Peter and the disciple who followed him back to the Sea of Galilee had fished all night without a catch. The dawn had risen, and there was a Man standing on the shore, inquiring if they had any food, rather, if they had caught anything. They had to admit they had no food. The Man on the shore instructed them to cast their net again on their right side. They did so without argument or complaint and were rewarded with a catch too big for their net (John 21:3–7).
Peter and John locked eyes, for they could not help but realize the similarities to their first calling. They had fished all night. A Man, Jesus, came to them on the shore and commanded them to pull out into the deep and cast their net after a full night of fishing with no catch. The first time Peter had argued and complained, because he was the fisherman. He pulled out into the deep to prove the Man wrong but was instead humbled greatly by the large catch. The catch was so large, in fact, he had to call his business partners James and John over to help haul it in (Luke 5:1–11).
John said, “It is the Lord.” Peter did not wait. He jumped out of the boat and ran to Jesus (John 21:7). What a beautiful picture the Lord had painted for Peter of his redemption. Peter thought he had failed in his calling and there was no return from there. Only Jesus knew how to get through to Peter that his calling was still the same, and he was still the one. He did so by repeating the moment Peter was first called.
When Peter arrived upon the shore, Jesus had a fire going with fish on the fire and bread. These were what Jesus miraculously fed the multitudes with (John 6:1–14). It was an object lesson to Peter he may only spiritually have a few fish and some bread, but with Jesus’s miraculous touch, it was enough. When Jesus fed the multitude, He followed up with a teaching on the Bread of Life. Jesus taught that He was the Bread of Life. He told them anyone who came to Him, He would not cast out (John 6:37). Jesus had also encouraged the crowd, saying whoever “believes in Him [would] have everlasting life” (John 6:40). He went on to say, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.… For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:53, 55, 56). This saying caused many to walk away from following Jesus. However, one has to wonder if all this teaching had come flooding back to Peter and the other disciples with understanding, in light of the Cross. There are no rituals or works that can satisfy the debt we each owe on account of our sin. Jesus is the Bread of Life. Eternal salvation is found only in Him. Peter would later write, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
John recorded this first conversation between Jesus and Peter, since Peter had professed greater loyalty to Jesus than any of the other disciples. His loyalty was not in question, as he was the one who lunged forward with his sword. He did show himself loyal. However, the issue was with his proclaiming to be more loyal and to having more love for Jesus than all the rest. There was nothing wrong with Peter’s zeal for the Lord, except he esteemed his zeal to be greater than anyone else’s (Philippians 2:3).
Jesus referenced their last conversation in His first question: “Do you love Me more than these?” (John 21:15). Jesus’s question used the word for “love” which “denotes to take pleasure in [Jesus], prize [Him] above other things, be unwilling to abandon [Him] or do without [Him]” (Thayer 2000). It is a love that denoted choice, such as a moral decision to love.
Peter knew he could not answer Jesus with a simple yes, because he had just proven in the courtyard of the high priest that he did not love Jesus this way. Peter realized the context of the question and responded, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You” (John 21:15). However, he used a different word with a different meaning for “love.” Peter first noted the Lord already knew the answer to the question. The answer was, Peter had an affectionate and brotherly love for the Lord. He had fallen short of the moral, sacrificial love. It must have pained him to say it, to admit his shortcoming, when he had been such a proud man.
Jesus asked Peter a second time, in the same context, whether he loved Him, and Peter responded with the same brotherly affection. The third time Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, He made a change in His question. He asked Peter using the same brotherly affectionate word for “love.” Jesus lowered His form of love to Peter’s confession of brotherly love. John tells us Peter was grieved because Jesus asked a third time (John 21:17). Peter’s response acknowledged Jesus knew all things, and he knew Jesus already knew the depth of Peter’s love for Him, and it was brotherly affection.
Three times Peter denied Jesus, and now three times he had humbly proclaimed his love for Him. He did not claim to love Jesus more than any other, as he had come to understand his humble but equal position to his fellow disciples. He had not been given the keys of the kingdom because he was more special than anyone else, but because it was simply his calling. Jesus placed Peter in the position, because it was the place He chose to mold Peter into His own likeness.
Jesus asked three difficult questions of Peter. However, He also gave Peter three commands. Upon each confession of brotherly love, Jesus commanded Peter to feed or tend His lambs (depending on the translation). Jesus commanded Peter with a metaphor of feeding sheep. Sheep needed constant care; they needed to be led to places to graze, and they needed constant looking after. Jesus was re-commissioning Peter to his first calling to be a fisher of men, there by the lake (Luke 5:10). He was to preach, teach the gospel, and lead the church. In short, Jesus said to Peter the call was still the same, and he was still the one.
(Excerpt from Peter: A Life Transformed, by Jacquie Hoekstra. This discipleship study based on Peter’s life is available at most online retailers. Follow Jacquie Hoekstra on Facebook.