Peter's response to Jesus' thrice-posed question, Do you love me more than these?, is remarkable. Whether or not one takes into account the different Greek words used for the English love, or whatever one takes these to mean, Peter's affirmative response is one that perhaps no one else could in truth make. Can anyone tell Jesus that he or she loves the Lord more than these? Even more remarkable, Peter affirmed Jesus' knowledge of Peter's love for the Lord: Lord, you know that I love you. I'm afraid if I were to answer the question I would need to say: Lord, you know that I don't love you more than these. In truth, I love that which is seen more than I love the Lord, and the Lord knows that. But perhaps I haven't really heard Jesus put the question to me. Perhaps I will not hear it until I am ready to answer it in the affirmative. I have yet to learn how to love the unseen Lord more than I do the things in my world. And perhaps the reason I haven't learned to love the Lord more than these is that I don't want to hear that which comes next: feed my sheep and follow me. The Lord knows my heart and these encompasses a lot of things precious to me. The hope for any of us is that the Lord will create a clean heart in us, a heart full of love for him. This is a work of mystery and a work of grace and a work of which I am entirely incapable. This I do know: that God is able. Peter moved from the denial of his Lord to complete love for the Lord. It is a path all of us must take.