THE  LENGTH  AND  LIMITS  OF  LOVE
Part III

In the two preceding Trumpeter articles, we spent some time defining our terms and illustrating several very important points. 

1. That the highest attribute of God is not His Love, but His Holiness. In spite of the fact that "God so loved the world" in John 3:16, that "love" will only be realized and save those who believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ. John 3:18 and John 3:36. 

2. That the distinction between the two main words for "Love" in the Bible is not that one is "God's Love" and the other is "Man's Love", since God loves Jesus with both kinds, and sinners are clearly said to experience AGAPE love in Luke 6. A better definition for these two words is that AGAPE is "love based upon the inherent worth of the object as seen by the lover", and PHILE is "love based upon an experiential relationship with the object". These definitions explain how God can love the world with AGAPE love and at the same time reject those who do not come to love Jesus with PHILE love. Compare John 3:16 where AGAPE is used with I Corinthians 16:22  where PHILE is used.

These definitions become very important now as I give you an exposition of John 21 and Jesus' dialog with Peter on the shores of Galilee. Exactly because I have re-defined "Love", my understanding of John 21 may be a little different also. All I ask is that you consider what I say with your Bible open and take what you can from it.

A study of John 21 actually must begin in Luke 22 where the Lord says in verses 31-34; "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.  And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

Please take note of the You's, Thee's and Thou's of the King James version, which correctly point out that the personal pronouns in these verses are not all singular as one would expect from a cursory reading of the English versions. In verse 31 they are PLURAL, while in 32-34 they are SINGULAR ! Jesus is saying Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have "you" … ALL OF YOU, that he may sift "you" … ALL OF YOU as wheat, but I have prayed for "THEE" … SINGULAR you alone, that "THY" … your faith alone does not fail and when "THOU" … you alone Peter are converted (Finally turned towards Me in genuine commitment), then you Peter can strengthen "THY" brethren. It is my understanding that this final "conversion" spoken of here takes place in John 21, and that the act of Peter "strengthening" the brethren takes place on the day of Pentecost.

The prophetic word of Jesus that Peter would deny Him three times is fulfilled after our Lord's arrest. Now fast forward to John 21 where seven of the remaining eleven key disciples are gathered at the Sea of Tiberias also called the Sea of Galilee wondering what to do now that Jesus has been crucified, buried, resurrected, and no longer walking with them on a daily basis. Peter, who is never without a quick word does not stop to discuss the situation, but without hesitation says "I am going fishing". Now that made sense to all the rest of them, and so we begin this chapter with these men acting as if Jesus had never even called them to service. They are about to return to the only thing they knew how to do before our Lord called them!

What follows in John 21 is what I have often called a "Fish Story". Pay attention to the details of this chapter, and you will find that FISH, FISHING, BOATS AND NETS etc. are the main subject until we come to the dialog of verses 15-17.  Look at Verse 3 where we find "fishing" and "ship".  "Meat" in verse 5 obviously refers to their catch, "cast"," ship" and "fishes" in verse 6 and 11, "fisher's coat" in verse 7, "ship" and "fishes" inverse 8,  "fish" inverses 9,10 and 13.  Are you beginning to get the idea that these men have missed something important in Jesus' message? And that He is about to set them straight? Bear with me whilst I give you insight. It is my strong belief that our Lord in this chapter is finally "converting" these men, starting with Peter, from being fishermen to being shepherds!

When He called them from their nets at the beginning of His proclamation of the Gospel, he told them that they were to be "Fishers of men". This was figurative language. Certainly He did not want them to go back to their trade. Now He is going to establish the principle that will continue throughout the remainder of the New Testament, namely that He has called them from their nets and has appointed them SHEPHERDS, to care for His FLOCK .

O.K., back to John and our Fish Story. Please notice that not only do all the disciples except Peter keep their mind on the fish, but they do the hard work of bringing them to shore. They take the time to count them and measure them, 153 great fish, all keepers! It is almost an exact repeat of the situation in Luke 5:5-7 where they had fished all night, caught nothing, and then at the word of Jesus, they lower their nets and almost sink their boats with fish. Jesus clearly shows them that He does not need their fish, BUT THAT HE WANTS THEIR LIFE. It is very significant that Peter is never called a fisherman again in the Bible, and when he writes his first Epistle, he is writing as a Shepherd about the Flock of God.

