On the evening after Christ was raised from the dead, He appeared to His disciples, gave them the Holy Spirit, and commissioned them:
John 20:19-23 NIV
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
How did the Father send Jesus? I think Jesus answered that in by explaining His Messianic calling in Luke 4:18-19 (quoting Isaiah 61) and Luke 7:22 (responding to John the Baptist's disciples). And He has sent us in that same Messianic calling. We, the Church, are His Body, and He told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for His same empowerment by the Holy Spirit:
Luke 24:46-49 NIV
He told them, "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
The Lord is so gracious. He sends us and empowers us, and He also meets us where we are and takes us to where He wants us to be. The Lord knew that Peter was messed up in his soul because He betrayed Jesus, and it seems like Peter had invalidated himself. Jesus appeared to them on the shore of the lake, blessed them with an abundant catch of fish, fed them breakfast, and then addressed Peter's soul wound:
John 21:15-17 NIV
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.
As previously discussed (https://texasfarmboy.blogspot.com/2014/06/peters-reinstatement.html), there is a difference between agape (the Greek word for "love" that Jesus used in the first two questions), and phileo (the Greek word for "love" that Peter replied, and Jesus used in His third question). I think Jesus was asking Peter to choose to love Him unconditionally, but perhaps Peter felt like he couldn't. Maybe Peter felt like he had disqualified himself. But I think Jesus met Peter where he was. Perhaps, the third time, Jesus was basically saying, "If you feel like you can't agape me, but you can only phileo me, I'll still take it. I'll take you where you are, and we will go on together to where I want you to be." Whatever love you have for the Lord, small as it may be, give it to Him. He will take it, use it, bless it, and grow it.
Jesus had planted something in Peter. Over their past three years together, and especially on the shore of the lake that morning, Jesus planted something in Peter's heart. And within the following two months, it sprouted, grew, and produced a crop of righteousness when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, and Peter preached for thousands of people to become disciples of Jesus.
Heavenly Father, I feel like my love for you is so fickle. Jesus, I want to agape you. Holy Spirit, empower me, and take me on higher with you. I am excited to see what you will do with me in the next two months. I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.
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