Jesus Asks - Do You Love Me

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So Peter had his sacred place, the Sea of Galilee. After Jesus rose from the dead, Peter and some of the other disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus arrived on the shore. They're not sure if it's Him until He tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat, and they catch a whole lot of fish. They realize it’s Him, and so they all have a nice fish braai.

Restored by Grace

Jesus and Simon have a very profound conversation in John 21 from verse 15, where Jesus says to Simon three times, “Do you love Me?”

Now those words can really sting in a relationship because they imply that there's doubt. The person asking is obviously unsure of the answer.

Fiddler on the Roof is one of my favorite movies, and there's a beautiful song in there called Do You Love Me, where this old married couple still have these little doubts and are still asking each other: Do you love me? Do you love me? It's a beautiful song.

Could it be? That the risen Christ comes to you and I today and asks the same question: Do you love Me?

More Than Belief

You see, often we find ourselves believing in God, even trying to follow in His footsteps, but not loving Him. Our hearts are far from Him.

A couple of illustrations can help us out here. The demons that Jesus cast out of people all believed in Him. Whenever He exorcised someone, the demon would identify Jesus as the Son of God. They all knew who He was. They acknowledged that He was God. They even called Him God, but they didn't have any love for Him, even though they knew the truth.

James drives this point home in his letter when he said, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (James 2:19).

Notice Jesus didn't ask Peter, “Do you believe in Me?” He asked, “Do you love Me?” Because think about Judas. Judas was one who followed Jesus. He did church, so to speak. He showed up in the right places, saw the miracles, heard the teaching—but he was unmoved. He followed Jesus, but he didn't love Jesus. And look what happened.

So Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love Me?” Is your relationship with Me real, or are you just going through the motions? And He asks not once, not twice, but three times. Remember how Peter denied Jesus three times a few days earlier?

Thankfully, God still asks us this question, despite our denying Him. If it were me, I'm sure He’d have to ask it many more than three times.

Don't be offended if Jesus asks you this today. Could you say yes?

Love the Giver

Here’s one last illustration. A man proposes to his girlfriend and gives her the ring, and she loves it and goes around telling everybody about this ring, showing it to everybody, treasuring it. But she forgets about him. She doesn't call. She doesn't come to see him. She doesn't message him. She’s so into the ring that she forgets about the giver of the ring!

I think we treat Jesus this way. Sometimes we take His blessings—His wonderful blessings—and we forget about Him. It’s not the ring that's most precious. It’s the Giver of the ring. Love the Giver! Enjoy the gift, but let the gift make you love the Giver even more.

So as you hear Jesus say, “Do you love Me?” today, don’t be like Judas, who walked closely to Jesus but didn’t really cherish Him. But like Peter, love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And even if you do stray, He’ll be there to restore you every time.