John 21:15-25

21:15-17 | Jesus asked Peter the same question three times – a number painfully familiar to His disciple. Peter’s three confessions of love for Jesus counteracted Peter’s three denials of Jesus. Jesus was, in a sense, restoring and reinstalling Peter as His disciple.

21:15 | Significantly, when Jesus addressed Peter, He called Peter by his old name: Simon, son of Jonah. Jesus had changed Simon’s name, which means “Pebble,” to Peter, which means “Rock” (1:42). In this way, Jesus called Peter’s attention to the fact that he was acting exactly as he had before Jesus came into his life.

21:17-19 | Feeding Jesus’ sheep means tending to those who also follow Him. Church leaders have a special responsibility – the care of the flock. Once Peter was restored by Jesus, he was able to deeply embrace the grace of God and become the powerful yet tender leader His Lord had called him to be.

21:18-19 | After this confrontation, Peter’s life and ministry (as seen in the Book of Acts and his epistles) bear witness that he was a changed man. Peter, once so thoughtless, impulsive, and cowardly, ultimately lived to glorify the Lord he had once denied. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he glowed with new power and urgency for the mission Jesus had given him and the other apostles.

21:20-23 | Jesus’ response to Peter’s query about John was simple and profound: What is that to you? You follow Me. No one should compare or be concerned with anyone else’s relationship with Christ; it is enough to focus on one’s own relationship and what the Lord would have each person do.

21:22 | The first and last lesson that Jesus taught the disciples was the importance of following Him. In Matthew 4:18-19, His initial words to Peter and Andrew were, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Now, as Jesus prepared to ascend to heaven, imploring, follow Me. As Jesus spoke about preparing a place God’s children in heaven, He invited every believer to do the same.

21:24-25 | John carefully chose the stories and teachings for this book with the assurance that people would know that this testimony is true. John was an eyewitness of Jesus’ life and death. For three years he lived and walked with the Jesus and he saw Him in His resurrected body, so readers can be confident that John delivered an accurate account of actual events. John also affirms this at the beginning of his first epistle (1 John 1:1-2).