Unfailing Love: Jesus saith,”Lovest thou Me?”

Of the four gospel writers, only John provided a record of the third appearance, following His resurrection, of Jesus to a group of His disciples – on this occasion, seven of them. The last chapter of the gospel of John shares what transpired. Twice in this chapter, but also noted earlier in his book, John referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” He is the only one of the four who recorded the dialogue between Jesus and Simon Peter when Jesus asked Peter, “. . . lovest thou Me more than these?” Jesus asked Peter three questions. Were there three different questions OR was it the same question – three times? Why does John report that “. . . Peter was hurt. . .” following the third question? Was he hurt because Jesus asked the same question three times or because of the question, that he was asked the third time? We will explore.