Do you love Me?

By Pastor Young Joon Park

July 19, 2009

 

 

At the day of the Resurrection – Jesus appeared to His 10 Disciples

8 days later – Jesus appeared to His 11 Disciples

 

They traveled to Galilee to go to the mountain designated by the Lord; however, they did not have time with Jesus for a while. They did not have any clue as to when Jesus would come to see them again nor where they are going to see Him again at all.

 

That is just the same that we are in because we do not have any clue as to when we are going to encounter with the Holy Spirit, or the Glory of God fall onto us, and yet, we are waiting for the encounter with the Lord. But we are walking and waiting by faith with perseverance.

 

Matthew 28:16

But the eleven Disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.

 

 

Before they went to the mountain to see Jesus, they wanted to have some time to enjoy catching fish.

 

Peter and other 6 Disciples all agreed to go and catch fish.

Even some of the Disciples with no fishing experience wanted to go and join fishing.

 

John 21:2-3

2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee (John & James), and two others (Andrew and Philip?) of His disciples were together.

3 Simon Peter said to them, ¡°I am going fishing.¡± They said to him, ¡°We will also come with you.¡± They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.

 

They took the boat out to fishing, but ended up spending all night without catching any. 

 

In the morning, Jesus appeared at the beach and called them how they were fishing.

 

John 21:5

So Jesus said to them, ¡°Children, you do not have any fish, do you?¡± They answered Him, ¡°No.¡±

 

Without realizing who He was they answered to Him that they could not catch any fish at all.

Jesus wanted to let them have the excitement for the fishing, so He gave them an instruction to throw the net on the right hand side of the boat instead to go to deep place like as He did ask to Peter before Luke 5:4-11.

 

When they followed Jesus¡¯ instruction regardless of their experiences and knowledge, they caught a lot of big fish.

 

Full of large fish

153 fishes

The net

Right hand-side of the boat

 

Jesus called Peter as ¡°Fishers of Men,¡± also He called us fishers of men as well.

God is going to send big fish to us and we need to draw the net to them.

They are not far from us, but close.

 

A part of net is a Cell Group Ministry to catch them.

I really encourage all Cell Leaders to keep doing what you are doing, because God prepares the big fish around you. There will be variety ways of opening the net in Cell Group ministry. It could be the group for your neighbor, city, work place, school, homogeneous group¡¦

 

John 21:12a

Jesus said to them, ¡°Come and have breakfast.¡± ¡¦

 

Jesus made a breakfast for them and spent time together with them.

We need to spend time with the Lord continually.

We are too busy for many things to spend much time with the Lord in our daily life. It is time we need to go to His Place and receive food from Him.

 

After the breakfast, Jesus did Ministry Peter in special way and with special reason.

In this morning I want to meditate about Jesus¡¯ Special Ministry for Peter with you.

 

 

John 21:15-17

15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ¡°Simon, son of John, do you love (ajgapavw) Me more than these?¡± He said to Him, ¡°Yes, Lord; You know that I love (filevw) You.¡± He said to him, ¡°Tend My lambs.¡±

16 He said to him again a second time, ¡°Simon, son of John, do you love (ajgapavw) Me?¡± He *said to Him, ¡°Yes, Lord; You know that I l love (filevw) You.¡± He *said to him, ¡°Shepherd My sheep.¡±

17 He said to him the third time, ¡°Simon, son of John, do you love (filevw) Me?¡± Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ¡°Do you love (filevw) Me?¡± And he said to Him, ¡°Lord, You know all things; You know that I love (filevw) You.¡± Jesus said to him, ¡°Tend My sheep.

 

 

I. Jesus Special Ministry for Peter

So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus Ministered Peter in front of other Disciples.

