Chris' Christian Blog

September 20, 2021

Prompt: "What would you do or how would you respond if Jesus asked you if you love him 3 times like he did Peter?"

What many fail to realize in this passage is the peter used two or three different Greek words to respond to Jesus. The first Greek word Peter used was "philia" from which we derive the name of Philadelphia and means "brotherly love." Jesus wanted a deeper commitment from Peter so he asked again. The second time Peter used a Greek word that means a type of sacrificial love. In other words, he told Jesus that he loved Jesus enough to go the extra mile with Jesus or make small sacrifices for Jesus. Jesus wanted a deeper commitment yet and at this point peter realized that Peter loved Jesus enough to die for Jesus. Thus Peter was "grieved" over Peter's original denial of Jesus.