"Simon son of John, do you love me?" The risen Jesus asks this question to Peter three different times. Peter insists that he does, growing a bit more exasperated each time the question is repeated. And each time Peter says yes, Jesus commands him to feed his lambs or tend his sheep.
On one hand, the threefold pattern of this story conforms to Peter's threefold denial of Jesus just after his arrest. These verses seem to serve as a reinstatement, a rehabilitation forPeter. If other Christians had questions about him, thought his denial had disqualified him, here Jesus restores him as a shepherd of the flock.
But additionally, the pairing of love for Jesus with the command to care for others speaks to all Christians. As Jesus says before his death, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." And of course Jesus has given his disciples a "new commandment, that you love one another." And the word Jesus uses for "love" is not about feelings so much as it is about caring for others, giving oneself for others, etc.
Our culture often thinks of faith as a personal and private thing. But Jesus says that loving him shows up in our relationships with others. Lord, help me to love those you place in my life.
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