Do You Love Jesus More Than?

Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

John 21:15-19 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶ He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

INTRODUCTION

I have three quick introductory notes I’d like to share.

First, I want to thank Colin for his sermon last week. It was a good reminder of the humanity and kindness of Jesus. It will be a real joy and blessing to have him here as our shepherd in the coming weeks.

Second, I want to thank Matt for his Ebenezer message. The twin ideas of murmuring being the opposite of thanksgiving and it being a good indication that something is wrong in our hearts has come up over and over in both my own mind and in conversation with others. It was simultaneously convicting and encouraging.

And third, let me encourage you to really embrace the advent season. To keep our eyes on the glory of the coming of God into the world as a man, means continually swimming against a stiff cultural current. Every day we are bombarded by ads, attitudes, shows, and traditions that seek to profit from the generic, largely secular “Christmas spirit,” rather than point us to the glories of the incarnation. And that’s only the things outside of us. Inside we are bombarded with selfishness, laziness, worldliness, and idolatry.

Jesus’ birth is something truly worth celebrating, more than almost anything else in our lives. But doing so (for all the reasons I just mentioned and more) requires intentionality, purpose, determination, and above all, God’s help.

We want to help with all of that. Practically, you’ll notice several “Advent Activities” mentioned in News and Notes and around the church. I encourage you to prioritize them as a means of tuning your heart. What’s more, we have the devotionals (and samples of more) on the back table. Take one and gather your family and friends around it each day. And, of course, by God’s design, each worship service is one of the most significant means of incarnation-appreciation grace available.

With that, we’re about to get back into John’s Gospel and Jesus’ continued revelation of His resurrected, glorified self to His disciples. The big idea of this passage is Jesus’ loving and gracious restoration and recommissioning of Peter. Jesus’ love for Peter led to His forgiveness of Peter, to Peter’s love for Jesus, and to Peter’s glad willingness to shepherd Jesus’ flock. The main takeaway for us is to receive Jesus’ love, to love Jesus above all, and to follow Jesus in loving ministry.

Let’s pray for this sermon and those yet to come in John (probably three more after this week) to be faithful to the text, life-giving, and Christmas-celebration-fuel to all who hear.

DO YOU LOVE ME MORE THAN _____?

Jesus opens His restoration and recommissioning of Peter with a question that seems fairly simple on the surface, “Simon [Peter], son of John, do you love me more than these?” Before we come to the meaning of “these,” we need to begin with the fact that there ought to be no clarification which would change the answer. In other words, no matter what Jesus meant by “these” when asking Peter, “Do you love me more than these,” the answer ought to have been a resounding, emphatic, unhesitating, unwavering, unqualified, YES!

And so it is for us, Grace. When we are confronted with the question, “Do you love Jesus more than___,” we must not let the question finish before yelling, “Yes. Whatever it is, YES.”

It is what God requires, “What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12).

It is the greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

It is because Jesus is the greatest treasure, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field (Matthew 13:44).

It is possible because God first set His love upon us, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Above all, God set His love upon us by sending His Son to save us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Because of these things, in a very real way, it must not matter what Jesus meant by “these”.

Do you love Jesus more than your stuff? Yes!

¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20).

Do you love Jesus more than your family and even your own life? Yes!

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).

Ask the Lord to be gracious to you, Grace. Ask Him to fill you with ever-increasing love for Him, for setting your love upon Him is what you were made for. He is what you were made for. Our very nature is such that to love something higher than Jesus is to be perpetually unsatisfied. Our very nature is such that to love Jesus above all is the one and only place of true life and joy and peace and rest.

Do you love Jesus more than anything and everything? By the grace of God, more and more each day!

DO YOU LOVE ME MORE THAN THESE? (15-17)

You may remember that in Pastor Colin’s sermon last week, he pointed out that Jesus cooked breakfast for several of the disciples after they’d spent the night fishing. John set the context for our passage by explaining that it picks up where that one left off, stating, “When they had finished breakfast…”.

More than likely, then, this is not a scene in which Jesus and Peter were off by themselves. More than likely, the disciples mentioned in 21:1-14 are still within earshot.

No Love by Comparison

With that in mind, “Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’”.

There are several possible things Jesus could have meant by “these.” The most likely, by most accounts, is that Jesus was asking Peter if he loved Him more than the rest of the disciples loved Him. “Peter, is your love for Me greater than their love for me?”

