Thou Knowest I Love Thee

“So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.” – John 21:15

In the United States, identity theft is a felony punishable by law.  Our names, bank accounts, personal assets, and records; they are personal property, and thereby protected under the law.  However, we understand that our identities consist of far more than what is on paper.  What we believe, where we go, where we work, who we keep company with, what we drive, where we live, etc.  These are just some of the many things that are thrown in this blender of life to create our identities.  These identities define us, they are us, and Jesus asks: “Lovest thou me more than these?”.

Before the Apostle Peter was the Apostle Peter, he was a fisherman.  His day to day occupation was to catch fish and sell them to market for profit.  He had a business to run, he had a reputation to protect, and he had an identity in this.  These were some of the things of this world that defined Peter.  When Jesus called him, and when Peter chose to follow Christ, Peter’s identity changed.  He was no longer Peter the fisherman, he was Peter the disciple.  His identity was totally wrapped up in Christ.  He trusted Jesus, he followed Jesus, and when Christ was crucified, everything he trusted in seemed to be lost.  However, when Mary brought news that the Lord has risen, there was hope.  Not long after, they saw and heard from Christ himself.  He had indeed risen from the grave!  Now we must understand that after the resurrection, Jesus was not walking around with them moment by moment like before.  He would appear for a time and then leave.  Sometime in Jesus’s absence Peter decides to go fishing.  He reverts to his old trade, his old identity (let’s be honest, men tend to define themselves by what they do for a living), and at the Lord’s instructions he brings in a pile of fish.  Here is Peter, and various other disciples, sitting with the resurrected Christ eating on the shoreline, and somewhere nearby flips and flops a pile of “great fish.”  Then, perhaps sometime after the initial joy and elation of seeing Jesus, Jesus turns to Peter and asks him “Simon, lovest thou me more than these?”  He presents this question three times: “lovest thou me more than these?”  To this Peter says “Yes” and Christ tells him to “feed my sheep.”  One must understand that to Peter, there was a whole lot more than just a pile of fish to love.  This was not just a pile of fish, it was money in the bank!  He may have already calculated the payout at market.  Already wrestling with where to spend his recent earnings.  The blessing from God, could very quickly become a tool of temptation for the devil, because it was more than a pile of fish to this man, it was elements of his old identity.  I imagine before he met Jesus, he spent nights dreaming about a haul like this; it was why he got into fishing in the first place!  To catch fish!  Now here he was sitting with the risen Christ, and his old dream was realized, his two identities called into question.  To this question Peter gives no hesitation: “You know I love you.”

What is your identity today?  Are there things of this world that you acquire to build up yourself?  Do you love Jesus more than the praise of men?  Do you love Jesus more than a bigger house, or better salary?  What is your identity?  Lord help us to live in such a way where Jesus Christ is our identity.  To live in such a way that there is no doubt, no question, and no hesitation: “Yea, Lord thou knowest I love thee.”  Jesus does not want us to guard who we are but give up who we are; the Apostle Peter would have never been “the Apostle Peter”, if he loved the pile of fish.