Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" v17
They had just had their first breakfast after the Lord's resurrection (see my earlier post). The Lord asked Simon Peter a personal question, twice. The first time,
"agapas me pleon toutwn"
(you-are-loving-me more of-these?)
whist the second,
"agapas me"
(you-are-loving me?)
To both questions, Simon Peter answered,
"nai kurie su oidas hoti philw se"
(yes, Lord, you have-perceived that i-am-being-fond-of you)
I am reminded of teachings which point out Peter's "philw" (i-am-being-fond-of) in response to the Lord's "agapas" (you-are-loving-me). Peter was honest with the Lord. He could love the Lord with only a friend's love, "philw", not God's unconditional love, "agapas me". He wasn't ready. Certainly not after he had denied the Lord thrice recently. And he was forthright with the Lord.
The Lord did not forsake Peter for want of Godly love. Instead, with only a "philw" from Peter's reply, the Lord asked him to feed His Lambs and tend His sheep. Notice also that the Lord addressed Peter with his real, personal family name: Simon son of Jonah, instead of his given name, Peter. He was asking the "real" Simon a very personal question rather than the "rock" Peter. And Peter shows Christians today his example of being real with the Lord: "philw se".
It appears that God can use the inadequate Simon, the disciple who could not manage to love the Lord with "agapas". His third question thus became,
"simwn iwannou phileis me "
(SIMON OF-JOHN you-are-being-fond-of me?) v17
This was a grievious question. Peter was saddened that the Lord had to ask him again, for a third time. And this time it was about the obvious, "phileis me" rather than the difficult "agapas me". Simon, son of John, was made to affirm once more:
"Lord, You know all things: you know that I love You."And the Lord told Peter a final time to feed his sheep.
(. . . philw se) v17b
Dear Christians, are we grieved when we have to search our souls and find that we are inadequate? Like Simon Peter, we may only manage a friendly fondness for our Lord instead of the Godly unconditional love for Him. Nevertheless, like Peter, our weakness is sufficient for the Lord. He did not have to say yes to "agapas me". Instead, it was sufficient to say yes to "phileis me".
The grievious question: it took away Peter's grief.
