As we continue looking at the questions Jesus asked, we come to a series of questions He asked Peter. Let’s look at John 21:15-17.
“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.’
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.’
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.'”
These words were spoken after Jesus’ resurrection. Although Jesus had already appeared to the disciples twice, Peter decided to return to his old occupation: fishing. The others joined him.
They fished all night and caught nothing. At dawn, a man stood on the shore, though they did not yet recognize that it was Jesus. He asked whether they had caught any fish. When they told Him they had not, He instructed them to cast the net on the other side of the boat.
They obeyed, and suddenly the net was so full of fish that they could barely haul it in. At that point Peter exclaimed, “It is the Lord!”
As soon as Peter recognized Jesus, he jumped into the water and hurried to shore, with the others following in the boat. When they arrived, they found that Jesus had prepared a fire and invited them to breakfast. He took bread and fish and gave it to them.
Peter, of course, was the disciple who had denied Jesus three times before the crucifixion. We can only imagine what must have been going on in his heart. Here stood the risen Lord – the very One Peter had denied.
After breakfast, Jesus asked Peter that deeply personal question: “Do you love Me?”
Three times Jesus asked the question, and three times Peter answered. Three times Jesus responded by giving Peter a charge: feed My lambs, tend My sheep, feed My sheep.
Some readers point to the different Greek words for love in this passage, noting that Jesus uses agape in the first two questions and phileo in the third, while Peter answers with phileo. That may be significant. But whether John intends us to see a sharp distinction or not, the main point of the passage is unmistakable: Jesus was not rejecting Peter; He was restoring him.
Peter had denied the Lord three times, and now Jesus gave him three opportunities to affirm his love. This does not read like a cruel reprimand. It reads like a gracious restoration. Jesus was showing Peter that his failure was not the end of his calling. He was still being entrusted with the care of Christ’s people.
That truth still speaks to us today. Jesus does not settle for shallow or rehearsed answers. He deals with the heart. He lovingly brings us face-to-face with what is true in us – not to destroy us, but to restore us.
If Jesus asked us today, “Do you love Me?” how would we answer? Could we honestly say that our love for Him is greater than our love for comfort, reputation, success, or even the familiar routines we return to when life feels uncertain?
The good news is that ministry does not flow from guilt; it flows from love. Jesus restores before He recommissions. He does not cast off His people because of failure. He calls them back to Himself and gives them work to do.
That is why Paul’s words are so comforting in Romans 8:38-39:
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We are restored by love, not driven by guilt. And those who have been restored are called to care for others.
Jesus’ question to Peter still speaks to broken believers and wounded leaders today: Do you love Me? And where there is a sincere love for Christ, there is still a place for service in His kingdom.
In Christ,
David ‘PK’ VanderKlay
