“Do You Love Me?” Jesus asked Peter, the church, and individuals. We must not forget our first love, Jesus.

John chapter 21 this evening, and we’re going to look around a little bit. We’ll be looking at three different passages. So, once you know we’re at the final passage, you know we’re close to being done. And if you know me, I don’t usually take too long. But John chapter 21.

Reignite Our Love for God

Someone in our Sunday School class a few weeks ago had mentioned to me something along the lines of we don’t hear much preached about after Jesus had been resurrected, especially John 21.

I said, “Well, it might come soon.” Well, soon is here. So, whoever that person is, you know who you are. This is the message you’ve been waiting for. But more importantly, though, in John chapter 21, Jesus is giving us a challenge, and we’re going to look at that in the verses we’re looking at this evening. But as our lives go on, one word makes pretty much all the difference. This word unites people, families, and churches together. The word that we’re discussing is the term love. But at times, love dwindles with family, with God, and in relationships. But tonight, I seek to help us reinvigorate our love of God, which should result in better things.

John chapter 21 and come down to the 15th verse. As we open up the Bible, I want to remind us here that we’re opening up the mind of God. And so, in John 21, let’s see what God has for us in these verses here, verses 15, 16, and 17.

John 21:15: “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.”

John 21:16: “He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”

John 21:17: “He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”

I submit to you this evening, as we look into this and a couple other passages that our love for God shows in the actions that we do. How much you love the Lord will dictate in what you do and how you act and how you go about life.

Three Loves, Three Peoples

First of all, He asked the question, “Do you love me? Lovest thou me?” And He asked it, really, to three people. The first person we see in this passage here, and then when we get to the other ones, He’s going to ask two different people about this. So, number one, He asks to Peter directly, “Do you love me?” in verse 15.

As we get into this, the background, Jesus is resurrected. He was seen, and then He was seen again. Thomas saw Him, believed in Him, and then Peter was out there fishing. He goes back to what he was doing, back to what he felt was comfortable. Jesus met with those in the boat, the boat they tried to fish all night. They didn’t catch any fish. He went to the other side of the boat and tons of fish came out. They ate, and they dined. Then, after all, this is set in verse 15.

Now, as we look into this passage, let me remind you, probably ten days ago, 11 days ago at least, maybe 12 days ago, Peter had denied the Lord three times. I got my time frame wrong. No, I have it right, depending on when this passage was written. If this was written after the second time Jesus saw the disciples and Thomas was there, it would be at least 11 to 12 days. If it was somewhere in between, it could have been a lot less. So, it hadn’t been longer than even a month since this event took place. So, verse 15:

John 21:15: “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.”

Now, Jesus asked him about love. I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with this. A lot of you have been in church most of your life if not all of your adult life. I’m sure you probably are familiar with the fact that in the Greek, which is what the New Testament was written in before it was translated to English and in other languages throughout the world, there are three different types of love that was mentioned in the scripture.

You have your agape love, which is the sacrificial love, the love that gives. You have the phileo love, which is your brotherly kindness. That’s the term you get Philadelphia from today. You’re fond of something. It’s like a buddy kind of love, and you have the eros love, which it’s not talking about here. That’s more sensual love, mostly between husband and wife and in other cases, but that one isn’t in this passage here. When you read it in English, it might seem, “Do you love me? Oh, yeah, I love you.” But when you dig a little deeper into this, and I’m not saying anyone can do this, anyone can have access to these, researching in materials, but when you start to dig in a little more, understanding that the Bible was not originally written in English, to try to understand the kind of love that’s being used here, sometimes you have to dig a little deeper.

In Acts 17, the Bereans searched the scriptures whether it was so. I’m sure that they probably have ways and methods to find out what certain terms and meanings were.

To Peter, “Do You Love Me?”

So, when we get into John chapter 21:15, He asks Peter, “Son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?” The term Jesus uses here is the agapao form of love, which is agape, just with a different ending.

All that fun stuff. I don’t know if you can tell I did really well in Greek. I also failed it too. This is the strong form of love, to love dearly, a sacrificial kind of love, well-pleased or contented love. So, basically, Jesus said, “Do you really truly love me so that you’re willing to do anything for me?” Remember, Peter a week and a half or a little more ago, had just denied Jesus three times, even though he had said, “Yeah Lord, I want to do everything and take it down.” The next thing you know, he denies him three times because he was scared for whatever reason it was. And so, Peter, clearly remembering this most likely says this, “He saith [Peter said] unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.”

But the term that Peter uses here is the phileo love, the love you would have to the friend. Peter seems to be hesitant, in a sense he says, “Yay, Lord, thou knowest [you know I’m fond of you].” Now, why do you think that Peter was kind of a little iffy? Maybe he didn’t want to trap himself in the same way, knowing that he had that problem the first time. We don’t really know. He didn’t maybe want to give his full commitment because he had done that, and then he had denied Him. So, Jesus says, “Do you love me?” Peter says, “Yeah, I care for you.

