Do You Love Me?

By Debby Thompson – Excerpted from the 6th Chapter of “340 Questions Jesus Asked” compiled by Bob Tiede, LeadingWithQuestions.com

A scene saturated with miracles brings us to one final question from Jesus at the end of the Gospel of John. But before we go there, allow me to share my personal journey with Biblical questions.

When we lived in Budapest and as our three children grew from childhood to adolescence and into young adulthood, they asked penetrating questions and they expected authentic answers. This dynamic revealed a deep need for my own growth.

On my knees, in raw honesty before God, I prayed, “Lord, I cannot lead them where I have not walked. With every fiber of my being, I long to be authentic before them and be obedient to You. I ache for real answers to real questions—not just for my teenagers—but also for myself.”

In this pilgrim’s pursuit, God took me to His Word and the passage in Mark 12:28–30, not for the question, but rather, for His answer to the question.

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked Him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”

And years later, I make my home in His response. If Jesus called this commandment “The Most Important,” then it needs to be the North Star for my life.

Engaging with that question-and-answer dialogue led to an insatiable desire to become a student of the questions we discover in Scripture. Not surprisingly, my quest stirs within me a keen interest in the topic at hand: The Questions of Jesus.

So, please join me on the shores of Lake Galilee for a breakfast conversation between Jesus and Peter. (John 21:1–24)

DIVINE REALITIES

Failure, futility, and frustration permeated the setting. Peter’s three denials of Jesus made a return to fishing his default mechanism. Others joined him in the boat, but their all-night endeavor yielded no catch. Morning sun and shallow water brought a bitter end to their exasperating pursuit.

Then, there was Jesus.

DIVINE INTERVENTION, DIVINE INVITATION

Seeing the group of fishermen, He stood, gave them instructions on how to successfully (miraculously) catch 153 fish, and then He extended an invitation: “Come and have breakfast.”

Without options of take-out, drive-thru, Door Dash, or Uber Eats, our Lord Jesus served a dual role of Host and Chef. The bread and fish menu cooked with the culinary skills of The Master must have tasted delicious to the men who had worked through the night. (Did anyone have the courage to ask Him how and when He acquired the bread and fish that He had on hand?)

DIVINE CONVERSATION

When they finished eating, Jesus engaged Peter in dialogue. And here in this closing scene in the Gospel of John, Jesus articulated His one final question: “Do you love Me?” Three times Jesus asked, Peter answered, Jesus instructed. (Note the tenderness of correlation to the three denials of Peter.)

DIVINE INSTRUCTION

The simplicity of wisdom shakes the earth. From a question of four words, “Do you love Me?” Jesus gives instruction with two words: Feed and Follow.

Peter’s focus and future—his holy homework assignment from Jesus—fell within those two words. It was as if our Lord told him, “Peter, I want you to shepherd My people and follow your Shepherd. Keep company with the sheep and keep company with Me.”

And later, in the Spirit-anointed writings of first and second Peter, we feel deeply his living out of those directives.

DIVINE DESTINY

The Greatest Question pairs with the Greatest Commandment to guide us to the Greatest Discovery: LOVE. Like Peter, our soul’s destiny, and our daily satisfaction rest within our response to the Question of Jesus: “Do you love Me?”

Do you love Me? (with all your heart)

Do you love Me? (with all your soul)

Do you love Me? (with all your mind)

Do you love Me? (with all your strength)

“Yes Lord, you know that I love you.”

May it be so.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Debby Thompson and her husband, Larry, have served in global missions with Cru® since 1974, and are counted among the pioneering Western missionaries who lived covertly behind the Iron Curtain in Communist-controlled Poland. In her latest book, Pulling Back the Iron Curtain: Stories from a Cold War Missionary  she takes the reader on a riveting journey to experience the personal challenges of a missionary’s life in the communist world during the Cold War. Now with Church Movements and living in Cincinnati, Ohio, Debby, an active grandmother of seven, is an award-winning author, a speaker, and a mentor for women around the world. Subscribe to Debby’s blog, Living with Eternal Intentionality ®, at DebbyThompson.com

Originally posted on LeadingWithQuestions.com.