17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
18Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
19This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
The scriptures stated above are the conclusion of a visitation from our Lord Jesus with His disciples after His resurrection. Our Lord had graciously prepared and shared a meal for His disciples. At the end of the meal, Jesus confronts Peter with the same question three times, "Peter, do you love me?" Many ministers have stated that the reason that Jesus asked Peter this particular question three times was due to the fact that Peter had denied the Lord three times on the night He was crucified. Perhaps.
Consider this question...What causes a person to excel? To rise above mediocrity and exceed expectations? Some would answer, "Desire", or, "Passion"; which are great motivators and will drive a person to achieve feats above the normal expectations of average human capability. But the characteristics of , "Greed", "Lust", "Pride", and especially "Fear", will do that as well. Unfortunately, the problem with all these "driving" characteristics is the same - they are governed by the the limitations of human nature and the goal is always, whether directly or indirectly, a selfish one, with "self-glory" the ultimate achievement.
Even Peter fell victim to this human fallacy, proclaiming on the night Jesus was betrayed, "Lord...I will lay down my life for Thy sake." (John 13:37) Peter meant every word of this; however, he was trusting in his own ability...his own capability...his own understanding...to accomplish this. This is really why Jesus asked that particular question of Peter three times - "Do you love me?" Jesus knew that, at that point, Peter only trusted in his own ability to "love" the Lord. Jesus also knew that in order for Peter to "go the distance" and accomplish all that he was destined to for the Gospel's sake; that Peter must realize that it would take a "driving" characteristic that would enable a person to go past the limits of human capability - a "motivator" that would give Peter the strength to push beyond "self-glory" and even "self-preservation". Beloved, there is only one thing that gives a person this type of drive and ability-LOVE.
"Now abideth faith, hope, charity(love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity(love)." - 1 Corinthians 13:13
There are many of our readers that would state, "I have faith", "I have hope", even, "I have love"; but we must realize that it will take more than these three characteristics on a level of human ability to stand in these last days. It will take a "super-natural" level of faith, hope, and "love" in order to stand firm and endure in the days to come. In fact, Peter did not have the super-natural level, or "power", he would need in order to fulfill the plan God had for his life until after a specific event occurred. (Acts 2:1-4).
Futhermore, possessing these characteristics in and of themselves is not the key to overcoming. It is object of our faith, our hope, our love that will give us the "power" to stand fast, to endure, to overcome, in last days. In the days to come, we will continue to expound on the "level" of love one will need in the days ahead and the "object" of that love....
No comments:
Post a Comment