Love: More than Words (John 21:15-19)
Danny was the physical brother of one of our members, but Danny himself was outside of Christ. I asked Danny many times if we could sit down and study the Bible, but he always had something else to do. Well, during a huge snowstorm in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Danny had a heart attack and fell over dead.
Sandy, Danny’s sister who worshiped with us, told me, “I know Danny’s in heaven, because he loved Jesus. He had crosses all over his house, so I know he loved Jesus and is in heaven.” I loved Sandy dearly, and she was in deep grief, so I simply listened to her. But you know that having a cross in your house doesn’t have a thing to do with loving Jesus.
However, many people claim to love Jesus with outward signs. How many people will post on Facebook and ask for prayers but also live in open rebellion to the Creator? Have you ever had someone cut you off in traffic and maybe even give you a one-fingered salute and he has some sort of Christian bumper sticker on his car? Did you ever have a coworker wear a cross around his or her neck but describe a weekend of pure debauchery? Has anyone ever told you, “I love God, but I don’t bother with the church?”
The truth of the matter is that many folks have a warped view of what loving Jesus means. Peter himself suffered with a warped view of loving Jesus. On the night of Jesus’s betrayal, Peter had promised to lay down his life for Jesus (Jn 13:37), but when given the opportunity to demonstrate his love for Jesus, Peter said, “I don’t know the man!”
But Jesus redeemed Peter from his fall. The Lord allowed Simon to declare his love once again, and this time Jesus commissioned Peter with work and prophesied just how much Peter would show his love for Jesus. The message in this conversation is simple: “Loving Jesus means serving Jesus above everything.”
Scripture (John 21:15-19)
verses 15-17:
You have probably heard about the two different Greek words used in this passage for “love.” Jesus used one word for love, and Peter used a different one. Some commentators make a big deal out of that—Jesus, they say, used a stronger word for love than Peter did, and these commentators go on to say that Peter was afraid to use the stronger word for love.
Well, I’d ask you to forget you ever heard such a thing. For one thing, Jesus and Peter would, in all probability, have been speaking in Aramaic; therefore, John translated their conversation. Furthermore, John used these two words interchangeably throughout this Gospel; ancient writers, like modern writers, often changed their words for variety. Therefore, I don’t make any deductions about the different Greek words John used.
Jesus began this conversation “[w]hen they had finished breakfast.” Jesus had just had breakfast with seven of the disciples, including Peter (Jn 21:2), and the disciples were sitting around a charcoal fire (Jn 21:9) with Jesus. Peter had denied Jesus around a charcoal fire (Jn 18:18) in front of others; now Jesus redeemed Peter around a charcoal fire in front of others.
Jesus began by asking Peter if he loved him “more than these.” Jesus was probably asking Peter if he loved him more than the other disciples. You see, Peter had claimed to love Jesus more than the other disciples at the Last Supper. Jesus had said that all the disciples would forsake him, and Peter said, “Not I. I’ll die for you before I deny you.”
Each of the three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved him, Peter responded affirmatively, and the Lord told Peter to shepherd his flock. Peter’s love was to be displayed in his serving Jesus’s church.
“Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’” Being questioned three times surely reminded Peter of denying Jesus three times.
Not only did Peter affirm his love for Jesus, but he expressed his confidence in the Lord’s omnipotence—“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
verses 18-19:
Jesus demonstrated that omnipotence by telling Peter how he would die.
Peter used to dress himself. In fact, just before he had breakfast with Jesus, Peter had put his outer garment back on because he had taken it off to fish (Jn 21:7). He wouldn’t be able to do that forever.
Peter would stretch out his hands, and another would dress him and carry him where he did not wish to go. Jesus said this to indicate what kind of death Peter would die. “Stretch out your hands” was a first-century euphemism for crucifixion. Strong tradition indicates that Peter was crucified in AD 64 under Nero.
Application
“Loving Jesus means serving Jesus above everything.” On the night Jesus was arrested, Peter had an opportunity to show how much he loved Jesus, and he failed miserably. But after his resurrection, Jesus came to Peter and gave him a second chance. Peter verbally confessed his love for Jesus, and the Lord then explained to Peter what loving him truly meant.
This morning, you must come to understand what loving Jesus really means. “Loving Jesus means serving Jesus above everything.” How do you love Jesus and serve him above everything?
One: Search
You need to Search your heart so you can answer this question: “Do you love me more than these?” Peter had to Search his heart when Jesus asked him if he loved him. You must Search your heart: How much do you really love Jesus?
Understand that God—whether we speak of God the Father, God the Son, or God the Spirit—has always expected his people to love him. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut 6:5). “And now, Israel, 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” ( Deut 10:12). “Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 21).
Search your heart. How much do you love Jesus?
Two: Serve
After Peter confessed his love for Jesus, the Lord told him to Serve the church. The Lord said, “Feed my lambs,” “Tend my sheep,” and “Feed my sheep.” Notice that the Lord didn’t tell Peter in this conversation that loving him meant obeying him or serving him directly. Instead, the Lord told Peter to Serve the church.
Peter greatly served the church. Jesus gave him the keys of the kingdom (Matt 16:19); Peter preached to the multitude at Pentecost (Acts 2), and Peter preached the truth to Cornelius and his household (Acts 10). Peter preached sermons recorded by Luke and wrote two epistles which continue to feed the church in the twenty-first century.
How can you Serve the church? Fortunately, Scripture tells you precisely how you can Serve Jesus’s church. Notice Romans 12:6-8. Prophecy, of course, is a spiritual gift no longer available, but the other gifts listed there are as available today as when Paul wrote.
Go through Romans 12:6-8. Find your gift. What you will do to Serve the church?
Three: Surrender
Jesus told Peter that he would need to Surrender his very life for Jesus: “‘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.’ (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.)” Peter would Surrender his life and die for the cause of Christ. According to a strong tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome about AD 64.
You must Surrender your life to the cause of Christ. Your life is not your own, for Jesus has redeemed you: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:19-20).
Paul was willing to Surrender his life to Christ: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). Have you been crucified with Christ? What in your life have you surrendered—put to death—for the Lord? What do you still need to Surrender to the Lord?
Do you need to Surrender your life to the Lord Jesus this morning?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.