The second thing to notice are these various words for love that Jesus uses. He asks the question three times. In verse 15 he asks Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” Then in verse 16, he asks it in nearly the same wording, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” And the third time, he asks Peter yet again, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Now, the first two times he uses the word agapao, and the third time has the verb phileo.

Here in John 21 we come to Peter. Now this, of course, is not the first time he has appeared in this Gospel, but here in this chapter we have the most important incident involving Peter that the Apostle John records. I suppose a few words about this chapter are in order as we begin, because it does seem a strange chapter. To anybody who's made his or her way through the Gospel to this point, it seems to be something just tacked on. Now that is not what is really happening. It does belong here. The problem really is that we sense that we've reached a great climax at the end of chapter 20, in verse 28, when Thomas says to Jesus, “My Lord and my God.” That's what it's all been leading to.

Now I have looked at this story and asked, as I have done with the other stories we've been studying, why it is that John puts that particular story in the Gospel, and why does he put it here? He already has the story of Peter and John, who act as two male witnesses, which is in accordance with Jewish law for a truthful testimony. Thomas, as well, becomes another witness to the truth of Jesus Christ, when he finally sees Jesus, falls at his feet and says, “My Lord and my God." In fact, that's the very thing that John has written the Gospel to produce. John tells us that Jesus did many other miraculous signs that are not recorded, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. Thus, you have the proof in the first story with Peter and John, and you have the climax in the second with Thomas, and the question is, why the story about Mary in between?

Mary was not looking for a resurrection. She had been there witnessing the crucifixion, and when Jesus died, there was no doubt at all in her mind that everything was over. Whatever faith she had in Jesus as the Messiah died in that instant. Well, she loved him, of course, but she no longer believed that he was the Messiah who was going to deliver Israel. And not only that. Hope died too, because what the Emmaus disciples said was true of them all. They had said, “We had hoped that it was he who should have delivered Israel.” But even though Mary’s faith and hope had died, her love for him because of what he had done for her had not died.