After eating a meal together on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the resurrected Jesus asked Peter a serious question: “Lovest thou me more than these?” (John 21:15).
In Greek, the original language of the New Testament, there are several different words for “love.” Two of them appear in this passage:
- Agape (ἀγάπη) means divine love. It is the highest, most selfless form of love, and it is often translated as “charity,” which Mormon defined as “the pure love of Christ” (Moroni 7:47). When Jesus invites His disciples to love one another as He loved them, the Greek manuscript uses the word agape. (See John 13:34 on biblehub.com.)
- Philia (φιλία) is friendship or affection. It can be described as experiential love: the love you feel for someone because you have spent time with them and feel comfortable with them. This is the word used by the people of Bethany when they saw Jesus weeping after the death of Lazarus: “Behold how He loved him!” (John 11:36).
Here is the conversation between Jesus and Peter as recorded in John 21:15-17, replacing the English word “love” with the Greek equivalent:
| Jesus’s question | Peter’s answer | Jesus’s invitation |
|---|---|---|
| “Simon, son of Jonas, agapas thou me more than these?” | “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I philo thee.” | “Feed my lambs.” |
| “Simon, son of Jonas, agapas thou me?” | “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I philo thee.” | “Feed my sheep.” |
| “Simon, son of Jonas, phileis thou me? | “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I philo thee.” | “Feed my sheep.” |
This conversation happened in Aramaic, not Greek, but the way John recorded it in his gospel gives a hint as to why Jesus asked the question three times. Peter’s instinctive response, “You know I love you,” did not match the seriousness of Jesus’s question, “Lovest thou me?” It is true that the third time, Jesus uses the more familiar word associated with friendship, as if to say, “If this is all you can give me, I still want you to do my work.” But the original question—the challenging question—was, “Do you have charity for me? Do you love me as I love you?”
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said:
My beloved brothers and sisters, I am not certain just what our experience will be on Judgment Day, but I will be very surprised if at some point in that conversation, God does not ask us exactly what Christ asked Peter: “Did you love me?” I think He will want to know if in our very mortal, very inadequate, and sometimes childish grasp of things, did we at least understand one commandment, the first and greatest commandment of them all—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.” And if at such a moment we can stammer out, “Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee,” then He may remind us that the crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord.
“The First Great Commandment,” General Conference, October 2012
Today, I will show my love for the Savior by doing His will. I will remember that even if my love is imperfect, it can still motivate the actions which will bring me closer to Him.