Why did Apostle Peter feel sad after hearing the
Savior ask him "Do you love me?" for the third time? Why does the
Greek original text change one word, which means "love", to another one?
Why does the Lord ask Apostle Peter three times? What does this story from the
Gospel teach us?
Orthodox fasting seasons are periods when we focus on
repentance. The Church creates conditions that are the most beneficial for our
purification and improvement. The fasting season that precedes the Day of the
Holy Apostles Peter and Paul is no exception. Both apostles set an example of
repentance for us. Apostle Paul had persecuted Christians prior to his
conversion. Later, when he was called upon by God to become an apostle, he
considered himself to be the worst of all sinners (cf. 1 Tim. 1:15). Apostle
Peter denied Jesus three times, but then he repented. Throughout his entire
life, he would burst into tears every time he heard a rooster because it
reminded him of his downfall.
Let's see what we can learn from Peter's repentance.
Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian who
was the Lord's favorite disciple recounts how the Risen Lord Jesus Christ
restores Peter into his apostolic status by asking him whether he loves him or
not three times. The Holy Fathers usually explain that the Lord
hereby forgives Peter's threefold denial of Christ.
This passage mentions that "Peter was grieved
because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me?" (John 21:17) If
you read most English translations of the Bible, you may think that the reason
for the grief of the apostle who had denied Jesus was that the same question
was repeated three times (with slight variations). Russian and Slavonic
translations point to the same conclusion. However, if you read the Greek
original, you will see this event in a quite different light. This is because
there are several words for love in Greek. Here in this passage the Lord uses
the word 'ἀγαπᾷς' in the first two questions(John 21:15–16), and then
'φιλεῖς' in his third question (John 21:17). To cut it short,
we can say that the first of these verbs is normally used when they talk about
spiritual love, whereas the second one is used to talk about love as friendly
affection. That is, the Lord literally asks Peter in his last question,
"Do you love me in any way?" Almost like, "Well, do you at least
like me?"
This is why even in English this passage implicitly
says that the reason for Peter's grief was not the fact that the Lord asked him
"Lovest thou me?" three times but that he used a different verb in
this case. The Greek text makes it even clearer because it is written that
Peter was upset when he heard 'φιλεῖς με',
not 'ἀγαπᾷς με'
as in the first two cases. Bishop Cassian (Bezobrazov) addresses this fact in
detail when he points out, "There can be no doubt that the three questions
follow each other in a descending order." First, the Lord asks Peter,
"Do you love me more than they do?" Secondly, He simply asks,
"Do you love me?" Finally, Peter hears a question about the kind of
love that is called φιλία, which makes him desperate.
What is the key to this descending order of the Lord's
questions? There is nothing accidental in the Gospel. The answer lies in the
Gospel itself. As we read in the story of Peter's denial of Jesus, his three
denials were different from each other. His first denial is almost like he
didn't mean it. It looks like the apostle is in the state of shock, as we say
it nowadays. He wants to be alone, to hide, to remain invisible, in order to
comprehend the event, to absorb it, to agree with the fact that it is real and
not a nightmare, to figure out its secret meaning and the ways out that it
opens, so as to be able to go on living in this new distorted reality. "I
know not, neither understand I what thou sayest," he replied to the maid
of the high priest (Mark 14:68). The echo of his own words "Though all men
shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended" (Matthew
26:33) might still have been ringing in his ears. The question of the Savior,
"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?" (John 21:15)–
"Σίμων ᾿Ιωνᾶ, ἀγαπᾷς με πλεῖον τούτων?" — reminds him of his boastful assertion.
The second denial leaves no place for alternative
interpretation. He confirms it with an oath, "And again he denied with an
oath, I do not know the man." (Matthew 26:72). This is why the second
question of the Lord is shorter than the first one and apparently somewhat
hesitant: "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" – «Î£á½·Î¼Ï‰Î½ ᾿Ιωνᾶ, ἀγαπᾷς με?»
(John 21:16).
During his third denial, Peter added curses to the
oaths, thus completing his rejection of Jesus, "Then began he to curse and
to swear, saying, I know not the man" (Matthew 26:74). That is why the
last question of the Son of God sounds like a verdict that made the First Apostle
so upset, "Σίμων ᾿Ιωνᾶ, φιλεῖς με?"
(John 21:17).
According to the Holy Fathers, one's repentance must
correspond to the measure of his sins. If one returns to sinning, it proves
that his repentance wasn't complete. We see in this passage how the Lord helps
the fallen apostle to finally get rid of the weakness that had led him to the
denial of God. The questions that the Savior asks make Peter sorry and heal his
soul essentially by going over the steps of his denial.
We can add that the Lord does not ask Peter if he
loves him one-on-one. He does it in public so as to make Peter respond
publicly. The Holy Fathers pointed out the fact that repentance must correspond
not only to the measure but also to the way of sinning. If we insult someone
with words, our repentance must include verbal apology to the person whom we
insulted. If we caused someone financial loss, our repentance will be
incomplete if we don't make up for the losses. If we think bad of someone, we
must repent in our thoughts, too (except the Sacrament of Confession,
naturally). Apostle Peter denied Christ publicly, so his profession of love to
the Lord had to be in the presence of other people.
Our exegesis of this passage did not touch on Peter's
answers nor on the Lord's request nor on a lot of other things but I believe
that even the aspects of this passage that we have mentioned may be useful for
us. As far as other points that we haven't made are concerned, we'll try to
justify ourselves with the words of Evangelist John himself, "And there
are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be
written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the
books that should be written." (John 21:25).
By Andrey
Gorbachev
CONVERSATION