"Yes, Master, you know I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
16He then asked a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
"Yes, Master, you know I love you."
Jesus said, "Shepherd my sheep."
17-19Then he said it a third time: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, "Do you love me?" so he answered, "Master, you know everything there is to know. You've got to know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I'm telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you'll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don't want to go." He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then he commanded, "Follow me."
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How would Peter answer this? Jesus tells him how Peter will die, and then commands, 'follow me.' Most of us would run the other way given the opportunity. Perhaps Peter thought about it. Jesus questions his love and then hints at his death. This was Peter's chance to save himself.
He didn't take it. He followed Jesus, and indeed he died for it. How could he have stopped following a man he knew had just been raised from the dead? Jesus had been flogged, beaten and crucified, and yet here he sat, commanding Peter to follow him. Peter wasn't perfect; he was emotional and didn't always think before he spoke. But Peter loved Jesus. Jesus knew that; so Jesus asked a lot of Peter.
Jesus asks a lot of us as well. Jesus knows our love for Him. He knows our weaknesses as well. But He keeps coming to us, commanding us to follow Him, knowing full well the consequences and our fears, but coming back, asking about our love and commanding us to serve Him in all we do.
Blessings
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