Tonight I made my twelve year old daughter her favorite meal. After the meal I gave her a hug and told her that I loved her…silence on her end. After my wife prompted her to say something she responded “thank you?!” and walked away to do the dishes. Wow. “I love you…ok, thanks”. How do I respond to that? How should I feel after that?
Taken from Acts3.org (http://www.acts3.org/lessons/peter.htm)
John 21:15-17
15 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.”
16 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.”
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 all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.
Reading in modern English, you may not get much out of it. However, if you look at the passage in the original Greek, it does make a difference. Basically, there are two different words translated as ‘LOVE‘ in this passage. I am simply going to put the two original Greek words in place of the English words in the same 3 verses above. Notice the changes below:15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you agapao Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I phileo You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.”
16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you agapao Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I phileo You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”
17 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 love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I phileo You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.
If you look closely, you will see that there have been two Greek Words inserted for the Word “Love” in the verses above. The two words are agapao and phileo. Now let us look at the Greek definitions of these two words:
Agapao – This is a very special and deep kind of love. It means to love dearly.
Phileo– This is a friendly kind of affection. In Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance it states the difference between agapao and phileo is that agapao is more of a heart love and phileo is more of a head love.
Now read the verses again. You will see:
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Jesus asks Peter, “Do you LOVE me more than these?” Peter says, ‘yeah I like you Lord.’
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The second time, Jesus simply asks, “Do you LOVE me?” Notice that Jesus lessens the level of love. Sigh… Peter still cowers and only responds… ‘yeah I like you Lord.’
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Finally, Jesus asks, ‘Peter…do you like me?’ And Peter agrees.
How many times has God asked me “Steven, do you love me?” and my response has been “Yeah, I like you.” by failing to reach out when others are in need? By holding back when He is prompting me to speak to someone about Him? By holding on to my blessings when I should be blessing others with them? God tells me He loves me so much that He sacrificed His son so I may live with Him for eternity and any response short of total and complete obedience is saying back to Him “ok, thanks…”
