"Do you love me?"

Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” John 13:37 

Peter was very enthusiastic about wanting to follow Jesus everywhere, but when the time was there and he got the opportunity to show Jesus that He was really sincere, that He loved him and that he would stand by him in every situation, no matter how difficult, he backed out… It’s interesting to see the comparison with this story and the story of Peter walking on water. 

…Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.”
Matthew 26:31-35

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Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”

But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.

A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”

“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.

About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”

Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Luke 22: 54-61

I wonder how it must have felt for Peter to look into Jesus eyes after having denied him three times, knowing the promises he had made to Jesus in the past. No wonder that he went outside and wept bitterly.

I wonder what he saw in Jesus eyes. I don’t think it was judgement, because Jesus already knew this would happen and he hadn’t judged him before. Jesus already knew the weakness in Peter’s heart long before Peter was aware of it.

Could it be sadness and maybe the question Jesus would ask Peter later: “Do you love me?” Maybe it was not a coincidence that Jesus asks Peter three times: “Do you love me?”

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
John 21:15-17

I think this is also a question we can ask ourselves. Do I love Jesus? Do I love him enough to not deny him? What would I do when I was in Peter’s situation? What am I doing now in my everyday life and in my conversations with others?

Faith maybe is not so much about a set of statements we can agree or disagree on but more about loving Jesus.

Why then are we ashamed to talk about him and the sacrifice He made for us. Why hurt him by denying him, pretending that He is not that important and that the sacrifice He gave his life for doesn’t really matter? Do we care? Do we love him?

Can we say with honesty like Peter: “You know all things, you know I love you”?

Luckily Jesus knows our heart, and when we sink He will reach out his hand to us and by his grace He will pull us up again.

The following classic song from Don Fransisco tells the story after Jesus died from Peter’s viewpoint...
Link: Song "He's alive"