Simon, son of John, do you love me?
The 3rd Sunday of Easter
These ‘what?’ you (or Peter) might ask?
More than ‘this’ life represented by the
treasured items of a fisherman’s trade scattered around on the beach – these nets, these spools of
braided line, these floats? Or – do you love me more than
these other disciples love me? You, Peter, pre-eminent among my followers - do
you love me more than these others do?
Year C
John
21:1-23
Jesus
asks Simon Peter a question: "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than
these?"
These ‘what?’ you (or Peter) might ask?
More than ‘this’ life represented by the
treasured items of a fisherman’s trade scattered around on the beach – these nets, these spools of
braided line, these floats? Or – do you love me more than
these other disciples love me? You, Peter, pre-eminent among my followers - do
you love me more than these others do?
The same
question arising between a man and a woman or between a parent and a child
could be playful. Perhaps, though, it probes at some perceived weakness.
Do you
love me (of course you do)
Do you
love me (I want to hear you say it)
Do you
love me (I suspect that you do not)
Do you
love me (I wonder if you know what that means)
Some
affirmations, then:
1. When
Jesus asked Peter if he loved him more than these he was probably referring to
the other disciples gathered with them on the beach that day.
2. He
asks the question three times because Peter had denied him three times and
3. That
when he asked Peter whether or not he loved him he was wondering if Peter knew
what that meant and where such love would lead him.
Because
it is not clear that we know what love means.
Jesus tells Peter that love for Jesus must result in health, and life
and love for the world. If you love me -
feed my sheep. He (and we) now have our
second chance - to make up for past betrayals and long established patterns of
coldness and diffidence to the world around us.
This is Easter. It's a new
day. Life and love can begin again.