 

¡°Love¡± in Greek

love (ajgapavw) Agapao

love (filevw) Phileo

 

A. Ministry 1

1. Jesus said to Simon Peter,

  1) Simon, son of John,

  2) do you love (ajgapavw) Me more than these?¡±

2. He said to Him,

  1) Yes, Lord; You know that I love (filevw) You.¡±

3. He said to him, ¡°Tend My lambs.¡±

 

B. Ministry 2

1. He said to him again a second time,

  1) Simon, son of John,

  2) do you love (ajgapavw) Me?¡±

2. He said to Him,

  1) Yes, Lord; You know that I l love (filevw) You.¡±

3. He said to him, ¡°Shepherd My sheep.¡±

 

C. Ministry 3

1. He said to him the third time,

  1) Simon, son of John,

  2) do you love (filevw) Me?¡±

2. Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time,

  1) Do you love (filevw) Me?¡±

  2) And he said to Him,

  3) Lord, You know all things;

  4) You know that I love (filevw)  You.¡±

3. Jesus said to him, ¡°Tend My sheep.

 

 

II. The reasons for this special Ministry

 

A. the inner wound

 

   1. Jesus¡¯ teaching about the denial

 

     1) before Father God

 

Matthew 10:33

But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

 

    2) before the angels of God

 

Luke 12:8-9

8 ¡°And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God;

9 but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

 

We will be denied totally if we denied Jesus before men.

God will not recognize you as His Children, and the angels of God will not recognize you either.

 

So we could see that Peter¡¯s denial was a serious spiritual problem.

He had a serious wound in him.

 

2. Jesus¡¯ prophecy

 

     1) for His Disciples

         They will run away from Jesus when He is arrested

 

    2) for Peter

 

     Luke 22:31-32

31 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;

32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once

      you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.¡±

 

Jesus fulfilled this word at the beach on the Lake of Galilee.

 

  3) for Peter¡¯s strong commitment

   1) Truly I say to you that this very night,

     2) I say to you the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times.

 

   Peter¡¯s strong commitment statements were

     Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!¡±

   Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.¡±

     Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.¡±

 

All His Disciples confessed in the same matter, but the Bible says that all the disciples left Him and fled.

 

It is very important what you believe and confess, but the most important matter is you have to live what you confess and what you believe.

 

How you start is very important, but the most important matter is how you finish according to your confession.

 

   3. Peter¡¯s conviction

 

     1) by Peter¡¯s denial

 

Matthew 26:69-75

But he denied it before them all, saying, ¡°I do not know what you are talking about.¡±

And again he denied it with an oath, ¡°I do not know the man.¡±

Then he began to curse and swear, ¡°I do not know the man!¡±

 

    2) by Jesus

 

Luke 22:61

The Lord turned and looked at Peter.

 

   3) by Jesus¡¯ Prophetic Word

 

Matthew 26:74b-75

74 And immediately a rooster crowed.

75 And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, ¡°Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.¡± And he went out and wept bitterly.

 

He was in a deep regret and disappointment about himself, tremendous feeling of failure, of shame in his life, and top of that his strong commitment confession for the Lord became hopeless of his life.

 

He felt like that the sky was falling down on him, the world came to the end and his life was over.

He had a tremendous pressure and depression at the moment of his failure.

He might have thought that there was no more second chance from the Lord.

 

His relationship with Jesus was damaged by satan, and his inner being was hurt by his denial deeply

 

Have you been in that kind of feeling because of your failure?

 

According to the word of God, Peter went out and wept bitterly.

It means not only regret about his failure, but he repented his sin to the Lord also from his deep true heart.

 

It is very important to see yourself and to repent, and then you will receive God¡¯s Grace.

Even Iscariot Judah had a choice to repent to come to the Lord, but he chose to give up his life instead of repenting.

 

B. the Healing and the Restoration

 

Jesus healed the single wound area and restored him fully.

The 3 wound area through His Loving question for Peter

  1) Do you love (ajgapavw) Me more than these?¡±

  2) Do you love (ajgapavw) Me?¡±

  3) Do you love (filevw) Me?¡±

 

Because of his 3 times of denials his loving relationship with the Lord was damaged.

I believe that Peter gave his life to the Lord even stronger than before after his failure, but still the guilt of failure was operating in his heart continually.

