We hope you enjoyed our latest episode of 20 Minute Bible Studies, “Impossible to Restore.” If you missed it, you can visit the link or click below for a quick listen.
Now on to this week’s morsel of meat.
Do You Love Me?
After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”
“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.”
(John 21:15-17, NLT)
By now you know that the first thing to do when analyzing this passage is to go to SPACE. The speaker and the audience are pretty clear: Jesus is speaking to Peter. The context: “This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.” (verse 14)
The beginning of this chapter also tells us that several other disciples were in attendance. The group included “Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee [aka Bartholomew], the sons of Zebedee [aka James and John], and two other disciples.” The situation was that these fishermen had gone out together and “caught nothing all night” (John 21:3). What happens next is a mirror of the miracle Jesus performed when He first called these men to be His disciples. You can read about it in Luke 5, or you can watch this beautiful reenactment from The Chosen.
It is after this ‘bookend’ miracle that the conversation above takes place. We don’t know about you, but several questions occurred to us when we read it:
Why did Jesus ask Peter the same question three times?
What does He mean when He asks Peter if He loves Him?
Why does Jesus switch from “lambs” to “sheep”?
Why does He switch from “feed” to “take care” (or “shepherd”)?
We’d like to suggest that the ‘milk interpretation’ of this passage is found in the answer to the first question, and the ‘meat interpretation’ of this passage is found in the answers to the other questions. (Confused by that lingo? Read this.)
Getting the milk out of the way — you’ve probably heard this before — Jesus asked Peter “do you love me?” three times because Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62). As if reversing the damage by equal measure, Peter is allowed to counter his three denials by stating his love for Jesus three times. This is another beautiful moment because, as Luke 22:62 tells us, Peter had wept “bitterly” about his denials. You can tell he was still feeling that pain because John writes, “Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time” (verse 17). It seems what Jesus was doing didn’t sink in right away.
Again, most believers stop here — and there is nothing wrong with that. This is a meaningful story of our Lord’s mercy and forgiveness. But we encourage you to go deeper and consider our other questions as well.
Question #2 is particularly interesting. Some Bible teachers think we shouldn’t make too big a deal of the fact that the word “love” changes throughout this passage. That is, the Greek word used each time is not the same word. When you have time, head over to the Blue Letter Bible and check it out for yourself. Then consider what that change of wording might mean.
We also believe the other questions can lead to deeper truths for those who have the spiritual ears to hear what the Word of God is saying. For our thoughts on this, you can listen to the 20-Minute Bible Study below.
Until next time, may “the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.” (Colossians 3:16)