JOHN 21:15-17: PETER, DO YOU LOVE ME?

                    PETER, DO YOU REALLY LOVE ME??

                    PETER, ARE YOU SURE YOU REALLY LOVE ME???

21:15  Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?

21:16  Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?

21:17  Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?

Peter answered Jesus each time with an affirmative answer.  The third time he was asked, he said to Jesus: “Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.”  Jesus simply said each time, “Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.”  Each of us sitting here today would answer just as Peter did.  Of course, I love Jesus.  And each of us would mean it.  Why did Jesus ask him?  Why did Jesus ask him three times?

 I.  WHAT IS LOVE?

A.      WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY: Defines LOVE as: an intense fondness; deep devotion; warm tender feelings; God’s tender regard and concern for mankind; man’s devotion to and desire for God as the supreme God; to delight in; to take pleasure in.  SEEM'S INCOMPLETE, DOESN’T IT?

B.       BIBLE DEFINITION: The BIBLE gives us much stronger meanings than the dictionary.  “Greater LOVE than this hath no man, than to lay down his life for his friends.”  We are told that without LOVE we have nothing and are nothing.  “LOVE your enemy”, “LOVE your neighbor as yourself.”  You shall LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.”  But the greatest explanation of LOVE is this:  “GOD IS LOVE!!”

C.       GOD IS LOVE.  That means that God exemplifies all the attributes of LOVE.  And because God is LOVE, His LOVE, His LOVE will be present in the creation and be expressed toward us.  We can see this from the very beginning with Adam.  God loved Adam, Adam loved God.  But Adam was alone.  God provided Eve for Adam to love.  God provides children for a mother to love.  God provides brothers and sisters for siblings  to love, God provides friends for us to love, and when all else fails, God provides a pet to love.  Love is central to our relationship with God, spouses, children and others.

II.             THE COST OF GOD’S LOVE

A.     GOD’S LOVE FOR US.  Love is the acceptance of others for who they are, in spite of what they are…unconditionally.  It sees past flaws and deficiencies.  Mankind is really messed up.  The world is full of sin and sinners, nobodies, drunks, beggars, criminals.  Who could love these people?  Who would die for these people?  I might understand dying for the President, the Pastor, someone in my family, someone who is valuable to society.  But to die for the lowest, most vile, degraded, and sinful of  humanity, is almost incomprehensible.  Yet, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  God paid an awesome price for us because He loves us.  Praise God!  Praise God!  Now we begin to comprehend what Jesus meant when He said, “Feed My Lambs” (I paid the ultimate price for these lambs.  They are so very important to me). Acts 20:28 – “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.”

B.      DO WE REALLY TRUST GOD’S LOVE FOR US?  If  we fully accepted and truly believed that God really loves us, our lives would be a testimony to joy, hope, and faith.  It would be evident.  It should be observable.  Maybe that is why Jesus asked Peter, “PETER, DO YOU LOVE ME?”            Peter had denied the Lord three times after being so bold in proclaiming his love for Jesus.  Now here before him is the risen Savior he so desperately loves.  I think Peter was ashamed of himself and wanted to be reassured after he had denied Jesus.  It was probably written all over him.  He probably had a hard time looking at Jesus like he used to.  “I’ve let you down, Lord.  Jesus, please tell me again that you love me.”

C.      IS OUR LOVE OF GOD WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE?  Jesus cuts right to the heart of the matter.  “Peter, do you love me?”  Of course, Jesus knew that Peter loved him, but I believe that the Lord wanted him to learn that talk is cheap.  If you really love God, show it, don’t try to prove it.  Jesus had already proven His love.  He had done what the Word of God says love requires.  He had laid down his life for his friends.  He was obedient unto death.  He loved God with all his heart, his soul, his mind, and his strength.  He loved his enemies.  And for the joy that was set before him, he endured agony of the cross.  I can almost hear Jesus saying, “My actions said I love you, Peter.  Your words said you loved me, but you denied me three times.  It is action I want to see from you.  Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.”  People who come to us should be able to eat from the fruit of our spirits, not the fruits of our mouth.  What they receive from us should nourish them with peace, patience, love, faith, tenderness, and hope.  Have you ever had fellowship with a man or woman of God who nourished your soul?  Refreshed you?  Praise God!

