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From the Rev: Love is in the Air
Rapids Captain Drew Moor features in a fan-created soccergram.
With this past weekend being Valentine’s Day there are plenty of stories of love in the air. From the Colorado Rapids’ Drew Moor proposing to his girlfriend and Goalkeeping Coach Chris Sharpe getting married to the Major League Soccer #soccergrams that fans could get creative with – there is much ado about showing love to the people and things that mean the most to us. And, of course, living in a house with 5 women (my wife and 4 daughters) there is a lot of cards and hearts and pink and red.
In reflecting, upon this “season of love,” I was reminded of the Jesus’ interaction with Peter on the shore (John 21:15-17) where he asks Peter the question, Simon son of John, do you truly love me….?. In the passage, it is interesting to note the back and forth conversation of Jesus and Peter.
Jesus asks Peter Do you love me? He does so using the Greek word for love agape the first and second time he asks the question. To which Peter responds Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. However, John records Peter’s response with the Greek word phileo. Jesus’ third time of questioning Simon’s love, he uses phileo. To which Peter’s response was Lord, you know all things; you know that I phileo you. Scholars debate the meaning of this – what was John meaning with the different word usage? Well, there is some debate about what it means – but at a base level can see that Jesus is asking Peter (and asking us) – do we really love him – with all that we are, with all that we have?
If you know anything of the Greek word uses for love – there were four: storge (used to describe a strong like for a thing – for example, I love Manchester United); eros (used to describe physical love or sexuality); phileo (used to describe a deep love of friendship); and agape (used to describe a selfless, divine or God-given love).Blessings,
Rev. Brad Kenney
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