December 21, 2023

Getting More Specific

“He said to him again 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, ‘Shepherd My sheep.’”

John 21:16 (NASB)

             There are times in life when we have conversations but want the conversation to go to a more specific area. We begin the conversation generally, only to zero down to the conversation we want to have later on. This is because we sense the conversation might become too uncomfortable. We don’t want to let the person know we care for them and don’t want to put them on guard. Jesus did this with Peter. He narrowed His question to Peter asking him the same question, but with a few words changed or omitted. These small changes in what was said or not probed the heart of Peter.

            “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” In yesterday’s passage (vs. 15), Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, “more than these.” In this verse, note Jesus left out this phrase. He wanted to zero in on what He was trying to say, but Peter missed what He meant. Spence says: “Here our Lord omits, as Peter had done, the ‘more than these,’ but he again, with perhaps deeper meaning, uses the word ἀγαπᾶς. Dost thou render me even more in one sense, though less in another, of thy heart’s reverence? Dost thou treat me with the confidence and esteem, submission and admiration, which are my due? Again Peter, with his heart bursting with personal affection, feels that he can and must say, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee (φιλῶ σε; i.e. love thee dearly).”[1] This is when Jesus’s words probed his real ambition. Would he continue the work Jesus had for him? Would he go back to fishing? Would Peter give another answer that he might later regret? Borchert thinks: “The threefold questioning of Peter by Jesus concerning his love brought the disciple from a response of something like ‘of course!’ concerning the first question, to a sense of grief with the third one. But Jesus would not let him go with offering an easy response. Instead, Jesus probed him until he opened the wounded heart of this would-be follower. Off-the-cuff replies and well-meaning superficial responses to the risen Lord will not work in the call of Jesus to the life of discipleship. Jesus forced Peter to learn the hard lesson of a changed life. Everyone who follows Jesus must learn what real believing and loving Jesus means.”[2] This call to serve Jesus would take commissioning from Jesus for Peter to understand what Jesus was saying. The commission was to not only care (or tend- vs. 15) for the young (lambs) but now shepherd (vs. 16) the sheep (the entire flock- not just the young). “The commission that follows is the second stage of pastoral office. He saith to him, Shepherd (‘act the part of shepherd’).”[3]

            The truth was coming to light. I don’t think Peter was expecting a third inquiry of his love for Jesus. Jesus carefully unpacked these statements so he might fully comprehend the seriousness of Jesus’s charge. For a man who failed Jesus, he was about to be appointed as a shepherd from the fallen ranks. Even though he failed Jesus, he was given another chance to lead. This truly was an act of Jesus’ permissive grace that transformed into transforming grace, making a sinner into a saint, and a proclaimer out of a denier.

[1] Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). St. John (Vol. 2, p. 506). Funk & Wagnalls Company.

[2] Borchert, G. L. (2002). John 12–21 (Vol. 25B, p. 334). Broadman & Holman Publishers.

[3] Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). St. John (Vol. 2, p. 506). Funk & Wagnalls Company.