Good day, my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Summary:
First off, our Lord singles out Simon Peter and shows us a twofold significance (see vv. 15-17):
1: Peter was undoubtedly the leader among the original twelve disciples, and our Lord set that it would be Simon Peter himself who had to be the first to confess his love for our risen Lord.
2: Simon Peter also denied Jesus three times the night Jesus was arrested (see John 18:17, 25-27), and we see Christ restoring Simon Peter with a threefold confession of love.
Christ, the first two times he spoke to Peter, “Do you love Me?” Jesus here was using the form of the word “agape,” which is the highest level of sacrificial and self-emptying love. And this God has a love for humanity, and humanity can achieve “agape” only by maturing in God’s grace. We repeatedly see how Simon Peter cannot reach the level of love “agape,” the love Jesus is showing him, but instead, Peter answers our Lord, “You know that I love you.” Peter uses “Philo,” a lesser form of the word love, which is equivalent to brotherly affection. On the third attempt, Jesus again asks Peter, “Do you love me”? Jesus has changed to the term “Philo,” condescending to the weakness of Peter accepting whatever love Peter can offer at this time. We see in vv18-19 that Christ knew that one day, Peter would develop “agape” love for Him when he was crucified in Rome upside down at the hands of Nero in 67AD.
In Christ, love ❤️ Jared
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