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WEEKLY
Volume 2 Number 46
13 April 2008
Lovest Thou Me?
(Message delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the Worship
Service, 2:00 pm, April 06, 08)
Text:
John 21:15-19
The incident we are learning today is recorded in the Gospel according
to John chapter 21, when our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the seven
disciples by the sea of Tiberias (Galilee). Although Peter had seen the
Lord at least three times after His resurrection (Luke 24:33-35; John
20:19-29), his denial of the Lord three times did humble him and
discourage him. Maybe, thinking that he was not worthy to be a disciple
of the Lord and that he had nothing to do while he and the other
disciples might need some financial support, he said to them, “I go a
fishing.” Six other disciples followed him but they could not catch any
fish.
Then early in the morning the loving and caring Lord Jesus appeared unto
them, asking, “Children, have ye any meat?” and He ordered them,
“Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.”
Although they did not know that it was the Lord, they obeyed His words
without any argument because there was not much difference between the
left side or the right side of the boat according to human
understanding, thinking or argument. Obedience to the Lord and His Word
is the only way to get His blessings (James 1:25). When they caught a
lot of fish and John said that it was the Lord, how was Peter’s
reaction? Peter put on his fisher’s coat and “cast himself into the
sea” to meet the Lord whom he denied. This shows how Peter was
really sorry for his weakness, repented of his sins, loved his Lord and
wanted his close fellowship with his Lord to be restored.
Then the disciples had breakfast by a fire of coal prepared by the Lord
Jesus Himself. The Lord loved and cared for His disciples, who must have
been hungry, tired and cold, labouring overnight! Understanding Peter’s
troubled heart and mind, our Lord encouraged him and confirmed that He
still chose him to serve Him and to take care of His lamb and sheep by
asking him three times “Lovest thou me?” What lessons may we draw
from this incident?
Two Verbs of “Love”
In John chapter 21 there are two Greek verbs for “love,” which are
agapao and phileo. Although these two verbs may be used
interchangeably in some verses (e.g. love, Matt 23:6 – phileo and
Luke 11:43 – agapao, etc), there is still distinction of meaning
between the two, especially in the same passage. The verb agapao
has 142 occurrences and is translated as “love” 135 times, and “beloved”
seven times. It is from the noun agape,
the love which is of or from God (1 John 4:7). It is an attribute of
God, for God is love - agape (1 John 4:8), and the fruit of the
Holy Spirit is love - agape (Gal 5:22). It is the love,
indicating the direction from the will and not from the feelings or from
anything from the object. It is unselfish “seeketh not her own,”
holy and based on the truth or God’s Word, “rejoiceth not in
iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth” (1 Cor 13:4-7; John 17:17).
The verb phileo has 25 occurrences and is translated as “love” 22
times, and “kiss” three times (Judas Iscariot’s kiss – Matt 26:48; Mark
14:44; Luke 22:47), which means love, have affection for someone.
It is the love with warm feelings and affection or with some reason
(e.g. “If ye were of the world, the world would love [phileo]
his own” John 15:19).
Some comparisons:
- God’s love for His Son, Jesus Christ: agapao
– at least 6 occurrences (John 3:35; 10:17; 15:9; 17:23, 24, 26), except
one phileo to emphasise His affection for His Son (John 5:20).
- God’s love for believers and mankind: agapao
– many occurrences (John 3:16; 14:23; Rom 9:13; Eph 2:4; 5:2; 1 John
4:10, 11, 19; 2 Cor 9:7; et al), except only one phileo to
emphasise His affection for believers with a reason: “For the Father
himself loveth (phileo) you, because ye have loved (phileo) me”
(John 16:27).
- Jesus’ love for His Father, believers and mankind:
agapao – many occurrences (Mark 10:21; John 11:5; 13:1; 14:21,
31, 15:9, 12; Rom 8:37; Gal 2:20; Eph 5:25; 2 Thess 2:1, 6; Rev 1:5; et
al) except four occurrences of phileo to emphasise His affection
for believers – who need His chastisement (Rev 3:19 – phileo, but
Heb 12:6 – agapao), – Lazarus (John 11:3, 36 – phileo, but
John 11:5 – agapao) – and John, the disciple whom Jesus loved
(John 20:2 – phileo, but the rest are agapao – John 13:23;
19:26; 21:7, 20).
- It should be noted that the Scripture only
uses the Greek verb agapao to command believers to love God, to
love the Lord, to love one another, to love their wives and love their
enemies (based on God’s Truth and God’s Word), except
one phileo as a warning for anyone who does not love the
Lord (1 Cor 16:22). Many claim that they love God and others and
promote love and unity but their love and unity are not based on God’s
Word and God’s Truth!
God Commands Us to Love Him
Many do not care about God or His Word or His
commandments. They even arrogantly say, “Who is God that commands me to
love Him or to obey Him?” However, God is the Creator and Maker and He
has full authority and right to require His creatures to love Him,
worship Him, and obey Him or else they will be judged, condemned and
punished. God commands us to love Him, “And thou shalt love (agapao)
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment”
(Mark 12:30; cf. Matt 22:37; Luke 10:27). Dear friends, do you and I
really love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with
all our mind and with all our strength now? Our Lord Jesus rebuked the
church in Ephesus, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love (agape)” (Rev
2:4).
