| When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” |
| —John 21:15 |
Do you like to eat breakfast? I really like to eat breakfast. In fact, I truly believe that breakfast is absolutely the best meal of the day. Nothing compares to some scrambled eggs, hot toast, crisp bacon, all topped off with some rich slices of French toast covered with powdered sugar and drenched in butter. Yummy! Yum! Yum! Yummy! Breakfast—what a wonderful meal!
Scripture records a very special breakfast, as found in John 21:1-19:
1 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”
11 Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly 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 truly 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 I tell you the truth, 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!”
This Bible story describes a very special breakfast. It tells about a time, a few weeks after the first Easter, when the disciples decided to try to get back to normal after the amazing events of Holy Week. They decided to go fishing.
Now many of the disciples did not fish for recreation. Their careers—prior to leaving everything to follow Jesus—involved serious fishing. So, they naturally gravitated to fishing when they didn’t know what else to do.
Once they began to fish, an event occurred that repeated a fishing adventure that some of them had experienced a bit more than three years earlier. As they fished, suddenly they began to catch so many fish that their boat began to sink. A few of the disciples, I’m quite sure, remembered a fishing trip where Jesus had told them to put down their nets on the other side of the boat. That time they also caught so many fish the boat began to sink.
Just then, they were jolted out of their remembering that other fishing trip when they spotted someone standing on the shore. As they got closer, they realized it was Jesus. He had risen from the dead on the first Easter morning. Since that day, He had appeared to them and spoken with them several times. And, here He was again. Do you know what Jesus said to the disciples? “Come have breakfast,” He said. Then Jesus served them bread and fish.
After breakfast, Jesus and Peter began to talk. Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Now, you may wonder why three times. If you think back to the hours just after the Jewish leaders arrested Jesus, Peter had drawn close to where they had set up their interrogation of Jesus. Someone accused Peter of being one of Jesus’ followers and Peter denied it three times. This fulfilled a prophesy that Jesus had given to Peter that before the rooster crowed in the early morning light, Peter would deny Jesus three times. Several weeks later, here’s Jesus asking Peter three times if Peter loves Him.
You may also find it interesting to know that, while we only have one word “love” in English, Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament, has four words: agape—God-breathed love; phileo—brotherly love; storge—familial affection; and eros—sexual love. Each word has a very significant difference in the kind of love it intends to describe.
The first time Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, He uses a form of the word agape or God-breathed love. In other words, “Peter, do you have in your heart the love for me that only God can give you by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit?” Peter responds using a form of the word phileo. In other words, “You know that I have brotherly love for you, Lord.”
The second time Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, He again uses a form of the word agape or God-breathed love. And again, Peter responds using a form of the word phileo
The third time Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, He uses a form of the word phileo, just as Peter has used. It’s as if Jesus decides to meet Peter at the place where he finds him.
Although Peter could not honestly declare—at least at this point in his spiritual development—that he loved Jesus with the God-breathed love that Jesus sought, each time, Peter did respond emphatically that he loved Jesus in the best way that he currently could. And, each time Jesus asked Peter to “feed my sheep.” Jesus was telling Peter that by serving others in Jesus’ name, Peter could show Jesus he loved Him.
So, let’s remember this lesson during the Season of Advent: we can show God we love Him by doing our best to do what He wants us to do. We call this “obedience.” We show our love for Jesus by becoming more and more obedient to His will and to His written Word.
