Verse of the Day 4/19

 

Verse of the Day 4/19

 

John 21:17   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.   English Standard Version (ESV)

 

For today's verse we'll return  to  John 21 and  the shore  of the Sea of Galilee.  After breakfast Jesus speaks to Simon.  For some  background,  Peter had  denied Jesus three times in the courtyard  when  Jesus was facing charges and a trial, in that scene Peter was warmed by a charcoal fire.  Now they have had breakfast and undoubtedly had been warmed by this charcoal fire.  Sitting around  staring  at the coals as we are prone to do Jesus asks Pete the question,  "do  you  love  me more  than these".  He could have meant the brothers, he  could have meant the fish that they had just caught and the profession which had been his or it could have been something  else.  But what we do  know is that  Jesus asked Peter if he loved him with an agape love,  one of  total devotion.  Peter responded with  "you  know I love  you", the word used described a brotherly love.  The second time it was the same with a similar response.  When asking the third time Jesus showed Peter grace and asked him if  he  loved  him with a brotherly love.

 

Peter had failed, he had let Jesus down and denied him just like Jesus said he would.  The  charcoal fire brought  him  back  to the place of  his  failure and at Jesus' first two questions he  could not  honestly say that he loved  him  with a total  commitment.  Jesus met  him  at his level  and asked  for brotherly love.  But that is not the  end  of  the story.  When  the  Holy Spirit  was given  to them the disciples showed their agape love, their  total commitment.  We see them  in the book  of Acts and  beyond facing  trials,  imprisonment and death rather than  deny him.

 

I am  sure that there  are times in our  lives  where we feel  that  we  have let God  down.  Sometimes  He will bring us back  to those  places  to remind us.  But as with Peter  and  the disciples "acts" remind  us, we don't have to  go down  that road, make  those  same  mistakes  again.  He  can give us the grace and  the power to be  overcomers, to  stand  in faith.  It was definitely a turning  point in Peter's life and the lives of the other disciples.

 

The  picture below is of the Sea of Galilee taken next to the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter which commemorates the events in the passage.  I wonder how many times Peter may have returned to  that place physically  or in his mind, reflecting  on what took place.  Do you have such a place, do you seek one?

 

 

 

Blessings,

 

Mike

 

John 21:15-19The Message (MSG)

Do You Love Me?

¹⁵ After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"

"Yes, Master, you know I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

¹⁶ He then asked a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

"Yes, Master, you know I love you."

Jesus said, "Shepherd my sheep."

^17-19 Then he said it a third time: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, "Do you love me?" so he answered, "Master, you know everything there is to know. You've got to know that I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I'm telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you'll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don't want to go." He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then he commanded, "Follow me."

 

Follow the verse of the day at mikesvotd.blogspot.com