God Loved Us First
With human depraved and sinful nature, men are
rebellious and not able to love God or obey Him (Rom 8:7-8). Truly,
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent
his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:10). Yes, we
did not love God, but He loved us first. One of Satan’s subtle tactics
is to cast doubt on God’s Word and God’s love (Gen 3:1-5). Many do not
know nor believe that God loved them, and this is a great loss! How do
you and I know? God’s Word says so. We do harm ourselves and fall into
Satan’s trap if we listen to the strangers’ voice instead of our Good
Shepherd’s voice alone. If you still have any doubt, just let God’s Word
speak to you again and again:
“But God commendeth his love
(agape) toward us, in that, while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8), and “In this was
manifested the love (agape) of God toward us, because that God sent his
only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1
John 4:9). How much does God love you and me? So much that He gave us
His only begotten Son, “For God so loved (agapao) the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
It is so comforting for you and me to “have known
and believed the love that God hath to us” (1 John 4:16). God
the Father loves you and me as He loves Jesus Christ, “thou hast sent
me, and hast loved (agapao) them, as thou hast loved (agapao)
me” (John 17:23), and God the Son loves us as He has been loved by
His Father, “As the Father hath loved (agapao) me, so
have I loved (agapao) you: continue ye in my love (agape)”
(John 15:9). It is so wonderful! It is the greatest blessing for you and
me to know, believe, and receive God’s love personally, “who loved
me, and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20).
Jesus Christ Asks about Our
Love for Him Personally
Coming back to John 21:15-19, our Lord Jesus asked
Peter personally three times, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?”
and this made Peter “grieved” (v 17). It is serious because without love
for Him no one can serve Him and follow Him faithfully until the end.
While Peter was not sure if the Lord still loved him and trusted him
after his denying the Lord three times, the Lord confirmed His love and
His trust by asking him three times to take care of His lamb and His
sheep based on Peter’s love for Him.
It should be noted that the Lord used the verb
agapao to ask if Peter loved Him the first two times, which
literally mean, “Do you love me as I have loved you?.” Peter was not
confident in himself any more (Mark 14:29), but acknowledging
Jesus’ divine lordship and all knowledge, he humbly used the verb
phileo to answer, which literally means, “Lord, You surely know (oida)
that I love you because you have loved me and died for my sins.” Then
the third time, the Lord used the same verb phileo to ask Peter,
“Do you love me because I have loved you?” and this made Peter grieved.
Peter answered, “Lord, You surely know (oida) all things, you
experientially know (ginosko) that I love you because you have
loved me.” Dear friends, the Lord Jesus also asks you and me the same
questions personally. How do you and I answer?
How to Show that We Love God?
We cannot just say that we love God with our lips,
but we must love Him “in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).
Keep God’s Word:
The Lord Jesus clearly states, “If a
man love (agapao) me, he will keep my words” (John
14:23; cf. 1 John 2:5). Loving Jesus Christ means keeping and obeying
His words. Then those who claim that they love the Lord but question,
criticise or cast doubt on His Word are deceiving themselves and telling
lies! How about you and me?
Love One Another:
The Lord Jesus says, “If ye love (agapao) me, keep my
commandments” (John 14:15) and “A new commandment I give unto
you, That ye love (agapao) one another; as I have loved
(agapao) you, that ye also love (agapao) one
another” (John 13:34; 15:10, 12). Dear friends, we are commanded to
love one another as Christ has loved us, the love based on His Word and
Truth and not on warm feelings or affection. Many claim that they love
God and love one another in unity, but not according to God’s Word and
Truth! Then how can the Lord be pleased with them? How about you and me?
Serve the Lord:
After each of Peter’s replies, the Lord gave him responsibility and
command:
- Keep on Feeding (bosko) Jesus’ Lamb and
Sheep (vv 15, 17): The Lord commands Peter and all His servants to
keep on feeding His lamb and His sheep (young and mature in Christ) with
His Word (Matt 4:4; 28:20; Acts 20:27; 1 Peter 2:2). Sadly, many
nowadays claim that they are serving the Lord but think that the church
members are their lamb or sheep, not the Lord’s, so they just feed the
Lord’s lamb and sheep with what they like to please the hearers with all
the junk food of human ideas, philosophies, psychology, interesting and
touching stories, and so forth. It is more serious when they use the
pulpit, Sunday school, bulletins, websites and articles to criticise and
cast doubt on God’s Word! They shall be accountable unto the Lord when
He comes. How about you and me?
- Keep on Taking Care of (poimaino) Jesus’
Sheep (v 16): Jesus commands Peter and all His servants to shepherd
or take care of His sheep which He purchased by His own blood. Sadly,
many nowadays just ignore Biblical separation and God’s truth and are
compromising without protecting the Lord’s sheep from sins, unbiblical
isms, wrong doctrines, worldliness, worldly means and ways of “church
growth” or apostasy, etc. (Acts 20:28-30)! They will be accountable
unto the Lord when He comes. How about you and me?
- Keep on Following the Lord until the End (vv
19, 22): Jesus commands Peter and all of us to follow Him faithfully
unto death (v 19). Peter loved the Lord unto death, and when he was
crucified, he even requested to be nailed head downwards to honour his
Master. How about you and me? Shall we still love and follow the Lord
and His Word faithfully unto death despite all the opposition,
persecutions or trials?
Conclusion
Dear friends, God does love you and me and command
us to love Him and one another with His love, which is based on His Word
and His Truth. May Christ’s love constrain us to love Him and one
another and the lost by keeping His Word, sharing His love with others,
serving Him, and following Him faithfully unto death or until our Lord
Jesus Christ comes. Amen.
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