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John 21   ¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’ ¹⁶Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me?’ He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ ¹⁷ The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.’ ¹⁸Amen, amen, I say to thee, When you were younger, you did gird yourself and did walk where you wanted. But when you shall be old, you shall stretch forth your hands, and another shall gird thee and lead thee whither you would not. ¹⁹And this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him: Follow me.

²⁰Peter turning about, saw that disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also leaned on his breast at supper and said: Lord, who is he that shall betray thee? ²¹Him therefore when Peter had seen, he said to Jesus: Lord, and what shall this man do? ²²Jesus said to him: So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee? Follow you me. ²³This saying therefore went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. And Jesus did not say to him: He should not die; but: So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee?

Now from the book:

..."Let’s talk about the discourse between Jesus and Peter. First of all many clergy have always seen the three questions and compared them to the three denials, saying that in this passage, Peter was being restored. Jesus never looked back at a person’s failings, He always looked forward and said, "Go and sin no more". Jesus would never have derided Peter for his denial out of fear. People have read this passage and do not see the actual message. Peter was always taking some brash action or making a brash statement and jumping ahead of himself and everyone else, often preventing him from being able to fulfill his words. The idiom is "biting off more than he can chew."

Now let’s take a closer look at what is really happening:

Response 1: "Feed my lambs."

Question 2: "Simon, son of John, do you truly love me?"

Answer 2: "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."

Response 2: "Take care of my sheep."

Question 3: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

Response 3: "Feed my sheep..."

Do you see it? Each question takes a step down in expectation - do you truly love me more than these; do you truly love me (notice Jesus dropped the "more than these"); do you love me (now Jesus drops the "truly"). Every question asks less of Peter’s love. And we now look at Peter’s answers. The first two answers are the same (i.e. "you know that I love you" and "you know that I love you"). However, the third answer, "... you know all things; you know that I love you." The final answer is when Peter realizes that there is something that he does not know, and Jesus does know. Perhaps it is at this point that he finally realizes the reason for the repeated questions. Indeed, Jesus knows exactly what he is going to do.

The last thing we need to look at is Jesus’ responses to Peter’s answers. The first response is "Feed my lambs." The feeding of lambs takes care and you must be gentle and loving or they will not follow you as they mature. The feeder of lambs watches what is fed to these little ones and makes sure the food is nutritious and healthy, and that it is done professionally and with care. The second response is "Take care of my sheep." The taking care of sheep takes less responsibility than feeding of the lambs. You must walk with the sheep keeping them in a herd, go after and bring back strays, and watch for predators defending the sheep if necessary. It is not as responsible a job as feeding lambs where some rotten food could kill the innocent. The third response is "Feed my sheep..." The feeding of sheep usually constitutes pitching feed to them. It is not a job where you have much responsibility at all. You don’t have to watch what they are eating and make sure they are eating or care for them like you would lambs; and you certainly don’t have to walk with them or defend them or keep them herded or go after those that stray. Peter is being let down gently and easily. Jesus knows what he was going to do with the Law of God and that Peter would not stand the test. He is being told that not a lot will be expected from him. He is told that he will be martyred for Jesus Christ and will follow Him to death and beyond. "Follow Me" also means follow my teachings.

If you notice, Jesus is referring to Peter, not as Petrus or Cephas or any other name given him later. Jesus is referring to Peter as Simon, son of John, a name that takes him back to the beginning when Simon first joined Jesus. This lowers Simon Peter below John who now comes before Peter because Simon Peter’s father’s name was Jonah which is stated in Matthew 16 in both the Latin, Greek and Hebrew. This was neither a mistake by Matthew nor the Evangelist, it was a subtlety that was missed as was the step down questions. This sets the tone for the next question to Jesus. It clearly leads to: "What about him? (John)"

Peter looks around to John who is following them, and as if a little child, he asks Jesus, "What about him?" (pointing to John) Jesus tells Peter that it is none of his business what happens to anyone else. And so Chapter 21, does not reinstate Peter at all, but predicts how he will deny Jesus, the Word of God, again. He goes from leading the fishing to asking about the fate of others. It is a story of what happened that day on the Sea of Galilee. It is also a prediction of what will happen with the Church..."

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