Tom Olson told his story about how he learned to love the Lord. He stated:
One morning as I was going to work, I was thinking of the words, “Simon, son of Jonas, love thou me?” and wished with all my heart that I could answer them as Peter did. I felt sad that I could not. Then this thought came to me. “Well, if I cannot say so much as Peter, perhaps I could turn it around a little and find something easier.” So, I began to think that there was one thing I could not say. I could not say, “Lord, Thou knowest that I do not love Thee.” I found some comfort in that. At last, I grew bold enough to look up and say, “Lord, Thou knowest that I want to love Thee.” Then, I began to think of His great love for me. I thought of His life, of His words and of His cross. Almost before I knew what I was doing, I looked up and said, “Thou knowest that I do love Thee!” At that moment, my heart became lighter and my life had more meaning.
In John 21:15-17, Jesus asked three times the question “Lovest thou Me?” to Peter. Peter must have wondered why Jesus would ask Him this several times. It is possible that Jesus asked three times to parallel the denial of Peter three times. Peter answered the first two times with patience, “Yea, Lord: thou knowest that I love thee.”
The third time, Jesus asked a variation of the question in verse 17 using a milder form of the word love (phileo, meaning brotherly love). Agape is a love that is so strong it gives up everything in order to promote the wellbeing of him who is loved, which is the word for love that our Lord used the first two times. Apparently, Peter was reluctant to claim the degree of love of which Jesus asked, perhaps in view of Peter’s denial of Christ. Jesus desired Peter to fully commit to Him, and He challenges us to do the same.
Do we think we love Jesus? Or, do we know it? We must be much stronger than ever before, loving Jesus more than anything else and anybody else in this world so that we can say with bold confidence, “Yes, Lord. You know I love You!”
