{"id":3797,"date":"2024-04-12T17:16:09","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T17:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/?p=3797"},"modified":"2024-04-12T17:18:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T17:18:51","slug":"do-you-love-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/2024\/04\/12\/do-you-love-me\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Do You Love Me?&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What is <em>the<\/em> defining question that someone who would be a disciple of Jesus must answer? Jesus\u2019 interaction with Peter in John 21:15\u201319 points us to the answer.<\/p>\n<p>In John 21:15\u201319, we see one of the more memorable scenes in all of Scripture\u2014the risen Jesus restoring Peter. Recall, Peter had denied Jesus three times at the most critical time of Jesus\u2019 ministry, the cross. The cross defines Jesus as Messiah, the Messiah that Peter was dedicating his life to. And at his Messiah\u2019s defining moment, Peter abandoned and denied him. Now, on the shores of Galilee, the resurrected Jesus, having sought out Peter, sits down with him and some of the other disciples in order to restore him. Peter denied Jesus three times, and so, after breakfast, Jesus fixes his gaze on Peter and three times asks him a critical question: \u201cDo you love me?\u201d (John 21:15, 16, 17). Before considering this question, it might be helpful to consider what Jesus <em>did not<\/em> ask Peter.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jesus <em>did not<\/em> ask: \u201cSimon, son of John, do you know me?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Jesus <em>did not<\/em> ask: \u201cSimon, son of John, are you sorry?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Jesus <em>did not<\/em> ask: \u201cSimon, son of John, do you want my forgiveness?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Jesus <em>did not <\/em>ask: \u201cSimon, son of John, will you follow and obey me?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each one of these questions is not necessarily a wrong or bad question. In fact these are appropriate questions to ask given Peter\u2019s sin. However, they are not the ultimate question, that is, they do not get to the heart of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. All of these questions are downstream from love for Jesus. Consider each in turn.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cDo you know me?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jesus could have asked, \u201cSimon, son of John, <em>do you know me<\/em>?\u201d This is natural because this reflects Peter\u2019s denial. Peter denied that he <em>knew<\/em> Jesus. He denied that he had any relationship with him. So, we could have expected Jesus to ask, \u201cPeter, do you know me?\u201d as a sort of redo moment for Peter, who would answer, \u201cYes, Lord; you know that I know you.\u201d But this doesn\u2019t go far enough. You can know someone and be in relationship with someone and still not truly and rightly love them.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cAre you sorry for denying me?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jesus could have asked, \u201cSimon, son of John, <em>are you sorry<\/em>?\u201d This is natural to expect because when we wrong someone, we apologize. Peter sinned against Jesus, his teacher, his friend, and his Messiah. Peter should apologize. So Jesus could have asked, \u201cPeter, are you sorry for denying me?\u201d And Peter could have answered, \u201cYes, Lord; you know that I am sorry.\u201d But this does not go far enough. You can be sorry because of the guilt <em>you<\/em> feel rather than sorry because you wronged someone you love. You can be sorry for wronging someone and at the same time not truly and rightly love them.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cDo you want my forgiveness?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jesus could have asked, \u201cSimon, son of John, <em>do you want my forgiveness<\/em>?\u201d This would be natural to expect in the same way it would be natural to expect Jesus to ask if Peter\u2019s sorry. Peter sinned against his Messiah Jesus, and, therefore, would naturally want to apologize in order to receive forgiveness. So Jesus could have asked, \u201cPeter, do you want my forgiveness?\u201d To which Peter could have answered, \u201cYes, Lord; you know I want your forgiveness.\u201d But again, this does not strike the heart of the matter. It is possible to want forgiveness merely for forgiveness\u2019s sake. It is possible to want forgiveness to assuage one\u2019s one conscience and nothing more. You can want forgiveness from someone and not want them. You can want forgiveness from someone and not truly and rightly love them.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWill you follow and obey me?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jesus could have asked, \u201cSimon, son of John, <em>will you follow and obey me<\/em>?\u201d This would be expected because by his denial, Peter\u2019s loyalty is now in question. So Jesus could have said, \u201cPeter, will you follow and obey me?\u201d To which Peter could have answered, \u201cYes, Lord; you know I will follow and obey you.\u201d But once again, this question does not address the most pressing issue. For one can follow and obey out of a sense of duty and duty alone. You can follow and obey someone and not truly and rightly love them.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cDo you love me?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>So Jesus asks Peter the most important question. He asks Peter the defining question that a disciple must answer. Jesus says, \u201cSimon, son of John, <em>do you love me?<\/em>\u201d If he loves Jesus more than anything, even his own life, then Peter will truly and rightly come to know, that is, enter fully into relationship with, Jesus. If he loves Jesus more than anything, then Peter will truly and rightly be repentant and seek forgiveness when he sins. If he loves Jesus more than anything, then Peter will truly and rightly follow and obey Jesus. Indeed, it is out of Peter\u2019s professed loved for Jesus that Jesus then commissions him, \u201cFeed my sheep.\u201d The starting place for everything a disciple of Jesus is and does, is love for Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cDo YOU love me?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And so, we are faced with same question. Do we love Jesus? Do <em>you<\/em> love Jesus? To love Jesus is to love God (John 5:42\u201343; John 8:42). And to love God is the greatest command given to man (Matthew 22:37\u201338). In fact, if we do not love Jesus more than anything else, then we cannot truly and rightly be his disciple (Matthew 10:37). Jesus has to be our greatest treasure. We have to love Jesus more than our own lives (Mark 8:34\u201335). Why? <em>Because he is the greatest treasure, and he is life (Colossians 1:18). <\/em>And Jesus comes to all of us and asks, \u201cDo you love me?\u201d Our answer to that question will define our lives for all eternity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the defining question that someone who would be a disciple of Jesus must answer? Jesus\u2019 interaction with Peter in John 21:15\u201319 points us to the answer. In John&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,15],"tags":[410,828,2992,946],"class_list":["post-3797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-devotions","tag-disciple","tag-jesus","tag-john-2115-19","tag-love"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3798,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3797\/revisions\/3798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}