Easter 3

Easter 3 "Do you love me?"
Jesus asked Peter a question Peter could not answer.

We miss the subtlety of the question. We miss it because unlike ancient Greek modern English has no vocabulary to express the rich subtle language of love. To some extent, this linguist poverty is a reflection of the spiritual poverty of our culture.

In this conversation between Jesus and Peter, Jesus twice asks Peter, do you pledge your life and loyalty to me unreservedly and unconditionally? And twice Peter replies, you know I am your friend. Peter doesn’t answer the question. He can’t really give Jesus what Jesus asks. Jesus is asking Peter to do something and to be something he has not yet experienced within himself.
That is why Peter and all of the disciples, except John, were so incredibly slow to believe the resurrection. That is why in this passage the apostles at first do not recognize Jesus. It is John, to whom the Holy Spirit has given the title: beloved, who recognizes Jesus.

The word the Holy Spirit uses to describe John is the same word Jesus uses when he asks Peter, do you love me. The word is agape. It means steadfast holy unconditional love. That was the kind of love John had embraced when he stood at the foot of the cross with Holy Mother Mary. Peter and the other disciples did not have that experience.

And so, Peter responds to Jesus’ question by altering the premise. Jesus uses the word agape, the highest form of love ancient peoples could imagine. Peter responds with the word phileo, brotherly love or friendship. It is more than some forms of love ancient peoples recognized, but less than the next higher form of love which is loyalty. And it is no where near the steadfast holy unconditional love Jesus asks of Peter.

There is a terrible struggle in this brief exchange. Jesus is asking Peter to be more than he is at that moment. Peter is trying to respond in the best way he can. Jesus asks: do you love me with divine love. Peter replies: I do have brotherly love for you. I am your friend.

Peter cannot yet comprehend agape. So, the third time Jesus asks the question he changes his question from agape to phileo. Peter, "are you my friend?" is the literal meaning of the third question Jesus asks.

And of course, that is the word Peter has been trying to use in answer to the previous two questions. Peter cannot ascend to the level Jesus holds before him, so Jesus descends to the level at which Peter lives. It is enough, for now. It is a start. It is the start of a life long process of transformation.

It is the beginning of the journey that will lead from self interest, to brotherly love, to friendship, then to loyalty and finally to agape itself: steadfast, holy, unconditional love. John adds his own personal interpretive note to the story when he references Peter’s death. In his execution for his testimony to the resurrection, Peter will experience and demonstrate for the Roman world that steadfast holy unconditional love he was slow to embrace in those early days of the resurrection.
No human being is capable of expressing agape. God the Father created us to be pure vessels and open channels of this kind of love. But only God can supply agape. Only God can supply this kind of love because that is the Divine nature. When the Bible says God is love it uses this word Agape: steadfast, holy, unconditional love.

The human choice to separate from God resulted in a soul cut off from the source of steadfast holy unconditional love. Apart from this love, we wither and perish. We struggle to find meaning and purpose. We become self absorbed and self preoccupied. We even lose the rich subtle vocabulary of love our ancestors once knew.

We are lost and broken in our separation from steadfast holy love. That was Peter’s condition. That was why he could not respond to Jesus’ question.

The solution is the process Jesus portrays for us in this encounter with Peter and the other disciples. John is already there. But John is still very young. He has many years of living before he can understand the fulness of the agape love his soul now holds.
Peter is older and has more life experience, but he hasn’t made that next step in faith that John made in the company of Holy Mother Mary. Jesus shows Peter, the disciples, and us what that next step is. It is service to others.

Jesus says: feed my sheep. Tend my flock, He who is greatest among you is servant of all. This is no mere title. It is the outward expression of a new attitude and aspect of the new life Jesus gives us.

The disciples had all argued amongst themselves about issues of command and control. They each wanted to be in charge. They each wanted to be the one Jesus would appoint to exercise lordship on his behalf over the rest. Each wanted to be in charge of the Kingdom of Heaven. Each wanted to be the infallible co-regent with Christ over the church on earth.

For three years the disciples thought in terms of religious laws, courts, prerogatives and privileges. That wasn’t why Jesus came. It wasn’t the Plan of salvation. Jesus never appointed co-regents to rule over a single world dominating religious institution. He came to reunify a lost and broken humanity to the source of light and life and love. He called his apostles to feed his sheep and tend his flock through preaching, teaching, healing and the sacraments.

John surrendered his self will and selfish desire for command and control when he stood at the foot of the cross. At that moment of tragedy, suffering, pain and loss- John lost himself in the steadfast holy love of Jesus Christ and found himself reborn as an open vessel of divine grace.
Peter and the others were a little slower. We all come to faith at a different time. We all grow in grace at a different pace. For that moment, it was enough for Peter to tell Jesus he was his friend. And, it was enough for Jesus to hear those words. It was enough for that moment. It was one step away from fear and one step forward into faith. It was one step beyond the pride of self will into the freedom of Divine will. It was enough. But, there was more to come. There is always more to come.

Agape, steadfast holy unconditional love, is infinite and eternal. We can never exhaust the height and depth and creative potential of Divine Love.

Within fifty days Peter and the others would receive an infilling of the Holy Spirit that would transform their fear into courage and their hesitant friendship into dynamic loyalty. Throughout his life Peter and the others would learn that the Kingdom of God is not about command and control but rather love and compassion.

The new life in Christ is a call to service. The new life in Christ sets us free from fear, self will and pride. The new life in Christ offers us the way forward through a life of service. For Peter, the disciples and us, the way forward has many dead ends and detours.

The Good News is that God is always there to get back on track. God is always there offering us a new opportunity to step back from the way of power and immerse ourselves in the way of service.

We become more of who God created us to be when we make a conscious choice to follow the path of steadfast holy unconditional love. After Jesus asks the three questions about love, he issues one single commanding invitation . He issued it to his disciples by the sea that day. And, he issues it to us.

Jesus asked the simple yet profound question: do you love me? Jesus invites us into a new way of living in the words: Follow me.