Jesus said to Peter, “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and ANOTHER WILL GIRD YOU AND CARRY YOU WHERE YOU DO NOT WISH.” This He spoke, SIGNIFYING BY WHAT DEATH HE WOULD GLORIFY GOD. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” (John 21:18-19) According to Ecclesiastical History, III, I, Peter was crucified upside down in Rome during one of Nero’s persecutions in the mid-sixties AD. The early church historian Eusebius wrote, “Peter seems to have preached in Pontus and Galatia and Bithynia and Cappadocia and Asia, to the Jews of the Dispersion, and at last, having come to Rome, he was crucified HEAD DOWNWARD, for so he himself had asked to suffer this way“
In John 21, Peter had a conversation with Jesus about how Peter loved Him, agape is the highest and purest kind of love. It is divine love and is used to express THE ESSENTIAL UNSELFISH NATURE OF GOD. Phileo love is based on what one does for another. So, twice when Jesus asked Peter do you agape me, Peter responded “I phileo” you, the third time Jesus asked, do you even “phileo me?” This happened three times and it grieved Peter, it was because Peter denied Jesus three times.
SO, JESUS WANTED PETER TO BE SURE…
-Bill Stockham