Never Say Never
“So when they had dined, Jesus sayeth to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonas, lovest though Me more than these? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed My sheep.” John 21:15
The disciple Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times when Jesus was before the high priest after His arrest (John 18:15-27). After His resurrection, Jesus met with His disciples, and Jesus and Peter had a truly thought-provoking conversation. Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him, and Peter answered “Yes” each time. I suppose Peter was reminded of those three denials each time the question was asked. I can only imagine the emotional turmoil within the heart of Peter. He had previously, without the slightest hesitation, absolutely confirmed that in no way would he ever be offended because of Jesus, and then he was, to the point of denying his association with Jesus, even cursing and swearing that he did not even know Jesus. I suppose the old saying about never saying never is absolutely true. One never knows what one will have to face as life goes on. It also seems like the devil enjoys attacking someone who is dogmatic about claiming he or she would never do such and such. As far as Peter is concerned, I wonder when Peter asserted that he would never deny Jesus, the old devil said to himself, “We’ll see about that”.
When the rooster crowed as Jesus foretold (Matthew 26:69-75), I imagine that Peter had the sickest feeling within his stomach. He did exactly what he said that he would never do. I wonder if Peter thought, “Jesus will never trust and love me again. How could He ever forgive someone who did something so awful as turning his back on his best Friend just to save his own hide?” But you know what? Jesus never stopped loving Peter. He forgave him and trusted him to carry on the work of the Gospel. When Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, Jesus was basically asking Peter if he loved Him in such a way that he would be willing to spend the rest of his life in telling others about Him, that is, feeding His sheep with the same love, mercy, and forgiveness with which Jesus had given to Peter.
This kind of love is what we know as “agape” love, a self-sacrificing love which puts others ahead of our own desires and ambitions. If the truth be told, this agape love is a rare find among humans because it asks a lot of those who strive to love like Jesus loves, but we can accomplish it if we let Jesus love through us.