Why three times? Many people suppose that when Jesus asked His question of Peter three times it was to ‘balance out’ the three times that Peter denied Him on Holy Thursday (John 18:15-27), but maybe it’s more a matter of Jesus driving home His point?
Others say that three is a number that signifies perfection. For example, we say God is “Holy, Holy, Holy.” This triple expression is a way of saying that God is the Holiest of all. By Peter being given the opportunity to tell Jesus three times that He loved Him it was an opportunity for Peter to express His love in the deepest of ways.
So we have a triple confession of love and a triple undoing of Peter’s denial going on. This should reveal to us our own need to love God and seek His mercy in a “triple” way.
When we tell God that we love Him, how deep does that go? Is it ‘lip service’, or is it a total and all-consuming love? Is our love of God something that we mean to the fullest extent? Or is it something that needs work?
If we really love Christ, and not just in words, we need to care for all the members of His flock; the ewes, the lambs, and even the rams, and in taking care of their needs, whatever they might be. We must care for those who think they’re poor and those who think they’re rich, for those who believe themselves strong and those who are sure they’re weak. And we must care for those who are satisfied that they’re serving God and those who don't care.
We must go into their loneliness, their self-condemnation, their sin, their poverty in religious matters as well as physical ones, and their ignorance of God's absolute and unfailing love and forgiveness, and it is there where we must touch their lives and heal them, nourish them, and be the Good News that Christ calls us to proclaim.
We should hear Jesus asking us “Do you love me?” three times also. We should realize that He’s not satisfied with a simple, “Lord, I love You.” He wants to hear it again, and again. He asks us this because He knows we need to express this love in the deepest way. Like Peter, our ultimate answer must be, “Lord, You know everything, You know that I love You!”
This triple question also gives us the opportunity to express our deepest longing for His mercy. We all sin. We all deny Jesus in one way or another. But the good news is that Jesus is always inviting us to let our sin be a motivation for deepening our love. He doesn’t sit and stay angry at us. He doesn’t pout. He doesn’t hold our sin over our heads. But He does ask for the deepest of sorrow and a complete conversion of heart. He wants us to turn from our sin to the fullest extent.
As the old hymn of the same title says, "They will know we are Christians by our love," an idea straight out of John (13:34-35). Do we in fact love any and all of God's children? In every circumstance? Of course not, if we’re honest with ourselves. But are we at least trying?
No comments:
Post a Comment