JUST NEED TO HEAR YOU SAY IT
He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.
John 21:17 NASB1995
“Do you love me?”, Jesus asked of the Apostle Peter three times. There is a point that I bring up in Bible class every chance I get: Jesus doesn’t ask questions because He doesn’t know the answer. He asks questions because He does know the answer. Always! Which begs the question; if Jesus knows the answer, then why does He ask the question? The simple answer is: to teach us something. Always.
Here, even Peter admits to Jesus, “You know all things.; you know that I love you.” That’s true. But sometimes, even when we know it, we still need to hear you say it. (multiple times maybe). Isn’t that true? As parents, you know your kids love you (hopefully), but you still need to hear them say it sometimes; don’t you? And they, you. You know your spouse loves you, but you still need to hear them say it sometimes; don’t you? In fact, hopefully, you appreciate it if they say it often. Yes, we know, but it’s good and helpful and important and heart-warming and a blessing to hear.
Think of all that Jesus has been through. He was falsely arrested, falsely accused, falsely sentenced, mocked, beaten, scourged, spit upon, and crucified. In His innocence He was traded for a murderer, He was made to carry the cross up to Golgatha, and from the viewpoint of the cross, He had to watch His mother suffer as she witnessed His agonizing and unjust death. And to top it off, He had been abandoned by His followers, betrayed by one of His Apostles, and denied by Peter three times. Yes, He knew Peter loved Him, but it didn’t hurt to have Him say so three times.
But that’s not the only way Jesus wanted to “hear it”. He needed to hear Peter say he loved Him through his actions - through tending His sheep. “Actions speak louder than words” as we looked at on Day 8’s post this month from I John 3:18 “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." Peter could say “I love you, Lord” all day long, but he would prove that love by tending to the Lord’s sheep - by loving those whom the Lord had given Him charge. We certainly go on to see from passages like 1st and 2nd Peter that he did just that indeed. He did prove His love for the Lord not just in word, but in deed.
What about us? I hope we do verbally tell the Lord that we love Him. Even though He knows whether we do or not, it’s still good for us to say and good for Him to hear. But the loudest and most honest “I love you” will be seen in our actions. In keeping His commandments, and especially the commandment of loving one another. Hopefully, they already know you love them, but sometimes they still just need to hear you say it. Don’t wait. Do it today.
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