John 21:15-25--Do You Love Me?

John 21:15-19
English Standard Version

Jesus and Peter
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Jesus and the Beloved Apostle​
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
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25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

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Even though Simon Peter had seen the Lord and jumped out of the boat to go meet Him and they just shared a meal together, there was still the issue of the betrayal that needed dealt with.  Peter needed to understand that Jesus died for the forgiveness of his own sin and so that he could be reconciled with God the Father, God the Son, and with the other disciples.  Jesus still had big plans for Simon Peter as we'll see in the book of Acts when we get there (the first portion of the book of Acts is mostly dedicated to the early church in Jerusalem where Peter is one of the leaders).

After breakfast is over, Jesus takes Peter aside and asks Peter, "Do you love me more than these?"  It's unclear what "these" refers to.  Is Jesus asking Peter comparatively if his love for Jesus is greater than that of the other disciples?  Is Jesus asking Peter if Peter still loves Jesus more than his old life of being on the Sea and catching fish?  I'm not sure, but either way, Jesus is asking if Peter loves Jesus supremely where his love for anything and everything else pales in comparison.  Peter's answer seems bold where he replied, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you," however if we see the Greek here, Peter uses a different word for "love" to answer Jesus' question than the word that Jesus used to answer the question.  IT seems Peter has learned his lesson about over-committing like when he promised that even if everyone else would betray Jesus, he never would and would be willing to die for Him.  Peter now has a much more measured and reserved reply where he's not ready to fully commit to what Jesus is asking of him.

This is one of the places that we lose a bit in translation.  Jesus asked Peter if Peter loved Jesus with divine love, agope love.  Peter "friend-zoned" Jesus and said, "Yes, Jesus, you know that we're friends who love each other like brothers, phileo love--the word where we get words like fidelity and Philadelphia (the city of Brotherly Love).  Jesus doesn't argue with Peter's response here, but then gives the command to Peter "Feed my lambs."

Jesus then repeats the question exactly as He had asked it the first time using the word agope again.  Peter responds the same way again with the word phileo.  This time Jesus gives the command to Peter, "Tend my sheep."  This is a different level over care and oversight than just feeding the little lambs that Jesus had said the first time.  Jesus is asking Peter to shepherd His flock and not just feed them, but protect them and care for them as Jesus would.

In the last exchange, Jesus changes the word that He uses to ask the question and uses the same word that Peter has been using.  He asks Peter if he phileo loves Him.  This cuts to Peter's heart because know Jesus is saying, "Are we really friends, Peter?"  "Would you really have treated me like this if you loved me like a brother, Peter?"  Peter might also realize now that Jesus is asking him to profess his love three times because Peter denied Jesus three times, and that would also sting.  Peter and Jesus are finally on the same page as Peter once again replies, "You know everything; you know that I phileo you."  Peter speaks from humility here as Jesus had known everything ahead of His death--the timing and manner of His death, the betrayal by His closest friends including Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot, and that He would rise again on the third day.  Peter argued many of these points with Jesus in the past, but now Peter understands that he should never argue like this with Jesus because Jesus has complete knowledge of events and people and Peter can only hope that Jesus knows his heart and knows that Peter means it when he says he phileo loves Jesus.  Jesus then responds by commanding Peter to "Feed my sheep."  While similar to the first command, this one is a little different as these are full-grown sheep and no longer "lambs" that Jesus is talking about.

Peter has been given responsibility to feed those who are immature in their faith (the baby "lambs"), to watch over and "tend" the entire flock, and to continue to "feed" the mature sheep.  Jesus is telling Peter that there's a lifelong commitment here for those that Jesus is giving Peter the responsibility of shepherding.  No matter where they are in their spiritual maturity, it is Peter's responsibility to give them what they need for food and to give them protection--just like Jesus would do and had done for His disciples.

​Jesus then switches gears and goes back to the commitment that Peter made that he would be willing to die for Jesus.  Jesus promises Peter that there will be a day when that will definitely come to pass, but that he will be an old man when it happens.  The wording that is used by Jesus here is that which was used of describing someone that would be crucified.  Jesus tells Peter that he is going to follow after His Lord in the manner of his death.

Peter then turns to John, probably knowing how much Jesus loved John and the special relationship they had with each other and that John had been the one that stayed by Jesus' side through the trial and crucifixion, and asked, "What about him?"  It's hard to tell if Peter is asking this out of genuine concern for John or out of some sort of feeling that John was going to get some sort of special treatment.  Either way, Jesus' answer tells Peter that it's none of his concern what happens to John.  If Jesus wants John to live until Jesus' return, what is that to Peter?

John then finally identifies himself as the one giving the testimony here (though not by name--simply by saying that "the disciple that Jesus loved" is the one writing this book).  John also says that his testimony is true and trustworthy--it is his own eyewitness testimony that he is swearing to.

The book then ends with one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture that leads to some of the lyrics of one of my favorite hymns (The Love of God).  There was so much more that John could have written about, but there's not enough time, scribes, paper or ink to write it all down nor could the world contain all the books that would need to be written to tell of all the words and works of Jesus.  However, John has made sure to give us everything that we need to accomplish the purpose that he had in writing the book--to know with certainly that Jesus is the Son of God and that by believing in Him we might have eternal life.