The world defines love in a conditional term; we can love something one minute and hate it the next. We can fall in love as quickly as we can fall out of it. The worldly image of love is everything BUT what the Biblical image is and we lose a lot in the English translation of scripture. The Greek translation has 3 words for love: Eros, meaning physical love; Phileo, meaning brotherly love and Agape, meaning divine love. Combining these 3 types using just the word ‘love’ in the English translation creates a lot of confusion, after-all in Song of Songs the man and woman are not talking about Phileo, brotherly love. It is speaking about Eros, Erotic love, Sexual love. Physical love.

And as we see in 1 John 4:8 it is not Eros or Phileo love that scripture is speaking about but Agape. Agape love is complete, it is non-judgmental, non-erotic, and it is available to every single person. It is wholly perfect, without faults or blemishes. Agape love IS God.

1 John 4:8
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

To truly love God the way He commands us to, we must love our brothers and our sisters. We must love our enemies, love the people that hurt us, harm us and wish death upon us. We must also love ourselves. We cannot love God if we do not love His creation. Because of the many ways we use the word ‘love’ in today’s society, we lose the meaning behind the actual word. We lose our understanding of what real love is.

John 21:15-19

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
“Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, a simple yet profound question that we should be asking our selves of. But first we must fully understand the scripture. It is times like these that the lack of meaning in our translation can cause confusion. We can look at this passage and wonder why Jesus would ask Peter the same question 3 different times and ponder the possibilities of those reasons,. However by diving into the Greek we would have the answer before us.

Jesus asks Peter if he AGAPE love’s Jesus, and Peter states he Phileo loves Him. Again, Jesus asks Peter if he AGAPE love’s Jesus, and yet again Peter states he Phileo loves Him. Finally, Jesus asks if Peter even Phileo loves Jesus and it is here it finally sinks in for Peter with Jesus telling Peter what type of death He will have and commands him to still Follow. Yet the realness of this conversation is left lacking in our English translation.

It is the way that we love that distinguishes someone who just believes in Christ to someone who loves Christ. It is picking up our cross daily, willing to die for Him. It is showing Christ and others that we do not only Phileo love Christ but we Agape love Christ.

So, if Christ asked you today, “Do you love me?” How would you respond?