Jul 20 – The Third Time!

“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.’” (John 21:17)

Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love Me?” — because Peter had denied Him three times. The triple confession of love was to cleanse and restore what had been marred by repeated denial. Great love was needed to wash away great failure.

When Jesus asked, “Do you love Me?”, it carried this deeper meaning: “Do you now have a love that matches the depth of your denial — a love that will no longer betray, a love that brings joy where once there was grief, a love that heals the wounds you caused?”

There’s a story of a father whose son went astray, and the father was deeply wounded in his heart. Every time the son did something wrong, the father would drive a nail into a tree in front of their house, saying, “Son, just as this nail pierces the tree, your actions pierce my heart.” Eventually, the tree was filled with hundreds of nails.

But one day, the son came to repentance. He said, “Father, for every way I’ve hurt you, I now want to love you even more. I will live to bring you joy.” From that day, he began doing good. And every time the father saw this change and rejoiced in it, he would pull out a nail from the tree. After some months, all the nails were removed — but the scars remained on the bark.

Moved by this, the young man began to care for the tree — watering it, fertilizing and nurturing it. The tree grew strong, and in time, even the scars faded.

Likewise, when we live in sin, we may not realize that our sins are like nails driven into Christ’s hands, and our reckless actions are like spears piercing His side. Imagine the pain in Jesus’ heart when Peter denied Him — it must have felt like a sword piercing His soul.

That’s why Jesus asked Peter, not once or twice, but three times: “Do you love Me?” The third time, the Lord used a different word for love — “Do you truly love Me?” Peter replied, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

What did Peter mean? “I now realize that I did not love You as I should have. Though You loved me deeply, I failed You. But now I offer You not only the love I should have given You before — I give You more, to make up for the grief I caused. From now on, I will love You without limit.”

Dear child of God, will you also love the Lord with such limitless love?

Verse for further meditation: “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)