Greek, the language of much of the New Testament is an extremely precise language with a vocabulary about three times larger than English. It is not surprising that love has at least three versions in Greek: eros, the basest form; phileo, a more noble mutually beneficial or brotherly love; and agape, the ultimate sacrificial love of Jesus used three times in His “lovest thou me” dialog with Peter in John 21; 15-17.
Peter answered twice with phileo, and only the third time did he get it. This illustrates the need for not only Peter, but all of us to practice agape in our daily lives.
Herman Rutner
