in his power through sin. He and 

his cohort thought they were safe. But then came Jesus descent into Hell, the taking 

of the captives and the resurrection, and God’s secret plan was exposed. Jesus was 

meant to die; His blood was meant to be shed for the forgiveness of sin. The devil 

had been duped by God. With sins able to be forgiven, the devil was losing power 

and influence daily as people repented and believed the gospel.

Paul writes in 1 Cor. 2:6-8

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however,

not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 

but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God

predestined before the ages to our glory; 

the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they

had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 

The devil did not understand the secret purposes of God, and now all is lost for him.

The clock is ticking, and the lake of fire is waiting for him and his followers and all

who are unforgiven sinners. He is like the desperate convict waiting on death row,

looking at the clock, counting down the hours, knowing that his time of execution is 

coming.

So what does this have to do with the Tower of Babel? In recent years, human

technology has built a thing that is designed to overcome the language

and culture barrier, help further the effects of sin, it is called the internet. On the

internet, I can use Google or other means to translate in real time a conversation

I am having with someone who does not speak English. The ideas I want to express

to them are clearer because of the internet, and it does not take all that long for them

to understand the substance of what I am saying to them.  

Social Media is also able to reduce the language barrier, and events such as TikTok

challenges happen all over the world. People take up these challenges in the hope of

being noticed and becoming an influencer by getting people to follow their channel

as they do these challenges and other antics that usually get them into trouble. One

challenge was to try to kick in someone's door in the middle of the night and run

away. The problem is that in America, a lot of people have guns, and if they think

someone is trying to invade their home to rob or harm them, they tend to shoot first

and ask questions later.  One kid has already died doing this “prank”. But there

remains a large community of people out there who think this kind of content is

funny, and they fund it. These are people who are uniting in sin. Some influencers

who have been arrested doing such things have told the court that they were only

“pranking” the other person. As if that justifies property damage, assaults,

defamation, and many other such acts of lawlessness.

Terrorists can use the internet to communicate with sympathisers in other countries

and to set up attacks on foreign soil. These, too, are people who are united in sin. 

So in these last days, we see sin moving at projectile speed, causing incredible

damage because language differences are now irrelevant. Did you know that by 

using AI, I can make an unfactual movie that shows people doing things they did 

not do, and I can circulate that on social media? I can try to justify this as freedom 

of speech, but it is, in fact, the desecration of truth.

Sin is not a bad choice; it is the worst possible choice, and it always has serious

consequences for us, for others and for our relationship with God. God sent His

Son, Jesus, to save us because He loved us, despite our sinfulness.

Love, compassion, justice and mercy are what God gives to us in Jesus and are 

things that the devil cannot offer us in any form. The best he can offer is a 

composite package of lies that will only drive us further away from God and send us 

back to the futile work of trying to rebuild Babel. 

Rebuilding the Tower of Babel is the devil’s only post resurrection strategy. Unite 

people in focussed sin, and get them to focus on themselves. Give them a sense 

of their own self importance.

God on the other hand asks us to look to Him, believe that Jesus’ death is enough 

to pay for all of our sins, and receive His forgiveness. He will then change us to be 

like Him.

The smartest thing we can ever do is turn to Jesus and accept His free gift to us, 

forgiveness of sins and eternal life with Him.