John 21:15

Education again followed eating, as it had often done before, for example, in the upper room (chs. 13-17). The following conversation may have taken place as Jesus and Peter walked along the shore, with John within earshot close behind (cf. John 21:20-21).

Jesus began by addressing Peter as Simon the son of Jonas. In the Gospels, Jesus addressed Peter this way on only the most important occasions. These were his call to follow Jesus (John 1:42), his confession of Jesus as the Son of God (Matthew 16:17), and as he slept in Gethsemane (Mark 14:37). When Jesus addressed Peter this way here, Peter probably realized that what Jesus was about to say to him was extremely important.

Jesus used a word for "love" (Gr. agapas) in His question that many scholars have understood to refer to total commitment to another person. [Note: E.g., Westcott, The Gospel . . . Greek Text . . ., 2:367.] Other equally competent scholars, however, do not believe it had this strong meaning. [Note: E.g., R. C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, pp. 38-42.] Nevertheless most scholars recognize that agapao expresses a somewhat stronger love than phileo does. In his Gospel John did not usually make fine distinctions in meaning on the basis of synonym differences. [Note: Carson, The Gospel . . ., pp. 676-77; Tenney, "John," p. 201; Morris, p. 770.] Generally he treated synonyms as having essentially the same meaning. For example, John used both agapao and phileo to describe the Father’s love for the Son (John 3:35; John 10:17; John 5:20), Jesus’ love for Lazarus (John 11:5; John 11:3; John 11:36), and Jesus’ love for the beloved disciple (John 13:23; John 20:2). However many expositors have concluded that Jesus was making a distinction between the meanings of the synonyms for love that He used here. [Note: E.g., K. L. McKay, "Style and Significance in the Language of John 21:15-17," Novum Testamentum 27 (1985):319-33; Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament, vol. 4: "Golden Nuggets from the Greek New Testament" (by the author, 1940; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1966), pp. 60-63; and Robert L. Thomas, Evangelical Hermeneutics, p. 227.] Because of the debate over the meaning of agapao and its synonyms, it seems wise not to put too much emphasis on this distinction.

"His [Peter’s] actions had shown that Peter had not wanted a crucified Lord. But Jesus was crucified. How did Peter’s devotion stand in the light of this? Was he ready to love Jesus as he was, and not as Peter wished him to be?" [Note: Morris, p. 768.]

Jesus asked Peter if he had more love for Jesus than he had for "these things" (Gr. pleon touton). What did Jesus have in mind? Was it the fishing boats and nets that Peter had returned to, or was it the other disciples? The comparison seems more likely to have been with the love of the other disciples for Jesus since Peter had earlier professed complete devotion to Jesus in the upper room (cf. John 13:37; John 18:10). Peter had claimed that his love for and commitment to Jesus were so strong that even if all the other disciples forsook Him he would not (Matthew 26:33; Mark 14:29; Luke 22:33). Still Peter had denied that he was one of Jesus’ disciples and that he even knew Jesus three times. Thus Jesus’ question was reasonable. He wanted Peter to think about just how strong his love for Jesus really was.

Peter replied by professing his love for Jesus, but he used a different word for love than Jesus had used (Gr. philo). Expositors who believe that philo expresses weaker love than agapao think that Peter apparently could not bring himself to claim complete devotion to Jesus in view of his denials. Those who view philo and agapao as essentially synonymous understand Peter as professing that he did indeed love Jesus. Peter wisely appealed for proof of his love to Jesus’ knowledge, not to his own former behavior.

Jesus responded graciously by giving Peter a command, not criticism. He told Peter to tend (Gr. boske, feed) His lambs (Gr. arnia). Three more pairs of synonyms in addition to agapao and philo occur in this passage. Bosko (feed, John 21:15; John 21:17) and poimaino (tend, or take care of, John 21:16) may be significantly different, but they are probably not. Likewise arnia (lambs, John 21:15) and probata (sheep, John 21:16-17) create the same interpretive problem. The third pair is oidas (know intellectually, John 21:15-16) and ginoskeis (know experientially, John 21:17).

Previously Jesus had referred to Himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10:14). Now he was committing the care of His flock to this disciple who had failed Him miserably in the past. Jesus had formerly called Peter to be a fisher of men, an essentially evangelistic ministry (Matthew 4:19). Now he was broadening this calling to include being a shepherd of sheep, a pastoral ministry.