You’re there and then Jesus finishes out in verse 15, “He saith unto him, feed my lambs,” or provide land, feed here is fodder, to graze, keep, pasture, to promote the spiritual welfare of the members of the church. It has a deeper, a longer meaning after that. Care for those, care for the flock.

But, He said, “You know you do not love me more than others.” Basically, Peter’s priorities were a little off at this point. His first love was what he was doing before Jesus came and said, “Hey, what’s going on here or he didn’t really see what’s going on, but he’s like, “You’re fishing. You know there are things you’re supposed to do and you’re not doing it.” So, then He asked him again a second time. He asked him in verse 16:

John 21:16: “He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”

Jesus asked again, “Lovest thou me?” Jesus uses the agape love again, and then Peter replies back, “He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” He says in the same way back, he says it in the phileo kind of love.

“He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” Now, we have a change here. “Feed the sheep.” What’s He basically saying? He’s basically saying with this idea to feed here, is to rule. A different meaning here. The “feed” in verse 15 means to graze, to keep pasture, to promote, and to watch over. Now, “feed” here in verse 16 talks about the rule of leading as a shepherd or governing. Basically, you could say in a sense that Jesus is preparing Peter for what he’s about to do in about 40 or 50ish days from now, which was to lead the first church. Feed my sheep, lead the Sheep – what he was going to do.

Third verse, third request, verse 17:

John 21:17: “He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”

“Lovest thou me?” Now, in this phrase here, Jesus uses the phileo love. He uses that love that you’re fond of. “Yeah, Lord, yeah.” Do you love me that way? And notice Peter’s reaction. Peter was grieved because He had said unto him the third time, “Lovest thou me?” It probably reminds him of his denials of Jesus. Three times, he was asked if he was a follower of Jesus, and he denied all three times and got progressively worse. And then Jesus had done the same thing. Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? It’s the same progression in a sense.

“And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.” “Yeah, I’m fond of you.” Peter was sorrowful, distressed, and sad. Then He commands him again to “feed my sheep,” – minister to my sheep, minister to those who follow me. So, we see here that Peter had an evaluation of love, and it seems like he was not fully committed to his love toward Jesus. He originally was.

To the Church, “Do You Love Me?”

Now, let’s look at another group of people. Leave John 21. Go to Revelation chapter two, Revelation chapter two. As you turn there, let me ask the question, how much do we love the Lord? Are we fond of Him or do we love Him dearly? I think that can be a challenge for a lot of us, a lot of times. I think here’s one of the reasons why, whether our love for Christ is 100% or 50% or 75% or 25%, because of what we’re going to look here in Revelation chapter two, Revelation chapter two, verse number one, says this:

Revelation 2:1: “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;”

We’re not going to explain any of that there. That’s a good little bit to study into, but we won’t do that tonight. Verse two:

Revelation 2:2: “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:”

Revelation 2:3: “And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.”

There’re a couple of great things about this church. Their works were well known, their patience was there, they rid the church of apostasy, and they did not faint – they were not sick or weary of serving the Lord. They were a serve, serve, serve church. They did anything that they could do, and it’s all great and good. But then, he has the next verse:

Revelation 2:4: “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”

What had happened to this church? It’s pretty simple, really. They served, they served, they served, and they forgot who they were serving. They were so wrapped up and trying to do, do, do, and keep on doing, doing. They forgot the reason why they were doing it. Christians, those who are Christians in here tonight, we can fall into that trap. You’re looking at someone who has fallen into that trap multiple times. “I can’t believe you do that.” We’re human. We’re not superheroes. I don’t pull a shirt off, and there’s an “S” right under my shirt, okay?

There are times in which you can do, you can do, you can do. You know what the biggest thing that I have to constantly battle is? That right, it’s the fact that I play the piano, but sometimes I can lose sight of the reason why I play it.

I was talking to my wife this afternoon. I did not think when I went to college and took one extra year of playing, I failed Greek. I had to stay there an extra half semester. I didn’t think that just taking a year of beginning hymn playing and practicing in the piano rooms and playing the organ for one semester, I didn’t think I was going to be doing that. So, I could be playing full-time in the church for the last 13 years, but since the summer of 2011, I’ve been at that piano pretty much every service unless I was away, got married, or that’s pretty much it, the only times I’ve been away. Lately, on Wednesday nights, brother Glaude has been playing because I’ve been doing King’s Kids next door.

