Peter

     John 21 partly recounts what many know to be the “story of Jesus and the fish,” where Jesus tells the disciples to cast out their nets again and they catch so many that their nets nearly break. This is one of his appearances to the disciples after his Resurrection, and afterwards Jesus has a conversation with Peter. Now, when Jesus was taken away before his crucification, Peter stood outside in the courtyard and denied him three times, just as was predicted. Now, Jesus asks Peter if he loves him, repeating it three times, and thus restores Peter, counteracts his denial.

     I’m not a biblical scholar or theologian, I’m just a teenager with access to the internet, but I do know that the Gospel of John was written in Greek with a greater purpose in mind than recording word for word the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth. In Greek, love’s many dimensions were more clearly defined in that there are four words for love. Storge was natural affection, the type a parent naturally feels for their children and vice versa. Eros is love associated with sexual desire (whose relationship with the other forms is very interesting and complex - see Deus Caritas Est). The two words used here are phileo - often characterized as brotherly love, and agape, love as an act of self-gift, the perfect love that emanates from God.

     The first time Jesus asks Peter he uses the word agape. He asks Peter do you love me unconditionally as God the Father does. And Peter responds that he phieleos him, he loves him as a brother. Again, Jesus asks Peter, do you agape me and again Peter responds he phileos him. Finally, Jesus asks the third time, this time if Peter phileos him, and Peter responds that he does. 

      Jesus saw that Peter was not capable of what He wanted him to be capable of, and yet instead of leaving it Jesus met Peter where he was by asking the third time if he phileos him. And then He did something else. He told Peter that he would be the rock upon which He would found his Church. Peter was a coward, a follower, the ye in "oh ye of little faith." He was just a man. But Christ took him as he was and built His vehicle of salvation upon him anyways. 

“All the empires and the kingdoms have failed, because of this inherent and continual weakness, that they were founded by strong men and upon strong men. But this one thing, the historic Christian Church, was founded on a weak man, and for that reason it is indestructible. For no chain is stronger than its weakest link.”

- G. K. Chesterton