#phileo

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The Way She Flies

Part 2: Phileo (Friend Bond)

The first time Draco realized that the way he loved Potter was different from familial love was on a completely unremarkable afternoon. Potter invited him over to his house because they had case notes to finish up and after a few hours the two of them decided to take a break. From experience, Draco knew that this "break" would last the remainder of the day and they wouldn't touch these notes again until Monday.

He found he didn't mind one bit.

Potter owned this weird (but wonderful) muggle contraption called a Play Station. Draco genuinely could not understand how any of it worked and it had taken quite a long time (literally months) for him to have any semblance of mastery over the controller, but he was reasonably adept by this point.

Draco cozied into the sofa when they started, pulling down the lovely quilted afghan that Molly Weasley had made for Potter and tucking it around himself. Potter sat on the floor with his back against the sofa, just a titch closer to the screen so that he could see better.

They were playing one of those team games, the point of which Draco didn't really understand, (he mostly ran around shooting things and falling off of things). After a few minutes of Potter working diligently at whatever task they were meant to be completing, he realized his character in the game had wandered a bit far from Potter's.

"Where are you?" Potter asked, apparently realizing that he'd lost Draco somewhere along the way and squinting at the tiny map in the corner of the screen because he found the map useful (unlike Draco).

(Read more below the cut)

John 21.15

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?'  He said to Him, ' Yes, Lord, You know that I love you.'  He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.'

I've indulged in a little humor when entitling this installment.  To those readers for whom English is a second language, the idiom 'It's Greek to me!' refers to something that is difficult to understand.

As you may know, the Greek language has several words for 'love', each of them with a distinct meaning, but when they're translated into English, they all come out sounding the same: love.

Why is this important?  Why does it matter?

In last week's Bible study, we contemplated Jesus' instructions to love [agape] our enemies, and we discovered that He was not advising us to be buddy-buddy with them, but to make a deliberate decision to treat them fairly and respectfully.

Now we come to a discussion between Jesus and Peter that occurred after Jesus' resurrection, and though we see the word 'love' in all three verses, they don't all have the same meaning.

Peter was something of a strong-headed, stout-hearted, impulsive sort.  It was Peter who dared to try to walk over the water to Jesus (Matthew 14.28-29).  Peter was the first of the disciples to recognize that Jesus was the Messiah (Matthew 16.16).  And it was Peter who denied knowing Jesus, who didn't want to be associated with Him after He was arrested (Mark 14.66-72).

Let's take a look at this interaction between Peter and the Messiah, one verse at a time.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love [agape] Me more than these?'  He said to Him, ' Yes, Lord, You know that I love [phileo] you.'  He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.'  —John 21.15 (ESV)

When Jesus asked Peter, 'Do you love Me more than these others?' He used the word agape, which is an intellectual love, a deliberate decision to love.  It is the love of God for His people, and the love of man for his God.  Some have called it the highest form of love.

Peter must have been uncomfortable with the question, for he hedged a bit.  When he responded, he used a different word, phileo, which is an affectionate feeling such as a friend feels for a friend.  It is a love based in the heart, not the intellect.

Since Peter didn't give Him the answer He was hoping for, Jesus asked again:

He said to him a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love [agape] Me?'  He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord, You know that I love [phileo] you.'  He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.'  —John 21.16 (ESV)

Peter knew what Jesus was asking, yet he still couldn't bring himself to say, without qualification, that he loved Jesus with his intellect, that he loved Him as God.

So Jesus asked a third time.  However, this time, He lowered the bar for Peter and asked him, 'Do you love [phileo] me with an emotional love, as a friend?'

He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love [phileo] Me?'  Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'Do you love [phileo] Me?' and he said to Him, 'Lord, You know everything; You know that I love [phileo] You.'  Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep.'  —John 21.17 (ESV)