On the surface, it’s an odd question. But something important was happening here. Peter had denied Jesus after repeatedly making claims of a unique and superior devotion. Peter consistently spoke up first when it came to matters of obedience and commitment. Up to this point, Peter seemed to believe that his love for Jesus was greater than “these.”

For instance…

After a particularly difficult teaching, many who had been following Jesus turned back. Jesus asked the disciples if they were going to turn back too. It was Peter who replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

When Jesus went to wash the feet of His disciples, Peter stood up among the disciples and said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet” (John 13:8). And when Jesus rebuked him for his obstinance, Peter instantly recanted, saying, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” (John 13:9).

When Jesus told the disciples that He was going away (to be crucified) and that they couldn’t follow, Peter again stood up among the disciples and said, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37).

At Jesus’ arrest, it was Peter who “drew [his sword] and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear” (John 18:10).

And most clearly of all, although John doesn’t record it, the other three Gospels all tell of Peter’s reply to Jesus insisting that after His crucifixion His followers will fall away. To that accusation, Peter cried out, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away” (Matthew 26:33).

The point of all of this is the simple fact that Jesus seemed to be revealing to Peter that his love and devotion was not meant to be measured in comparison to the other disciples. The pride that led Peter to have done so previously was the same pride that led to his denials. By His question, Jesus was trying to root that out of Peter.

Peter’s love and devotion to Jesus was meant to be fully given to Jesus because Jesus was worthy, not because of how it stacked up against the others. (We get another version of this in the next passage when Peter asks about other disciples and Jesus rebuked him, commanding him to worry about his own faithfulness.)

In other words, Jesus was in effect asking Peter, “Did your triple denial of me humble you at all? Are you done with these comparison games? Are you ready to follow me in humble, loving, obedience regardless of what anyone else does? It doesn’t matter how much you love me in comparison to these. What matters is that you love me with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.”

This idea is strengthened by the fact that Jesus only asked if Peter loved Him “more than these” one time (of the three). And it is further strengthened by the fact that each time Peter answered the question not by comparing his love to the others, but by simply saying, “Yes, Lord’ you know that I love you [not ‘more than these’]”.

Grace, learn from this—on both ends. Let none of us feel superior to others because God has been pleased to grant us (from our perspective) a greater measure of love or spiritual maturity. Instead, let us be filled with gratitude whenever we find any growing devotion in us, for every ounce of it comes from the grace of God alone. Let our maturity humble us, not fill us with pride.

Likewise, on the other end, don’t be envious of the spiritual maturity of others. God will not accept you on the basis of your maturity, much less on the basis of how your spiritual maturity measures up against someone else. You will be acceptable to God because you are united to Jesus in faith or not at all. You are accepted by God based on your trust in the merit of Jesus or you aren’t accepted; for no matter how your merit compares to others, it still falls infinitely short of the holiness God requires.

It is good to long to grow in your faith and to strive for it. It is even good to celebrate a greater measure of faith in others and to seek to imitate it. But all of that in a spirit of contentment in the measure of grace God chooses to give you and in glad trust in His perfect provision in Christ.

Changing Vocabulary

Regarding the form of Jesus’ questions (and Peter’s replies), a good deal has been made about the changes in vocabulary—both in Jesus’ and in Peter’s.

Initially, Jesus asked Peter, ¹⁵ …“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

And then, immediately after, ¹⁶ He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

And again immediately after Jesus asked for a third and final time, ¹⁷ “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

There are a few things to note from the three forms the Q&A took.

First, it’s not obvious in our English translations, but in the original, Jesus and Peter used different words for love in the first two exchanges. Jesus asked, “Do you love me,” using the Greek word “agapas”. Peter responded by saying that he did in fact love Jesus, but instead of “agapas,” he used the word “phileo”. The third time Jesus asked, however, the word Jesus used for “love” switched to match the word Peter used each time.

Some have suggested that Jesus was calling for a higher kind of love from Peter (agape; often referred to as divine love), but Peter was only willing to give a lesser kind of love (phileo; often referred to as brotherly love—like Philadelphia) and that Jesus showed His kindness and patience by accepting what Peter offered.

