NOTES for Jn 21:15-19

An ordinary meal: the apostles and their Teacher are reclining at table. We see the risen Jesus and Peter, who recently betrayed Him. Yes, the sorrow of loss and the joy of the Resurrection have probably already “washed” that deed, but it was nevertheless committed... Before us is a man who will remember his betrayal throughout his life. There is a tradition that every time Peter heard a rooster crow, he wept as he remembered his sin. Yet this is precisely what brings something entirely special into the Teacher's relationship with His disciple. This is probably also why Jesus gives Peter the opportunity to speak of his love three times. Yes, it is especially painful in light of what happened, but it is necessary for Peter himself and so that, with his wound now healed, he can go and proclaim the Gospel to the world. Peter has nothing left 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). Who better than Peter can understand that Jesus knows everything? This understanding gives him the strength—despite his sorrow at the question being repeated three times—to answer the Lord and confess his love.