Do you love me?

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me? …Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” …The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” - John 21:15-17

Down deep in the heart of Jesus, this is the question that he’s wondering: Do you love me?

It’s intensely personal. It can sound almost needy. If you take it at face value, which seems appropriate, it sounds downright un-Godlike.

But this is what he wants to know. “Do you love me?” is what Jesus asks over and over again. Jesus comes to Peter and only wants to ask this one question. Maybe it wasn’t to teach Peter some big theological point. Maybe it was because he wanted to know the answer.

And maybe “Do you love me?” is the question that’s still on Jesus’s mind today. In the end, even after the resurrection, and two thousand years of the church, what Jesus is still after is a deep, compassionate, mutually caring relationship with you.

What do you think about that? How does that make you feel? How will you answer Jesus today?