Almost certainly, we are not meant to read that into the text for the simple reason that both words are used interchangeably throughout the entire Gospel. John simply doesn’t use agape for divine love and phileo for brotherly love. He uses both words for both meanings.

For instance, both words are used to refer to the disciple whom Jesus loved. Both words are used to refer to the Father’s love for the Son. And both words are used for Jesus’ love for Lazarus.

The main point of this aspect of Jesus’ questioning and Peter’s response is that as Peter had denied Jesus three times, Jesus asked him to reaffirm his love for Jesus three times. Rightly understood, it was a loving gesture of restoration.

A second thing to note concerns Jesus’ changing vocabulary in the response He called for from Peter after each profession of love. The first time Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” The second time He said, “Tend my sheep” (“tend” instead of “feed” and “sheep” instead of “lambs.”) And the third time it was different yet again, “Feed my sheep,” merging his first two instructions.

By changing His word choices, Jesus was probably stylistically highlighting a small amount of the scope of Peter’s charge (more on that in the next section). Lambs, younger sheep, possibly refers to younger believers while sheep refers to more mature Christians. And feeding possibly refers to providing spiritual nourishment while tending points to a broader, overall care.

Again, the main point, however, as we’ll consider in the next section, is simply that Jesus intended the primary expression of Peter’s humble love for Jesus to be a shepherding ministry among Jesus’ followers.

Finally, third, Peter qualified his answer to Jesus question in two important ways. All three times he did so with the phrase, “You know” (adding “everything”—“you know everything”—to the third) and once with an expression of grief.

¹⁵ …“Simon… do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

¹⁶ “Simon… do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

¹⁷ “Simon… do you love me?” … and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

In each of these responses, Peter rooted his answer in his certain knowledge that Jesus wasn’t on a fact-finding mission. Peter knew that Jesus knew the status of Peter’s devotion even better than Peter himself did.

Jesus’ questions were, once again, for Peter’s benefit, not Jesus’. This exchange was Jesus’ way of letting Peter know he was forgiven. Jesus asked Peter the same basic question three times, corresponding to Peter’s three denials. It’s as if with each subsequent question, Jesus was releasing Peter from each subsequent denial.

The other aspect of this was Peter’s grief. Again, in v.17, we read, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”. This time, for the first time, John tells us that “Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” We don’t know for sure the source of Peter’s grief. We hope that it was because he truly recognized the sinful weight of having denied Jesus not once, not twice, but three times. With each repetition of Jesus’ question, it’s possible that this reality hit home even harder.

This too is a lesson for us, Grace. Sin ought to grieve us. The most dangerous place in the world to be is in the place of indifference to rebellion against God. It is our job as followers of Jesus to call sin, sin wherever it is found. It is the highest form of a lack of love to allow someone to unknowingly walk in sin.

At the same time, the grace of God in Jesus ought to overwhelm us. The safest place to be in the world to be is in the cross-bought grace of God. Our job as followers of Jesus, therefore, is not merely to call sin, sin. It is also to announce the good news that every sin can be forgiven by grace, through faith in Jesus.

If Peter’s heart was rightly tuned, each of Jesus’ questions ought to have simultaneously increased his grief and his gratitude; his conviction and his comfort; his depth of remorse and his height of joy in his restoration.

And that leads straight to the next point, the heart of Jesus’ charge.

The Heart of Jesus’ Charge

As I mentioned earlier, this whole exchange was meant to restore and recommission Peter. The restoring took the form of canceling out the three denials with three affirmations of love. And the recommissioning took the form of charging Peter to care for Jesus’ followers by carrying on the shepherding care that God had provided from the beginning.

As we’ve said many times at Grace, love is never a merely emotional experience or a stand-alone affection. It is always a fondness for someone (family, friend, neighbor, and enemy alike) that works itself out in practically seeking the best for that person.

The heart of Jesus’ charge was that Peter’s love for Jesus was meant to work itself out in walking alongside of other Christians, helping them grow as followers of Jesus—which is what is best for everyone.

To feed the lambs and sheep was to make sure they had the sustenance they needed to grow (the example, commands, and good news of Jesus). To tend them was a broader charge to watch out for their overall well-being.

This is a helpful definition of ministry and it is one we are all still meant to give ourselves to. This charge will play itself out a bit differently in all of us (based on our gifts and context), but it will play itself out in all of us. To love Jesus is to help other Christians grow in their faith.

