“Why did the resurrected Jesus ask Peter the same question three times in a row? Three times He asks Peter if he loves him. Three times Peter says ‘Yes.’ Did Jesus not hear him the first time? And why does Jesus suddenly start predicting Peter’s death in this very same conversation? That seems rather out of context to their discussion of love, unless Jesus was getting ticked at Peter, thus offering a dire prophecy to teach him a lesson.”
The passage in question can be found in John 21: 15-19
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.”
16 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.”
17 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.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” (NIV)
The background is that after Christ had been arrested, Peter publicly denied him three times. This is something he never would have imagined himself doing. After all, he’d followed Jesus around for years, believing with all his heart that Jesus was the promised Messiah of his people, a warrior-king who would deliver his people from the tyranny of the Romans.
Peter had also gone out of his way to tell Jesus that he would remain loyal even if everyone else forsook Him.
But when the moment of truth arrived, Peter’s courage failed him.
What a difference a few days make! Now, Jesus has risen from the dead and word gets out to Peter that this same Jesus wants to see him. Can you just imagine how the poor guy must have felt? It was worse than some kid being dragged to the principal’s office.
Readers are dripping with anticipation as they devour this narrative found in the end of John’s Gospel, only to find a somewhat confusing and somewhat repetitive conversation between Jesus and Peter.
The problem is with our English translations. Much more is going on here than we realize and an exploration into the original Greek provides a very interesting spotlight to an otherwise bland looking dialogue.
Most of us are conditioned to thinking of foreign language studies as a boring endeavor reserved only for intellectuals who have nothing better to do with their time. The most commonly shared experience is that of taking a language class to satisfy some kind of general-ed requirement in school.We recall sitting in classrooms, anxiously glancing at our watches, while an enthusiastic instructor talked about nouns, participles, and present tenses, looking far more enthusiastic than any one else in the room.
Yes, foreign language gets a bad wrap. Be that as it may, the subject is unavoidable. After all, the New Testament was originally written in Greek. Although we have many excellent translations into English, certain words do not maintain their original flavor after crossing the border.
This conversation between Jesus and Peter offers a glaring example. The most reoccurring word is love. It is repeated often in just a matter of minutes, making Jesus come across either as a man who has a hearing problem or as one who delights in redundancy.
“Do you love me?”
“Yes.”
“Do you love me?”
“Yes.”
“OK. Just in case you didn’t hear me, let me ask just one more time. Do you love me?”
“YES!!!”
That’s the way it comes across in English. But the Greek text offers something substantially different. In English, we have one word for love. It’s called love. In Greek there are many words for love. There’s the word eros, referring to romantic or sexual love. This is where we get the word erotic from.
There’s storge, the kind of love one has for his family.
There’s philea, which means the kind of love one has for a friend. Philadelphia was named as “the city of brotherly love.”
But the most important word for love in the New Testament is agape. This word can include emotion but the emphasis is more on action and was primarily used for sacrificial action, i.e. loving a person enough to lay down your life for him! This is the same word used of God in John 3:16 where the Gospel writer talks about God loving the entire world enough to send His only Son to die for us.
When Jesus asks Peter if he loves him, he is using a form of the word agape. Peter responds with a the word philo a form of the word philea.
Understanding these two different words makes all the difference in the world.
“Peter, do you love me enough to lay down your life and die for me?”
Well, everybody standing there, especially Peter, already knew the answer to that question. When given an opportunity to die for his friend, Peter had wimped out.
Peter responded like a politician dodging a Sunday morning news show question.
“Lord, you know I’ve always had a strong affection for you as a friend.”
So Jesus repeats the question:
“Peter do you love (agapas) me?”
Peter gives the same answer. “Lord, you know I love (philo) you.”
The third time Jesus changes the word:
“Peter, do you love (phileis) me?
Peter sadly agrees.
“Yes, Lord, I have affection for you as a friend and that is all I am able to do. I must confess that I do not love you enough to lay down my life for you.”
And then, Jesus comforts him by saying, “Well don’t worry. Some day you WILL die for me.”
You see? All at once Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s death makes perfect sense because we now have a better understanding of the context. Peter felt horrible about his cowardice. He had sworn that he would never forsake Jesus but when push came to shove, he did not measure up. By telling Peter that someday he will indeed be a martyr, Jesus is giving Peter the best news he can possibly hear.
In the book of Acts, we see a completely different Peter, defending his Christian convictions under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. When Peter and John were threatened by the governing authorities and warned to stop preaching the Gospel, they replied.
“Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19 NIV)
Years later, Peter was executed under Emperor Nero. Church tradition tells us that when they were about to crucify him, he insisted on being crucified upside down because it was too much of an honor to be crucified right side up like his Lord.
All of this was anticipated by Jesus as He restored Peter to fellowship. The flavor of the conversation accentuates itself with just a little bit of Greek. And so, as you can see, occasionally language studies are not nearly as boring as we thought.
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