III.           GOD’S LOVE  (Christians must understand God’s Love.)

A.      HAS NO LIMITS.  (Romans 8:35-39)  “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?…Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”  You can’t go so far away that God’s love can’t reach you.  “Whither shall I go from thy spirit?  Or whither shall I flee from they presence?  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there, if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”  There is no mistake I can make, there is no failure that I might have suffered, there is no sin that I cannot repent of…it will not be the Lord who separates from me, but if it happens, it will be me separating from him.

B.       IS A HUMBLE LOVE.  (Philippians 2:6-8)  God is high and lifted up, He alone was without sin and could easily have cast the first stone, yet we read:                      

6)      “Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.

7)      “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of servant,  and was made in the likeness of men. 

8)      “And being found in the fashion of a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”  Being hanged on a tree was a curse in Israel.  Jesus let himself be made lower in the eyes of heaven and earth than any man.  He went so low that everyone would have to look down to see Him.  No more excuses.  “If I be lifted up…”  God does not let his hurt get in the way of your hurt.  God came down to my level because I could never reach his as a man, a sinful man.  No matter how bad you think you are, he is there in the midst of your situation to redeem you back to Himself. 

C.       IS A PERSONAL LOVE.  (John 3:16)  God knows each of us and makes provision for us personally.  Consider the disciples on the road to Emmaus.  Consider the rich young ruler, the woman at the Samaritan well, the women with the issue of blood, the ten lepers, Zacheus in the tree, the woman caught in adultery.  We don’t see a lot about them in scripture, but we see the Lord diverting to minister to them.  He had a personal love for them and it was their time to experience his love for them.  GOD’S LOVE FOR US IS PERSONAL.  (Personal means:  done in person or by oneself without the use of another person or outside agency.)  God has invested himself in a personal relationship with us.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

D.      IS A PATIENT LOVE.  (I Peter 3:20)  The father in the parable of the prodigal son.  Going each day to look down the road.   Over and over in scripture we see God waiting.  Jesus cries out:  “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I longed to gather you as a mother hen gathers her chicks.”  He has been longing to love us, but he was willing to wait for us to get right and come home.  HE RUNS TO MEET YOU.  The Bible tells us in I Peter 3:20 that the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah.  The connotation is that God was suffering for a long time.  The word patient itself means that you are dependent on and trusting in someone or something to end your suffering.  Doctor and patient.  The patient is suffering with something that the doctor will cure.  We are sick with sin and God has the cure.

E.       IS FULL OF JOY.  Joy, enjoy, rejoice; to be full of joy again.  “The Joy of the Lord is my strength.”  “Joy cometh in the morning.”  “Draw from the wells of salvation with joy.”  “The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but love, power and joy in the Holy Ghost.”  “For the Joy that was set before him, he endured the agony of the cross.”  Joy…a very glad feeling, happiness, great pleasure.  JOY is also whatever causes such a feeling.  God’s love shed abroad in our heart causes us to rejoice, we enjoy it, and it is our JOY.  DO WE LIVE LIKE WE LIVE IN THE JOY OF THE LORD?  Do others see the joy in us?  When I meet someone, are they attracted to the Jesus they see in me?  Are they drawn to Him because of the JOY in me, which is Christ, the hope of glory?  Do I smile?  Am I an optimist?  Do I always have a word of encouragement?  What do the lost see in me that might make them hungry that I might feed them??!!

IV.            HOW DO YOU (I) WE RESPOND TO GOD’S LOVE?

A.     With repentance.  Godly sorrow worketh repentance.  I turn away from the life I used to live and I surrender to the Son of God.

B.      With faith.  Like Abraham.  I’m heaven bound, that’s my destination.  I may not know what’s up ahead on the road, but I know where the road leads.

C.      With an acceptance of God’s love.  It needs to fill us and we need to grab hold of it.  GOD LOVES ME.  AND BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE FOR ME, HE DIED IN MY PLACE.  If God is for you, who can be against you? 

D.     With forgiveness.  We must reveal Jesus in us to others.  Forgive that it may be forgiven you.  Let go and give it to the Lord.  Oh yes, you were wronged, you were hurt, betrayed, violated, scorned and used.  FORGIVE.  FORGIVE.  Because He has forgiven you.  Without accusing you.  He went to the cross.  At anytime He could have said, “I did nothing wrong”, but he said nothing.

“NOW ABIDETH FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY,

BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS CHARITY”

Not going back to the old ways.  Abraham had a “Walks with God” experience.  Isaac had a “Walks with Tradition” experience, and Jacob had a “What Can I Get Away With” experience.  Which one do you have?  Get back to a pure religion.  Walk with God who loves you and wants you to love him back