It can be so easy to just give ourself to doing “Christian things” apart from any real sense of how they fit into anything. Jesus’ charge to Peter is a helpful plumb line. You must give yourself to ministry and your ministry must be measured off of the charge to tend to Jesus’ sheep.

So, Grace, are you intentionally, actively, and consistently engaged in helping others grow in their faith? If not, talk to your DG leader about how you can begin today. Hear Jesus’ words to Peter as the charge they are to you to engage in ministry as an essential aspect of your faith in Jesus.

Also, those of you who do a lot of “Christians stuff”, are you confident that your “Christian stuff” is properly aimed? Hear Jesus’ words to Peter as the refinement they are to you to make sure your ministry is defined by God’s word and not your own sense of things.

BY WHAT KIND OF DEATH? (18-19)

Having received the great news of his restoration and recommissioning, Peter was given a sobering bit of information.

¹⁸ Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”

What in the world does that mean? John explained the meaning of Jesus’ words in the next verse.

¹⁹ (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.)

The short version is that Peter would eventually (after some thirty years of faithfully tending to Jesus’ sheep) be killed by crucifixion (it had already happened by the time John wrote these lines in his Gospel). That’s what the expression “you will stretch out your hands” (on a cross) meant in that culture.

Jesus was letting Peter know that however hard things had been and would be in the near future (as he fed and tended Jesus’ sheep), they were going to be the result of Peter’s choices. He got to decide where he was going to go and what he was going to do in Jesus’ name right then.

There would come a time, however, in which that choice would no longer be his. There would come a day in which others would determine his fate. It would be by God’s providence (as these two verses are meant to make clear), but it would not be Peter’s decision.

That’s kind of interesting, isn’t it? Jesus let Peter know (albeit cryptically) what his death was going to be like (crucifixion) and why (to glorify God).

If you could know the details of your death (how, when, where, why), would you want to? Likewise, have you ever thought about how you’d like to die?

I imagine that most people wouldn’t want to know the details, but if they had to, the hope is that it would consist of peacefully going to sleep at a ripe old age, without pain and with full mental faculties, with loved ones all around, after a life well-lived, with all affairs in order, and unexpectedly not waking up.

Whether he wanted to know or not, Jesus told Peter some of the details of his death. But contrary to what most people would want, Peter’s death would be miserable from every human perspective.

But here’s the thing, Grace: More than the details of your death, it is the result that matters. Are you able to truthfully say, that you rather die a prolonged, miserable death in which God’s glory is maximized in it than a comfortable, peaceful death that doesn’t point in any significant way to the truthfulness of God’s promises?

The longing of our hearts must be (with the Spirit’s help) that whether we eat or drink or die, we would do it to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Let this Advent season be a reminder to fight for this kind of perspective and love for Jesus.

FOLLOW ME (19)

Finally, in what looks to be almost an afterthought, John notes that “…after saying this he [Jesus] said to him [Peter], ‘Follow me.’”

That idea will continue into the next section, and we’ll examine it more closely there. For now, however, I want you to notice that Jesus’ first and last words to Peter were “Follow Me.” The heart of Christian ministry is tending to Jesus’ sheep and the heart of the whole of the Christian life is a response to Jesus’ call, “Follow Me.”

Is that how you understand the nature of your faith in Jesus and the calling on your life? It’s different language than we usually use. But the different terminology can serve as a good check to see if we’re simply going through the motions or if we really do love Jesus and express it as He commands.

Asking someone (or yourself), “Are you following Jesus in every aspect of your life?” just sounds different (more to the heart of the matter) than, “Are you a Christian?”.

Likewise, asking, “Have you given yourself to tending to Jesus’ sheep?” hits different than asking, “Are you involved in ministry?”.

Consider these things, Grace.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, once again, the big idea of this passage is Jesus’ loving and gracious restoration and recommissioning of Peter. And the main takeaway for us is to receive Jesus’ love, to love Jesus above all, and to follow Jesus in loving ministry to His people.

As Advent begins, and as we turn now to taking part in the Lord’s Supper, may we use both to cultivate a growing love for Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh, born of the Virgin Mary, truly God and truly Man, who lived a perfect life and suffered a sacrificial death to secure the reconciliation and commissioning of all who would receive Him in faith.