John 21:15
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.”
The Risen Christ asked Peter the question in today’s verse three times. Unobservant readers sometimes wonder why he did so. Was he insecure? Hard of hearing? What was the problem that he had to ask Peter the same question again and again? The answer is: we are looking at Peter’s penance and Peter’s brand new hope. Jesus didn’t ask because he needed to know if Peter really loved him: he asked because Peter needed to know he really loved Jesus. Peter had received a staggering blow to his own cocky self-confidence on Good Friday. He had sworn (and meant it) that he was ready to go with Jesus to prison and to death. Jesus, knowing what his beloved Peter was really made of, warned him that he was not made of such stern stuff, saying, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow, till you have denied me three times” (John 13:38). And it all happened just as Jesus foretold, till Peter was crushed with shame at his own cowardice and wept bitterly. It was a potentially mortal blow to his confidence, one that could have incapacitated him for the rest of his life. So Jesus, in his mercy, gives Peter the chance to affirm three times what he had three times denied (reminding him of his weakness) and accepts that affirmation three times (reminding Peter that he is both forgiven and vital to the mission of the Kingdom). Rather than guilt, Jesus heaps grace on Peter, reinstates him and places him in a work of vital importance. “Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs” he repeats three times. Peter the penitent, who failed to keep a trust, is entrusted with Jesus’ most treasured possession: his flock. Have you failed Jesus in something? Jesus wants to not only forgive you, but entrust something precious to your care too. Ask him for mercy and he will not only give you that, but he will make you a partner with him in his work. You are, by his grace, vital!
