Feed my lambs

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.’ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, ‘Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?’ When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, what about him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!’ So the rumour spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?’

This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

- John 21:15-25

This is one of my favorite readings of the Bible. There is first of all the questioning of Peter. Three times, Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?" We could say that this question three times mirrors the three times Peter was questioned on the night Jesus was arrested, and his responses to deny Christ three times. Do you love me? Jesus' response to Peter's emphatic positive answer is Feed my sheep. Jesus' concern is now with the flock that is to come and its shepherding. He depends on the apostles to tend his flock in his stead. This is how they will show their love. And Peter, who is forgiven for his denials of Christ, will die a martyr's death for that love and that care. Tellingly, Jesus calls him by his given name, Simon, reminding us of the change in Peter, the Rock, that Jesus is counting on.

In parallel to this reading, lately we've also been given passages as part of the daily readings from the letters of both apostles John and Peter. These apostles repeatedly emphasize the love that must exist between believers. John declares that God is love. The apostles continue Jesus' words about love, and that it is through love that the world will know his followers. Love is the purpose of communion with (and hence knowledge of) God.

But my favorite part of this passage comes at its end, when Peter, so typically, told of his martyr's death, then turns and points to John. He asks Jesus, What about him? It's such a wonderful picture of our own human nature, that I absolutely love this passage. And Jesus' answer is even better, If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me! Jesus, in his loving rebuke, gives the starkest contrast possible to Peter's answer, and asks him "What's that to you?" It's a conversation we might hear every day about one subject or another. But Jesus also makes it clear that we serve him as individuals. Each of us has a relationship to maintain that will demand of us whatever it does, and our fulfilment of that love and commitment may be as individual as our characters.

John also goes on to point out here, regarding himself, that rumors get started that are wrongful interpretations of Jesus' words, so that we will understand the witty, emphatic, slightly sarcastic character of Jesus' rebuke - a characteristic of his human personality shown throughout this gospel, which I also love. And, characteristically of other scripture traditionally ascribed to the apostle John, he ends with the notion that this is testimony and that he is testifying.

My love for this passage continues to its last words, that end in a sweet, wistful and poignant note from our witness: But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. After alerting us to get the facts straight, John lets us know that there is much, also, that we do not know. It's his book, his testimony, so we can assume that he's telling us, It's enough. And I suppose as Jesus told Peter, we can do what we know he has told us to do.