Obvious Questions...Obvious Answers

John 21:15-20
After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?"
"Yes, Master, You know I love You."
Jesus said, "Feed My lambs."
He then asked a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?"
"Yes, Master, You know I love You."
Jesus said, "Shepherd My sheep."
Then He said it a third time: "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?"
Peter was upset that He asked for the third time, "Do you love me?" so he answered, "Master, You know everything there is to know. You’ve got to know that I love You."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.

My son comes up to me. It's 6:17am. Me? I'm in my pj's, crazed hair, bleary eyes, desperately seeking coffee, thoughts hurtling through my brain at the extraordinary rate of one per hour. It is in this severely deprived state that I am accosted by my young son.

"Dad, can I have some chocolate?" he asks hopefully.

I start to answer "Sure, whatever." But then the reality of what he has asked settles into my sub-cortex and I become aware of the circumstances which I will face if I allow the chocolate (certain death by clubbing at the hands of my spouse). And so I say something brilliant like: "No, wait. No chocolate."

I have caught him just in time. But he is persistent. And he has the advantage. He is alert. I am not.

"Dad, how about some cookies?" He asks the question non-chalantly, making it sound as if he's asking for a bowl of fruit or a plate of okra. The inflection in his voice is misleading. The cookies almost sound nutritious to me in my haze of slumber.

Again, I falter for an answer, and just in time, I realize the question and the appropriate answer and simply murmur "No."

Ah, but the child is both persistent and patient. He waits for me to settle into a chair. He waits for my brain to begin to nod off once again into sleepy-land. If I were truly aware of my environment, I would notice the sunlight glinting off the drop of spittle hanging from the little fiend's fangs. He is crouched, waiting to pounce upon his poor, unsuspecting father with another precarious question, which, if answered incorrectly, will land his father in deep doo-doo with mommy.

Hold...hold...his muscles are taut with the energy of the pounce. He is ready. I am not.

"Dad, could I please have some chocolate milk?"

Now, any alert parent knows the obvious answer to this question. "No, of course you may not have chocolate milk...for breakfast!" It's a no-brainer. A duhhhh!

But I was not ready for the attack. I was caught unaware. I heard the polite "please" which the nice boy said, and I heard the word "milk." Somehow, my brain missed the "chocolate" part of the request. "Sure, whatever." I responded somewhat incoherently. My son, very excitedly, said, "Thanks, dad!" And he rushed off to pour his cereal...with chocolate milk.

After a while, I stumbled into the kitchen to make my morning cup o' joe. I gathered my mug, the coffee and a pot-full of water and began. Within just a couple of minutes, a freshly brewed pot of extra-strength mud awaited my consumption. Light would not penetrate the depths of this coffee. I dug out a few hunks, plopped them into my cup, and began to chew on my morning brew. As the sweet java began to course through my consciousness, the haze began to recede and I turned to see my child--my darling sweet child...er ahhh...monster, look at me with eyes that said, "You said I could do this. And I'm tellin' mom." Sugar-coated loops of fruit, bathing in a bowl of chocolate milk. I would be a dead man, as soon as mommy learned of this lapse of parental judgment.

Obvious questions with obvious answers.

The same was true with Jesus and Simon Peter in the little exchange we have in the last chapter from the story of Jesus' life as told by His youngest disciple, John. Jesus asks Peter obvious questions. "Peter, do you love Me?"

You can see the puzzled look on Peter's face as he wonders why Jesus is asking such an obvious question. The look says, "Okay, what's the catch? You know I love You, Jesus." After waiting just a second to see if he can see what Jesus is up to, Peter answers, "Duh. You know I love You, Jesus. Why are You asking such a silly question?"

So Jesus, being His ever playful self, gives a rather cryptic answer. He says with a glint in His eye, "Feed My lambs." Can you see the way the corner of Jesus' mouth is upturned, a little grin forming there as He waits for Peter to get it.

But Peter ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. He leans forward just a bit, squinting through confused eyes at Jesus, thinking to himself, "Lambs? I didn't know You had sheep." You can just about hear the crickets chirping in the background as Peter sits there confusedly looking at a grinning Savior.

But Jesus is persistent. And He asks the question again rather non-chalantly, examining the fingernails of His left hand. "Peter, do you love Me?"

"Oh!" Peter grunts in frustration to the obvious enjoyment of Jesus. Peter sits there, wondering what's going on. Why is Jesus acting so weird? Why is He asking such stupid questions? And as Peter sits there wondering, his ire rises within him and he answers, rather frustrated, "Hello! Jesus, You, of all people, know that I love You. Why do You ask?"

Jesus just grins openly this time. And He sits back on His haunches, enjoying the confusion on His friend's face. He waits before He answers with His enigmatic response, "Peter, shepherd My sheep."

And Peter sits there, still wondering about this illusive flock of sheep which he didn't know Jesus possessed. Peter actually begins to retrace their footsteps to try and figure out where this flock of sheep resides. Was it back in Galilee? What about over in Nazareth where Jesus was from? No matter how much brain he puts into it, he still can't figure out what Jesus is up to. He knows it should be obvious, at least it seems that way by the manner in which Jesus is both asking and answering. Peter is getting impatient and frustrated.

Ah, but the Savior is both patient and persistent. And He asks a third time, "Peter, do you love Me?"

"Arghh!" Peter lets out with a cry of pent-up frustration. "Jesus, after all we've been through...after all the places we've been, the demons we've kicked out, the sick we've healed, the imprisoned we've set free...after all this, You have to ask if I love you? You know I love You. Why do You have to ask me three times?"

This time, Jesus smiles a rueful smile as He waits for the words Peter has uttered to sink in. A moment spanning eons passes by. You can see the realization slowly creep down Peter's face. Tears well up in his eyes as he realizes that Jesus, His Savior, has asked Him three times if Peter loves Him.

The Savior gave Peter the chance to retract each of his three denials by proclaiming his love for Jesus. There is an oft misunderstood and under-fathomed word for this.

Grace.

Obvious questions, with obvious answers to reveal what Jesus would like for His sheep to be so very obvious: His Grace. It is what Easter is all about. It is why Jesus died and rose again, dear friends. Grace. Un-warranted and un-merited love. Extravagant in nature. Wild. Untamed. Unrestrained. The passionate eros love of our Savior for His rather dim-witted sheep.

And out of His Grace, comes our charge: "Feed and Shepherd My sheep. Take care of them. Love them, as I have loved you. This Grace I extend to you, share with My sheep, Peter." And then Jesus grinned, you just know it. And He opened His arms for a hug. Peter sees the scars, a tear begins to form from sorrow and shame, but then he sees the grin, and the tear turns to joy as he embraces his Savior in a Peter-sized bear hug.

The question for you today is obvious, isn't it? Friend, do you love Jesus?

My prayer for you is that your answer is equally obvious.

Be WILD For Christ!


Pastor Shane