In John 21, Jesus appears to the disciples for the third time since his resurrection. The chapter begins with Peter telling the disciples that he's going fishing. The other disciples chime in and tell him they are going with him. They fish all night and catch nothing. Then, they hear a voice telling them to cast the net on the side of the boat, and the net is so full of fish that they need help getting it in. When they come in from dragging in the fish, Jesus is sitting on the beach with breakfast ready for them. After breakfast, Jesus speaks to Peter. To be noted: the two were not recording as having talked the first two times, perhaps because Peter was still too ashamed after his denial of Christ on the day of the crucifixion...
In verses 15-17, we see the word LOVE used several times. It is this word which we primarily studied.
In English, we use context to describe what kind of love we are talking about: "I love my children" "I love ice cream" "I love when she touches me like that" "God loves the world." Same word, multiple meanings. The primary reason to do Word Study is because Greek and Hebrew are very different in this respect. They use different words to convey different meanings, and often the word used IS the context.
Greek (the language used in the New Testament) words for love:
agapao - intense love, much love, intentional love, Godlike love
phileo - friendship love, brotherly love, general love (affection for a person, place, thing or idea)
eros - romantic, passionate, intimate love
storge - familial love; love for a parent to children, children to grandparents, siblings, etc
John 21:15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
John 21:16 He said to him again a second time,
John 21:17 He said to him the third time,
Reading the English translation is still very significant and important - we see that Jesus gave Peter three chances to affirm his love for the Savior whom he had betrayed three times. But in Word Study is where we see the deeper significance of what is going on in the conversation.
In John 21:15, Jesus first uses the word "agapao" for love, and Peter answers "phileo." So in essence, Jesus is saying, "Peter, do you love me intensely, with a Godlike love?" And Peter replies with the truth because he confesses here that he knows Jesus can read his mind (by the word study which tells us the word "know" means that literally Jesus knows Peter's thoughts). So Peter says, "Yes, Jesus, you know that I love you like a good friend."
The second time, the same two words are used.
Then the third time, Jesus changes His word for love to "phileo." Jesus is saying, "Peter, do you love me like a good friend?" It says that Peter was hurt/grieved, but Peter again responded with the truth - "phileo." "Jesus, I love you like a good friend."
On Wednesday, we discussed why Jesus changed his word and why Peter was grieved about it.
Some good thoughts from class (based on my memory, so not word for word):
John Bailey said, "It's typical of Jesus, that He comes down to our level instead of expecting us to come up to His."
Rebecca "Beck" Bailey said, "Sometimes, we need to express our emotion out loud when we've been hurt or hurt someone, so that we can get it out and so others understand how deeply we feel it."
Heidi said, "I wonder if Peter was grieved because he was hoping Jesus would zap him with the instant ability to have Godlike love, and he was disappointed when that wasn't Jesus' solution?"
Beth said, "We want it all easy - we don't want to have to work for it. But love is hard work and Jesus knows we don't appreciate what we don't have to work for."
Kristy said, "I think it's significant that Jesus fed him/them first, before He got into the deep conversation. He always met their needs first, and then said, "Go feed my sheep" so they would go meet the needs of others the way He always did for them."
The conclusion we came to is that even though Jesus knows we aren't perfect and aren't as good at loving as He is, He still forgives us, accepts us as we are, and expects us to go out and do our best to minister to others. When we do that, the Godlike love will come eventually, just as we saw that it did for Peter at the end of his life as he was martyred for Jesus when he was hung upside down on a cross for his agapao love for His Savior.
Share your thoughts about the above passages and word study!
Next week's lesson: Where did we get our Bible Translations and which ones should we use or stay away from? Discussion will focus on where the copies of the Bible came from and why KJV, NASB and NIV all have slight differences...
No comments:
Post a Comment