(1) Relationship between loving the Lord the utmost and feeding His sheeps v.15. Other motivation to serve God is not enough. Jesus wanted Peter to serve out of love, not like an unwilling worker who only works because of duty or money.
Is our serving founded in the love of God? Are we motivated by His love to us and now we want to love Him back by serving His people? Or do we serve to meet other people's requests or to look good among others? Are we lazy or slacking in our serving? Do we come one time? Do I put in 100% in understanding and presenting the materials we teach?
Sometimes I do not want to prepare for a certain teaching responsibility because I do not see any change in that group of people. Thank God for the reminder today: to serve because of love for God.
(2) Jesus asked so many times that Peter was distressed v.17 and He explained with the longest answer in the last round v.18-19. The reason was Peter would face persecution and death.
Love is not just important in motivating us to serve God, but also is important in perseverance. What keeps a person going through pain and suffering and still recognizes the Lord is our love to God. How important that we keep loving the Lord.
Will you let others bring you where you do not want to go because you love the Lord? What right will you give up for the Lord?
(3) (optional) What does "these" in v.15 refer to? “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?”
(NET) refers to the other disciples, meaning “Do you love me more than these other disciples do?” It seems likely that there is some irony here: Peter had boasted in 13:37, “I will lay down my life for you,” and the synoptics present Peter as boasting even more explicitly of his loyalty to Jesus (“Even if they all fall away, I will not,” Matt 26:33; Mark 14:29). Thus the semantic force of what Jesus asks Peter here amounts to something like “Now, after you have denied me three times, as I told you you would, can you still affirm that you love me more than these other disciples do?” The addition of the auxiliary verb “do” in the translation is used to suggest to the English reader the third interpretation, which is the preferred one.
Is there any difference between the 2 Greek words of "love" used throughout this passage? The short answer is, "no." For long answer, please read NET notes in v.15.
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