NOTES for Joh 21:15-19

An ordinary meal: the apostles and their Teacher recline at table. We see the risen Jesus and Peter, who recently betrayed Him. Yes, the grief of loss and the joy of the Resurrection have probably already “washed away” this deed, but it was committed nonetheless... Before us is a man who will preserve the memory of his betrayal throughout his life (there is a tradition that whenever Peter heard a rooster crow, he wept as he remembered his sin). But it is precisely this that brings something altogether special into the relationship between the Teacher and His disciple. This is probably also why Jesus gives Peter the opportunity to speak of his love three times. Yes, this is especially painful in the light of what happened, but it is so necessary for Peter himself and so that, with his wound now healed, he can go and proclaim the Gospel to the world. Peter no longer has anything to lose or hide from the Lord. That is why his words are not simply a declaration of love, but something more: “You know everything; You know that I love You” (John 21:17). And who better than Peter can understand that Jesus knows everything? Despite his grief at the question repeated three times, this understanding gives him the strength to answer the Lord and confess his love.