“DO YOU LOVE ME?”

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” John 21:15a

It was early morning. Seven of Jesus’ disciples had gone fishing because they had nothing better to do. They knew Jesus was alive. They had seen Him, but He kept coming and going. He hadn’t yet told them what He wanted them to do. They fished all night but caught nothing. Imagine how unhappy they must have felt. They couldn’t even catch fish even though it was what they could do best.

In the dawn light they saw someone on the beach, and the smoke of a fire. He looked familiar but they couldn’t see who it was. He called out to them, “Have you caught anything?”

“No,” they called back and to their surprise He instructed them to throw their net in again, on the right side of the boat. Peter remembered a similar instruction three years ago, when they caught more fish than they could handle. John suddenly realised who it was. “It’s the Master!” he yelled. Peter flung on his tunic and jumped overboard. He wasn’t going to wait for them to row the boat ashore. He wanted to get to Jesus.

It was a painful moment for Peter, one he had probably been dreading. The coal fire reminded him of his denial of his Master. What would Jesus say to him? The other disciples came ashore with a huge catch of fish. Jesus carried on cooking breakfast, but He said nothing. All the disciples felt bad because they had deserted Him. They waited for Him to scold them, but He kept silent. He knew that their consciences were telling them all how they had failed Him.

After breakfast, Jesus spoke to Peter. “Simon,” He said, “Do you love me?” He called Peter by his old name just to remind him that he had to start all over because of his failure. Why did He not ask Peter why he had denied Him? That was not important to Jesus any more. The most important question Peter needed to answer was, “Do you love me?” Peter could not change what he had done but he could change what he was going to do.

Love is a powerful bond that connects people through thick and thin. Peter did not know it yet, although Jesus warned him of what was coming, but he was going to face many tests of his love for Jesus. He would be beaten, imprisoned, and even threatened with death for following his Master and he would be crucified in the end because he refused to deny Jesus a second time. If he loved Jesus, he would always be loyal to him no matter what happened.

How does our love for Jesus grow? When we experience His love for us in tough times, it gives us confidence to trust and love Him too. The more our love is tested the stronger it grows.