After a wonderful meal our Lord has their attention. He opens a dialog with our man Peter. Let me be clear, the next three verses are so full of meaning that I cannot deal exhaustively with them in this article. Not only are there two Greek words for Love used purposefully, but more than one word for the flock and more than one word for the feeding and care of the flock. The dialog is in three parts, verse 15, 16 and 17.

VERSE 15: Jesus begins the dialog with "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest AGAPE thou me more than these?" Peter answers "Lord, you know that I love PHILEO You. Jesus says to him "Feed my lambs". Jesus is in effect asking "Do you love me for who I am as the Divine Savior" i.e. my inherent worth? Is it because you know me as one who died and rose again? Peter could have easily responded with "Yes Lord, I do indeed love you with AGAPE love, which love of course he did have. But he does not. Instead he insists that it is a love based upon three years of experiential association, PHILEO love, in this case a step beyond AGAPE.
 
Note: A very important matter in this verse is the meaning of the word "THESE". You will most likely think it refers to the other disciples. "Do you love me more than 'these other disciples' love me" or even "Do you love me 'more than you love these other disciples'" Both are linguistically possible. In fact these are the only views that I have ever read about or heard preached. So I may sound a little uppity when I disagree. But I do indeed disagree. First of all, I would find it hard to believe that Jesus would embarrass Peter by pitting him against the other disciples for his degree of love. Especially when John was the beloved disciple is present, and when our Lord makes such an important that Christians have selfless love for one another. It just does not sit right with me. On the other hand, in view of the "Fish Story" evident in the chapter, and in light of the fact that Jesus is about to make Peter a Shepherd, I find it quite possible, and more likely that He wants to know if Peter is so attached to fish that he cannot see his role as a shepherd.  Secondly, as precise as the Greek language is, there is a peculiarity in that the Genitive Plural of all Greek pronouns have the same form whether they are masculine, feminine or neuter, and therefore in our passage, where the Demonstrative Pronoun "These" is used it may refer to either the other disciples or the fishing.

VERSE 16: Jesus asks a second time if Peter has AGAPE love for Him, and Peter answers again with "you know that I PHILEO you". He also uses the same word for "know" as in verse 15. In light of the use of two different words in verse 17, Peter is  probably intending to indicate a "perceptive" knowledge. The Lord then  says "Feed my sheep".

VERSE 17: Jesus asks a third time if Peter loves Him, only this time He uses PHILEO, graciously allowing Peter to make his point about the degree of his love for his Lord. Jesus lovingly asks His eager disciple to confirm that his love is based upon an "experiential" knowledge of 3 years in fellowship and not simply because of His status as the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter responds by saying Lord you know [Perceptively] all things, and you know [a word connoting experiential knowledge] that I PHILEO you. Jesus says "Feed my sheep"

What does all this mean for Peter?  It means that his three denials have been wiped out. That Peter has finally seen the light and is ready for his final "conversion". He is told how he will die upon a cross, and as tradition has it, upside down at his own request because he was not worthy to be crucified as was his Lord.

Now when Jesus was satisfied that Peter understood the mission, he repeated those famous words found often as He called men in the Gospels "follow Me!" Does Peter bring men to the Kingdom in the same way fishermen catch fish? Of course he does. But he feeds and cares for them as if they were sheep. Peter is a Disciple, an Apostle, an Elder, a Bishop, a Deacon, a Servant, but above all, a Shepherd.

Peter will be there on the day of Pentecost to fulfill his role as "Strengthener" as prophesied way back in Luke 22. He will have put to rest his thrice denial of the Lord. He will be full of the Holy Spirit and Power. He will continue to be a bulwark of Faith and a principle figure throughout the Church age. All of this because of the length of love exhibited on that Galilee seashore in a dialog with the Risen Savior.

May each of you understand enough about Love to see that we must not only love Jesus with AGAPE love, because He is the Second Person of the Eternal Godhead, but as I now repeat from I Corinthians 16:22, it is essential that you also develop PHILE love, a love based upon an experiential knowledge of Him without which one must be declared ANATHAMA.

[Please take the time to revisit this Corinthian passage with all of its implications]

In the May/June issue of the Trumpeter I will continue with The Length and Limits of Love Part IV, using John's Gospel and his first Epistle to demonstrate once again the Length, but also the Limits of Love.

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love PHILE-ADELPHIA
of the brethren, see that ye love AGAPE one another with a pure heart fervently:
I Peter 1:22