John records very few words from Jesus between the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Resurrection. However, there is this one exchange with Peter after the resurrection that hides something very important. It’s not obvious in the English language what’s going on here. As usual, we trust John’s translation skills in bringing to us the Aramaic conversation in his schoolboy Greek grammar.
A more obvious point is that Jesus asks the same question about Peter’s loyalty three times. This matches Peter’s three denials of Jesus during the kangaroo court trial at the High Priest’s palace. This is Jesus rehabilitating Peter as the man to inherit leadership of the group once Christ ascends to Heaven. But there is something else going on in the words of the conversation itself.
Peter was the eldest, likely older than Jesus Himself. And most of what we read about Peter makes no sense at all unless we picture him as rather large physically. During the entire time of discipleship, Peter was the natural leader after Jesus. But following the crucifixion and resurrection, Peter was also a broken man. For all his boasting about loyalty, he had failed quite miserably. And Peter knew Jesus knew about it. He couldn’t just desert the group, but no longer pretended he could lead anyone. There was no way his boldness could paper over his mistake.
It was Peter who did the one thing that made sense to any of them during that lull after the initial sightings of Jesus. Hanging out in their old quarters in Peter’s home in Capernaum, the silence got to him, and he had to do something. There was still one thing in life he knew — fishing. So he headed out in the evening to go fishing, which is when that was done in Galilee. They fished all night and caught nothing, but it was better than doing nothing. It was all they had left, at this point. As they neared the shore to haul out their nets for cleaning, they ran into Jesus. At first He seemed just a fish buyer, but then He suggested they try just one more time on the starboard side of the boat.
They dropped the net to humor Him, and it nearly broke under the massive catch. Peter knew immediately who it was. He grabbed his personal gear and dove into the water, leaving the rest of the crew of disciples to bring the boat in behind, dragging the overloaded net. Jesus had a fire going with some bread baking and told them to bring some of the better specimens they had caught. They all celebrated seeing their risen Lord once again, though seemed at a loss for words. What do you say to someone who died horribly, has risen and can walk through walls?
So they had a pleasant if somewhat nervous breakfast, and as they sat quietly by the fire, Jesus turned to His lieutenant and said quietly: “Peter, do you have the passion to lead these men in following Me as Lord?” John tells us He used the Greek word agape which translates as “love.”
Peter was embarrassed, but he was man enough to tell the honest truth now. “I’ll serve You Lord as your friend.” Here John uses the word phileo to signify friendship, something generally recognized as not quite so driven as agape. Jesus seemed to accept this and told Peter to lead His followers.
A few moments later, Jesus asked almost the same question. “But Peter, do you really love me?” Again, that word agape. Peter’s answer was pretty much the same, a tacit denial that seemed an admission of his sense of inadequacy. It seemed Peter was saying he couldn’t claim to love his Lord, but he was certainly a friend. And again Jesus told him to lead His disciples.
Yet a third time, Jesus turned to look at Peter and asked, “So you are my friend?” The shift in meaning was not lost on Peter; it broke his heart that he wasn’t what his best friend had expected. But he honestly admitted to his weakness. “Lord, I can hide nothing from You. I am assuredly your friend.” To which Jesus replied, “I still want you to lead my disciples.”
It was going to be a rough mission. Jesus mentioned how, when Peter was young, he was quite the motivated fellow, taking his own path in many ways. Jesus then warned him prophetically: When Peter was at the end of his mission, he would be forced to surrender to a fate not of his own choosing. The final triumph for Peter would be that he felt comfortable accepting this demise, because this life just was not worth worrying about. Peter would die as bravely as he once thought himself to be, for the name of Jesus.
This is the last lesson in this series. Start praying about the next series; be ready to make a request for something you would like to read about. I am open to suggestions.
Good old Pete, if indeed he died according to the tradition and I have no reason to doubt it. I find it a very gruesome way of ruining your day. There are depths to plumb in John’s pastoral letters that are ignored by the mainstream because they just don’t get it. Short and sweet, a couple of weeks. Mmm…I’m all rhythmy this morning.
Have you done anything with Ecclesiastes, with this sort of depth? That and Job are two of my favorites.
Only the commentary I published in ebook form a few years ago and it’s in the archives on both blogs. I remember doing Job; it was very moving what I found exploring it from the ANE perspective. I recall that I promised to do the Law next, so that’s the plan for now. We will cover Ecclesiastes again sometime.