424 LOVE AND SERVICE
thing, a part of the Lord's all-embracing knowledge. But Christ will not let go the former command; He repeats, "Feed my sheep " ; all alike need support as well as guidance.
*[| The reiteration in the interrogation did not express doubt as to the veracity of the answer, nor dissatisfaction with its terms ; but it did express, and was meant to suggest to St. Peter and to the others, that the threefold denial needed to be obliterated by the threefold confession ; and~tlVat every black mark that had been scored deep on the page by that denial needed to be covered over with the gilding or bright colouring of the triple acknowledg- ment. And so thrice having said, " I know him not ! " Jesus, with a gracious violence, forced him to say thrice, " Thou knowest that I love thee." i
How pleasant to me thy deep-blue wave,
0 Sea of Galilee! For the glorious One who came to save
Hath often stood by thee.
Fair are the lakes in the land I love,
Where pine and heather grow: But thou hast loveliness far above
What Nature can bestow.
It is not that the wild gazelle
Comes down to drink thy tide: But He that was pierced to save from hell
Oft wander'd by thy side.
It is not that the fig-tree grows,
And palms, in thy soft air. But that Sharon's fair and bleeding Eose
Once spread its fragrance there.
Graceful around thee the mountains meet,
Thou calm, reposing sea; But ah, far more ! the beautiful feet
Of Jesus walk'd o'er thee.
And was it beside this very sea
The new-risen Saviour said Three times to Simon, " Lovest thou Me ?
My lambs and sheep then feed " ?
' A. Maclaren, After the Resurrection, 78,
ST. JOHN XXI. 15-17 425
O Saviour! gone to God's right hand!
Yet the same Saviour still, Graved on Thy heart is this lovely strand,
And every fragrant hill.
Oh, give me, Lord, by this sacred wave,
Threefold Thy love divine, That I may feed, till I find my grave,
Thy flock — both Thine and mine!^
4. Thus Jesus thrice addressed the same question to St. Peter with apparently slight and yet significant variations. To that question he always received the same answer, only again with apparently slight modifications. And with equally slight changes the replies were followed up by seemingly the same injunctions. Yet, trifling as the variations appear to be — the questions slightly differing, the answers slightly differing, the counsels also slightly differing — there is a touching spiritual story in them, full of evangelical meaning and of deep spiritual interest.
The truths contained in the text are these — I. Love is the Inspiration of Service. IL Service is the Fulfilment of Love.
Love as the Inspiration of Service.
Love, love to Christ, which is the one sure spring of love to men, is the foundation of service. It is the first condition of the Divine charge, and the second, and the third. It is the spirit of the new Covenant which burns not to consume but to purify. In the prospect of work for others or for ourselves we can always hear the one question in the stillness of our souls, " Lovest thou me ? " Love may not, can not, be attained in its fulness at once ; but the Person of Christ, if indeed we see Him as He is presented to us in the Gospels, will kindle that direct affection out of which it comes. If our hearts were less dull we could not study the changing scenes of His unchanging love, or attempt to describe them
1 E. M. M'Cheyne.
426 LOVE AND SERVICE
to others, without answering the silent appeal which they make to us in St. Peter's words : Lord, thou knoivest that I love thee ; yes, and still more those who are Thine and not mine, those who fall under my influence in the various relations of life, for Thy sake.
1. Love is first a-nd fundamental. — How significant and beautiful it is that the only thing that Jesus Christ cares to ask about is the man's love ! We might have expected : " Simon, son of Jonas, are you sorry for what you did ? Simon, son of Jonas, will you promise never to do the like any more ? " No. These things will come if the other thing is there : " Lovest thou me ? " Jesus Christ desires from each of us, not obedience primarily, not repentance, not vows, not conduct, but a heart ; and that being given, all the rest will follow. This is the distinguishing charac- teristic of Christian morality, that Jesus seeks first for the surrender of the affections, and believes, and is warranted in the belief, that if these are surrendered, all else will follow ; and love being given, loyalty and service and repentance and hatred of self-will and of self-seeking will follow in her train.
^ No other religion presents anything which resembles this invitation to give God the heart. Give me thy observances, says the God of Pharisaism. Give me thy personality, says the God of Hegel. Give me thy reason, says the God of Kant. It remains for the God of Jesus Christ to say. Give Me thine heart. He makes it the essence and the glory of His doctrine. With Him to give the heart to God is not merely an obligation of piety ; it is its root, its beginning, its middle, its end.^