NOTES for Joh 21:15-25

Christ asks Peter three times whether he loves Him, calling him by his old name, presumably because Peter had recently failed to show rock-like steadfastness. Yet it is precisely to this man who stumbled that Christ entrusts the care of His sheep and lambs. Peter denied Him three times, but three times, too, he restores his close bond with Christ by declaring his love, and now that bond will become even stronger. It is not proud self-exaltation but the memory of his own weaknesses and falls that will strengthen Peter and warn him against both conceit and excessive severity toward his flock. One cannot be a good shepherd while tending the flock without love, using nothing but ruthless measures of control.

Christ gives Peter a small glimpse of what lies ahead for him. Peter's question about Christ's beloved disciple, “And what about him?”, suggests that Peter is also concerned about the fate of those around him. But Christ speaks to Peter only about his own path and ministry; another person's path should not distract him from his own.

It can be all too tempting to draw hasty conclusions about our neighbor's fate, just as some people took it into their heads to speculate about the beloved disciple's earthly immortality on the basis of arbitrarily interpreted fragments of Christ's conversation with Peter! But the Lord calls us to be sober-minded and not to replace the true depths of spiritual life with homegrown conjectures. To do this, it is better to look at Christ rather than around us, talking about other people's problems more than fulfilling our own calling.