Even if he loved the Lord with his full heart, the failure was still bothering his life.

That is why Jesus asked him that he loved Jesus more than other disciple¡¯s. Jesus knew that Peter¡¯s commitment was stronger than before, but Jesus saw his wound was not healed yet.

 

Jesus was going through every single his denial issue with His Love, and healed his deep wound with His Agape love at His Level, also with Peter¡¯s phileo love at his level.

 

Jesus did not call him as Peter that was his new calling name from the Lord, but He called him his old human name and his father¡¯s.

 

He called him.

Simon, son of John,

Jesus called him as his original name, Simon, also He added ¡°son of John¡± as well.

He did not call him Peter that He gave him the new name when he was called.

Peter was lost all his heart to be qualified to follow the Lord because of times of his three denials even with curse and swearing words against the Lord.

He might be in deep guilt or almost condemning himself with shame.

 

 

1) The 1st wound

He denied it before them all, saying, ¡°I do not know what you are talking about.¡±

 

His denial wound was scratched and started bleeding at the moment of denial, and the wounded area was getting bigger and bigger continually.

The wounds of Peter were a guilty conscience, self-accusation and etc.

 

1) Jesus¡¯ first question for the restoration – Restored him.

Simon, son of John, Do you love (ajgapavw) Me more than these?¡±

One of Peter¡¯s major and huge wound was a comparison with other 10 Disciples, because he was the only one who denied Jesus among Jesus¡¯ Disciples. That is why Jesus asked him and intentionally compared with other 10 Disciples.

 

Jesus touched his major comparison wound area because of the serious guiltiness and poured out the Healing with His Agape Love and healed thoroughly.

 

Peter, even you think that you are not worthy to be called as Peter, but I love you without any condition. OK, let¡¯s start again; let¡¯s go back before I called you.

So I call you as Simon at this point as the starting point as the new calling, because I am going to reestablish your relationship with Me.

 

I do love you however you denied me the first time, so I am touching your first wound place that you denied me. Do not look back, it is already past. I am calling you to new way. I restored the relationship between you and Me first, and I will give you the new assignment to take care of My sheep. You are qualified for this ministry, because I renewed your heart and you are a new person that I raised you.

 

Peter did not realize that Jesus¡¯ Love was higher than what he expected. Our human level of love is phileo instead of the agapao. He was healed the first deep wound area.

 

Tend (feed) My lambs (sheep).

Jesus restored his relationship with the Lord and qualified his calling from Simon, son of John, to new calling of Peter for the His Church to the nations.

 

Peter was restored and qualified to feed Jesus¡¯ Lambs.

 

Do you have a similar wound in your life?

Same way Jesus asks you,

¡°My daughters and My sons, do you love Me more than others?

Receive His Agape Love and healing right now. God is healing you right now.

 

 

2) The 2nd wound

He denied it with an oath, ¡°I do not know the man.¡±

Do you love (ajgapavw) Me?¡±

 

Matthew 5:34-35

34 ¡°But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

36 ¡°Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

 

2) Jesus¡¯ second question for the restoration – Confirmed him.

Simon, son of John, Do you love (ajgapavw) Me?¡±

 

Jesus did not ask his love without any comparison with other 10 Disciples, but He asked him directly.

 

Peter denied Jesus with an oath, and his oath was to become a covenant with satan, and Peter became under satan¡¯s bondage, Jesus nullified his oath with satan, destroyed the bondage of satan and freed Peter from it by His Agape Love on him.

 

Jesus healed his severe wound area from his oath thoroughly with His Unconditional Agape Love.

 

 

Peter, even you think that you are not worthy to be called as Peter, but I love you without any condition. OK, let¡¯s start again; let¡¯s go back before I called you.

So I call you as Simon at this point as the starting point as the new calling, because I am going to reestablish your relationship with Me and the ministry.

 

I do love you however you denied me the second time as you pretended you do not know Me firmly in front of them, so I am touching your second wound place that you denied me.

