![]() This is the reason Jesus asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” The passage doesn’t explain what Jesus was referring to, but Simon knew! He had other loves. He had other loves that sometimes took precedence over his love for Christ. Simon struggled with idolatry of the heart. Beginning in Acts, he is forevermore, Peter, the Rock! Idolatry of the Heart “When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘ Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’ Again Jesus said, ‘ Simon son of John, do you truly love me?’ He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ The third time he said to him, ‘ Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep’” ( John 21:15-17).Īfter this conversation with Jesus, he is never referred to as Simon ever again, not even as Simon Peter. I agree with John MacArthur, who wrote that “God took a common man with an ambivalent, impulsive, unsubmissive personality and shaped him into a rocklike leader – the greatest preacher among the apostles and in every sense the dominant figure in the first twelve chapters of Acts, where the church was born.” John 21 is the last time he is called Simon: ![]() But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail” ( Luke 22:31-32). “ Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church’” ( Matthew 16:17-18). ![]() “Jesus asked, ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. In fact, most of the times that Jesus addresses Simon Peter in the Gospels, he calls him Simon. John 21 is a turning point in Simon Peter’s life, where he transitioned from being Simon, to being Peter, the “rock.” Jesus gave Simon the name Peter, however in John 21, Jesus is still calling him Simon. ![]()
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