“Look after my sheep.” And a third time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was saddened because
Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus then said,
“Feed my sheep! Truly, I say to you, when you were young, you put on your belt and walked where you liked. But when you grow old,
you will stretch out your hands, and another will put a belt around you, and lead you where you do not wish to go.” Jesus said this to make
known the kind of death by which Peter was to glorify God. And he added, “Follow me!”
Reflection:
After appearing to them again on the shores of Lake Tiberias, Jesus now gives
Peter the chance to redeem himself. Out of human weakness, Peter denied
his Lord and Master three times. Now, Jesus wants him to reaffirm his faith in Him
by professing love three times. It is a heavy exercise. In a world where love is lip
service and is flung liberally by anyone and everyone without meaning it, it seemed
an easy thing to do. But love that is honest and true is hard to profess. It is drawn
from the deepest recesses of the heart. That is why some of us only say it once
in our life time. It is a death experience where you bare your inmost soul in honest
vulnerability. Peter has to do it three times. His third is the limit of his capacity to do so.
Perhaps it is the limit of our own capacity to profess love honestly as well. What he did
is enough for him to return to Jesus’ friendship. He is once again commanded to follow
his Lord.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2021