 

Do not look back, it is already past. I am calling you to the new way. I restored the relationship between you and Me the second time, and I will give you the new assignment to take care of My sheep again as confirm. You are qualified for this ministry, because I renewed your heart and you are a new person that I raised you.

 

He was healed the second deep wound area.

 

Shepherd My sheep.

Jesus restored his relationship with the Lord and qualified his calling from Simon, son of John, to new calling to Peter for His Church to the nations.

 

Peter was confirmed and qualified to shepherd Jesus¡¯ Lambs.

 

 

Do you have any major disobedience in your life?

Do you have any oath against Jesus in your life?

Are you still under satan¡¯s bondage?

 

God is going to heal you and be asking you, ¡°Do you love Me?¡±

Receive His Healing through His Unconditional Agape Love.

 

3) The 3rd wound –

 

Then he began to curse and swear, ¡°I do not know the man!¡±

 

3) Jesus¡¯ third question for the restoration – Absolute undeniable confirmation

Simon, son of John, Do you love (filevw) Me?¡±

 

Peter was grieved when Jesus asked about his love to Jesus three times.

 

His denial was not a simple matter, and it kept getting worse and worse, so his wound was enormous almost to destroy him from the relationship with the Lord.

 

We need to remember John 10:10 the satan¡¯s strategy.

To steal, to kill and to destroy.

This 3rd wound was come to the last stage to destroy.

 

He did not just denied, or made an oath with satan, but he cursed on himself with swear. So his wound was full of curses and swears not only spiritual but natural as well.

 

Do you love (filevw) Me?¡±

Especially Jesus used the word ¡°Love¡± as filevw that is love between friends.

Jesus was using His Love as Peter¡¯s level of love as a friend to heal him.

 

John 15:13-14

13 ¡°Greater love (ajgapavw) has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

14 ¡°You are My friends (fivlo")            if you do what I command you.

 

Jesus touched his deadly wound area with full of His Friend¡¯s Love over him and heal him thoroughly.

 

Jesus nullified every single of his curses and swears that Peter poured out to himself through satan, and destroyed them completely from his deadly wound denial with His Agape Love on him.

 

Jesus healed his severe wound area from his curses and swears thoroughly with His Unconditional Agape Love.

 

It is important for our inner wound areas to be healed before we enter into the ministry.

 

Peter, even you think that you are not worthy to be called as Peter, but I love you without any condition. OK, let¡¯s start again; let¡¯s go back before I called you.

 

So I call you as Simon at this point as the starting point as the new calling, because I am going to reestablish your relationship with Me and the ministry.

 

I do love you however you denied me the third time as you did pretend absolutely do not know Me at all, so I am touching your third wound place that you denied me.

 

Do not look back, it is already past. I am calling you to a new way. I restored the relationship between you and Me in the third time as I sealed the confirmation, and also I will give you the new assignment to take care of My sheep again as a confirmation. You are qualified for this ministry, because I renewed your heart and you are a new person that I raised you.

 

He was healed the third deep wound area.

 

Tend My sheep.

 

Jesus restored his relationship with Him and qualified his calling from Simon, son of John, to new calling to Peter for the His Church to the nations.

 

Peter received undeniable confirmation and a qualification to shepherd Jesus¡¯ Sheep.

 

No matter what you have been before, you do not need to stay in the past.

Come to Jesus and be healed by His Love Agape and Phileo.

 

 

Conclusion

 

To be healed continually

Hebrews 12:13

and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

 

As your Personal life

Proverbs 24:16

For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again,

But the wicked stumble in time of calamity.

 

When Kristi Yamaguchi fell on the ice during her competition in the 1992 Winter Olympics, the crowd groaned. Everyone thought her chance for a gold medal had been lost by the fall. But Kristi quickly got up to her feet, flashed a smile, and resumed her performance. She received high scores from the judges, despite her mishaps, and she won the gold medal. It happened because she got back on her feet right away even though she fell, she didn't stay down-.