But anybody can get wrapped up in the fact that they do something, and I didn’t think that. I mean, I didn’t feel like that was my calling, but I have to always remember the fact that I’m doing this for the Lord, not doing it just to fulfill myself. There are tons of pianists that are better than I am. Yes, if I sound like I self-degrade myself, now, you figured it out, but you know what? God put me there for a specific reason. As much as I want to do something else, there’s a reason for it. I finally figured out some of those things after all of these years. I still haven’t figured it all out yet.

But Christians can easily fall into this trap of serve, do this, do that, plan for this, plan for that, plan for that, and forget the reason why we’re doing it. This was like, in a sense, the model church except for the fact that they had left that first love. Verse five:

Revelation 2:5: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”

“Remember therefore from whence thou are fallen, and repent,” – turn around, don’t stay in that law, turn around. Realize who you’re doing it for, and do the first works, “or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” Don’t stay in that rut. Realize that what you’re doing is for the Lord. Yes, do we all have special talents and gifts that the Lord gives to us? Absolutely. But don’t forget who you’re doing it for. Who gave you those talents? Who gave you those gifts? The Lord. Don’t forget that. It’s easy to do that.

Let me break down a little bit from verse four here. I kind of skipped a little bit in my notes. Here, “left” means that they are sent or they go away like they gave up or abandoned their hope. They took their eyes off of Jesus and the reason for their service. So, when they left, they basically divorced, they shut off Jesus. In a sense, they kind of just went about doing it just because they did it. Their first, Jesus, was first in their life, but they left it, they cut it off in a sense, divorcing it, their affection or benevolent love that they had toward Jesus. That’s why He told them to come back and repent. Because of the fact that they had literally separated themselves from Jesus, and the fact that they were doing it, but not doing it for the Lord, He asked this church why and how to avoid this danger.

To Each of Us, “Do You Love Me?”

Now, finally, let’s finalize this all together, and let’s finalize it into these groups of people. Come back with me a couple of books to 1 John chapter four, 1 John 4:7. I could do a whole 30-minute message here, but I’m not. I do want to highlight a couple of things here in 1 John chapter 4 verse number seven. So, He asked Peter, number one. He asked the church, number two. Number three, He asked you and me, personally, and how does He do that? Verse seven:

1 John 4:7: “Beloved, let us love one another [and continue to love]: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”

1 John 4:8: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

Do you love God? If you’re saved, you should. If you don’t, are you saved? Verse nine:

1 John 4:9: “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”

1 John 4: 10: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

“Herein is love, not that we loved God,” – that can be hard to fathom, but there was a time where we didn’t love God before we found out who God was and His love for us. “But that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation,” – or the payment for our sins. He ask this person, “Do you love me?” Do you love God? You should love one another because God loved you. If you don’t love me, you don’t know me. You don’t know the love that I’ve given. My love is so great that I sent Jesus Christ to die for you, to pay for your sins.

So, how do we answer the question, “Lovest thou me?” If Jesus were to come to you this evening and ask you, “Do you love me?” How would you answer that? With an agapeo or agape kind of love or phileo kind of love? Or have we lost sight of it being blinded by our service and forgetting our first love? May we love God with all of our heart as the verse says in Mark 12:

Mark 12:30: “And thou shalt love 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.”

“Do you love me?” How much do you love Jesus?

Conclusion

We’re going to do the invitation quite a bit differently than you’re probably used to. We’re also going to end the service a little differently tonight. It’s not going to be something radical. We’re not going to. Don’t fret but it’s just due to what we have available. We’re going to do things a little differently tonight. I’m going to finish this. I’m going to pray, and then what we’re going to have is the background music that you came into this evening. We’re going to have that play for the invitation time to give you a chance to respond to the message this evening. After that, we will pray and we’ll conclude the service right there. We will not sing the final hymn, we’ll have the music that you came into accompany on the way out. But the invitation is, “Do you love me, and how much do you love me?”

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Father, we come to you in prayer. We thank you for the day you’ve given to us. We thank you for the opportunity that we have this evening, that we can look into your Word, that we can understand it, and we can grow thereby. Father, I do pray that you help us to look at ourselves and see where we’re at in our love for you. How much do we love you? Do we love you sacrificially? Are we just fond of you or even worse, have we forgotten about you, and we’ve just been serving ourselves? Or do we even love you in the first place because we’re saved, because maybe there might be someone here, someone viewing online, who isn’t saved?

Father, I pray that you would bless and move in this invitation. The invitation is this: God has spoken into your heart. As the music will begin to play after we finish this prayer, I want you to respond to what the Lord is leading in your heart this evening. If you want someone to pray with, I’ll be down front. Brother Pete will be down front if you want to come and pray.

An old-fashioned altar that’s perfectly available, that’s where a lot of business gets done. A lot of things happen with people in their lives because they take that step and commitment forward.

Father, I pray you bless and move in this invitation time. We pray in Jesus’ name.

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