Breakfast eaten, Jesus asks Simon Peter, ‘do you love
me more than these?’ More than these what? I have often heard it taken
as ‘do you love me more than you love these other disciples?’ or ‘do you love
me more than these other disciples do?’ but that won’t do. Jesus insists that
the generative command to ‘love God with your whole and undivided self’ begets
the command to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’: these two commands are
consubstantial and indivisible. What then? In the preceding verse, we are told
that this is now the third time that Jesus appeared to his disciples after he
was raised from the dead. Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these
precious, fleeting moments? Here is the commission of Jesus, who will soon
return to his Father, to the one who will pasture and shepherd his flock after
and under him.
Twice, Jesus asks, do you love (agapas) me? And
twice, Peter responds, Lord, you know that I love (philō) you. The third
time, Jesus asks, as Peter has already twice answered, do you love (philō)
me, and Peter again affirms that he does. What’s the difference? Agapas has to
do with choice: with choosing that which is best for the other, whether it is
our preference or not. Choosing to let them go when we would hold on to them.
Choosing to lay down our life for them when we would prefer to carry on living,
with them, as before. Philō has to do with emotion. We do not choose our
emotional reactions, though we do choose how we will behave in response and can
train our responses. Peter has an undeniable deep emotional affection for Jesus,
though when overwhelmed by the emotion of fear he had repeatedly denied even
knowing him.
‘Will you choose to let me go, over these times
together?’ ‘You know the depth of my affection for you.’ ‘I do; but will you
choose to let me go?’ ‘Lord, you know the depth of my affection.’ ‘Do you hold
me in deep affection?’ ‘It hurts that you need to ask; you know that I do.’ Jesus
doesn’t push the choice of love beyond where Peter is willing to go but meets
him where he is. Nonetheless, whether Peter is willing or not, Jesus will
return to the Father, and Simon the fisherman will need to become Peter the
shepherd. And in old age he will again have no choice, will be led out to die—on
a cross—and the sheep will be faced with the same dilemma, whether they are
able to let go of the shepherd they hold with deep affection, or not. For now,
it is enough to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment