John 21:15-23

Obedient Love

Text: John 21:15-23

15

So when they had broken their fast, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

16

He saith to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Tend my sheep.

17

He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

18

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

19

Now this he spake, signifying by what manner of death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

20

Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; who also leaned back on his breast at the supper, and said, Lord, who is he that betrayeth thee?

21

Peter therefore seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

22

Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

23

This saying therefore went forth among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, that he should not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?

Queries

a.

What did Jesus mean by, more than these?

b.

What is the significance of Peter's replies, thou knowest.

c.

What is the meaning of Jesus-' reply to the curiosity of Peter concerning John in John 21:20-22?

Paraphrase

So when they had finished their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you really love me with more devotion than these others. Peter answered Him, Yes Lord! You know that I have a deep personal love for you. Jesus said to Peter, Then feed and nurture the young and tender lambs of my flock. Jesus said again, Simon, son of John, do you love, reverence and respect Me with mind as well as heart? Peter replied a second time, Yes Lord! You know that I love you as my Lord and Saviour and dearest Friend. Jesus said to Peter, Then care for and protect my sheep, For the third time Jesus said, Simon, son of John, do you, in your own words, really have a deep personal affection for Me. Peter was pricked in his conscience when the Lord asked him a third time, using his own words, Do you have a deep personal affection for Me? So Peter answered, Lord, you know all things and you are able to look upon my heart; you know I love you so. Jesus said, Feed my sheep.
Jesus continued, I say to you most solemnly, Peter, when you were young with vitality and freedom you bound yourself with your belt and went just about wherever you wished to go; but instead of that liberty which you enjoyed in your youth, you shall, in your old age, be a prisoner for you shall be bound and taken where you would not wish to go. Jesus said this to signify the way Peter would die and how it would glorify God, And as He was saying these things He also said to Peter, Follow Me, As Peter followed Jesus aside from the rest, he turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved also following (this is the same disciple who had leaned back on Jesus-' bosom at the Passover supper-the one who said, Lord, who is he that is betraying you?). And when Peter saw this disciple coming aside to Jesus he said, Lord, what is going to happen to this one? Jesus replied, If it is my will that he remain even until I come, what concern is it of yours? You follow Me! After hearing this some of the brethren began to spread this saying among themselves, that Jesus had said this disciple would not die. Jesus, of course, did not say, He will not die; He simply said, If it is my will that he remain even until I come, what concern is it of yours?

Summary

Jesus emphasizes that He expects total commitment from His disciples and this commitment is to be based on intelligent, spiritual, personal love.

Comment

At some time near the end of the meal of fish and bread that morning (or after the meal was concluded) Jesus turned to Peter and startled him with this question, Simon, son of John, do you really love me more than these others? The pronoun (these) in the Greek is touton and may be either masculine or neuter. The succeeding context shows beyond doubt that the masculine (these other disciples) was intended. We remember the proud boast Peter made (Matthew 26:31-33; Mark 14:27-29; Luke 22:31-33; John 13:37) the night of the last supper, If all these leave you, I-'ll never leave you, even if I must go to my death with you Lord! It was at that very moment Jesus prophesied Before the cock crows you will deny me three times. Now, in the light of Peter's downfall Jesus wants to know if Peter is still so sure of himself! Foster lists three reasons why he believes Jesus means do you love Me more than these other disciples, instead of things i.e., things representing your worldly vocation such as nets and boats and fish. (a) There was nothing wrong with fishing per se, that is, Jesus did not condemn Peter for fishing and accuse him of loving Him less for fishing; (b) The three-fold question parallels the three-fold denial; (c) If Peter had understood Jesus to mean he was questioning whether he planned to desert his Master and go back to his old fishing trade, it seems incredible that Peter would not have answered immediately and precisely, You know that I love you more than these things. It is more in keeping with the humility Peter must have felt when asked that he did not even so much as say You know that I love you more than these other men. He had fallen into that prideful trap before.

Two Greek verbs are used in an interesting interplay upon the word love in this section. Jesus uses the verb agapao in His first two inquiries and the verb phileo in the third question. Peter replies with phileo in all three answers. There are some commentators who are dogmatic in their assertions that agapao always means the higher, spiritual devotion, not an impulse from the feelings, but more intellectually oriented love while phileo always refers to the lower type of love intimate, personal affection among human beings, brotherly love. This is not borne out by the New Testament usage of the two words.

a.

Both words are used of God's love for man (agapao: John 3:16; John 14:23; John 17:23; 1 John 4:10-19) (phileo: John 16:27; Revelation 3:19)

b.

Both words are used of God's love for the Son (agapao: John 3:35; John 10:17; John 15:9; John 17:23-26) (phileo: John 5:20).

c.

Both verbs are used of the love of men for Jesus (agapao: John 8:42; John 14:15; John 14:21; John 14:23-24; John 14:28; John 21:15-16) (phileo: John 16:27; John 21:15-16; Matthew 10:37; 1 Corinthians 16:22).

d.

Both verbs are used of the love of men for other men (agapao: John 13:34-35; John 15:12; John 15:17; 1 John 2:10; 1 John 3:10; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 4:20) (phileo: John 15:19).

The text now under consideration seems to indicate that the words were, as the Arndt and Gingrich Lexicon says, used interchangeably. There is also the frequent interchange of other synonyms within this very chapter (e.g., boskeinpoimainei = feed; arniaprobatia = sheep; elkueinsurein = haul), which indicates John's fondness of the use of interchangeable synonyms.

Yet there also seems to be a certain distinction of meaning between the two which the English language is unable to convey. R. C. Trench, in his Synonyms of the New Testament puts it this way:
... there is often a difference between them, well worthy to have noted and reproduced, if this had lain within the compass of our language; being very nearly equivalent to that between -diligo-' and -amo-' in the Latin. In that threefold -Lovest thou Me?-' which the risen Lord addresses to Peter, He asks him first, agapas me; at this moment, when all the pulses in the heart of the now penitent Apostle are beating with a passionate affection toward his Lord, this word on that Lord's lips sounds far too cold;. he therefore in his answer substitutes for the agapas of Christ the word of a more personal love, philo se,

Foster says it is clear there is some difference and the use of both words in John 21:1-25 would indicate there is some different shade of meaning indicated. The fact that when we are commanded to love our enemies agapao is used, suggests the shade of meaning that we are not commanded to make a confidante or an intimate personal friend of an enemythis might not be possible. But we are to treat all, even our enemies, with kindness and generous regard.

We will make Peter say something he certainly did not intend to say if we insist on a decisive and immutable distinction between the two words, We would have Peter replying to the Lord, You know I love you Lord, but I do not love you with the highest devotion which man should have toward God (agapao); I only love you as a close personal friend (phileo), with a lower type of love. For Peter this was the right word. It expressed the deep, warm, heartfelt affection of this impetuous man. There does seem to be a decisive difference in the two words, but not as pronounced a difference as some commentators insist upon.

Why did Jesus use agapao when asking the first two questions, Lovest thou me? and then use phileo when He asked the third time? Most commentators believe Jesus was mildly rebuking Peter by questioning whether Peter even had the lowest type of love for Him. But Peter, by using phileo in each of his answers was using a word by which he meant to affirm both his lofty devotion toward God whom he revered but had never seen, and his personal love for Jesus whom he has seen and recognizes as God's Son, just as Thomas had (John 20:28). As we quoted Dr. Trench above, for Peter the word agapao just did not fully describe his feelings so he used phileo and the Master simply used Peter's own word of feeling as the basis for His final challenge.

We feel it would be profitable to quote here a few excerpts from Wm. Barclay's book, More New Testament Words. an excellent work on word studies of New Testament Greek. In his chapter on Agape, Mr. Barclay says:
The commonest words for love in Greek are the noun philia and the verb philein. There is a lovely warmth about these words. They mean to look on someone with affectionate regard. Philia and philein are beautiful words to express a beautiful relationship.

It would not be true to say that the NT never uses anything else but agape and agapan to express the Christian love. Some few times philein is used. Philia was a lovely word, but it was definitely a word of warmth and closeness and affection; it could only be properly used of the near and dear, and Christianity needed a much more inclusive word than that. Christian thought fastened on this word agape because it was the only word capable of being filled with the content which was required. This agape. .. is a deliberate principle of the mind, and a deliberate conquest and achievement of the will. It is in fact the power to love the unlovable, to love people whom we do not like. Christianity does not ask us to love our enemies and to love men at large in the same way as we love our nearest and our dearest and those who are closest to us; that would be at one and the same time impossible and wrong. But it does demand that we should have at all times a certain attitude of the mind and a certain direction of the will towards all men, no matter who they are.

Now it should not be too difficult to see why Peter used the word phileo. His love for Christ was more than an at large loveit was a love of warmth and closeness and affection.

We believe there is some relationship between the charge Jesus made to Peter (Feed my sheep) and the question He asked (Lovest thou me?). If Peter loves the Master, Peter will feed the Master's lambs. Whatever is done for the lambs is done for the Master (cf. Matthew 25:31-46; Acts 9:1-6). Is this not why Jesus used the word agapaoas if to say, Peter, do you love me? You say you love me, then love my lambs and feed them. Peter's personal, warm and affectionate love for Jesus is well and good, but this love for Jesus must be directed toward His flock at large as well or it isn-'t even phileo love for Jesus (and this is why Jesus changed to Peter's terminology in the last challenge.

Jesus did not doubt Peter's love for HimHe was challenging, preparing and commissioning Peter to go and love the Master's lambs. This was not simply a reconciliation between Master and disciple for this had already occurred in the first appearance of Jesus to Peter in Luke 24:34, It was not to restore Peter to his apostleship among the select eleven for as Foster says, the angel made it plain in the first message after the resurrection that Jesus did not consider that Peter had forfeited his apostleship (Mark 16:7), It was to challenge Peter, to strengthen him (to make him firmer in his love by reminding him of the humiliation of denial three times), to instruct him that loving Christ means to feed His sheep, and to confirm his place of leadership among the eleven. Jesus also elicited these confessions of love from Peter to prepare him for the prophecy of his death about to be made.

There certainly are great principles for all followers of Christ to learn from this private intercourse between Jesus and Peter. Those who have dedicated themselves to feed the flock (whether evangelists or elders) must love Christ above all else and before all others. Love for Christ, deep, personal affection is the only force that will motivate and fortify His servants against the many disappointments and dangers in feeding the flock. We may also learn that love is expressed by obedient service (cf. 2 Corinthians 8:5-8; 2 Corinthians 8:24; 2 Corinthians 9:13). Love is not just desire; love is the desire to giveto spend and be spent for another.

There is an interesting play of synonyms for feed in this context. In John 21:15; John 21:17 Jesus used the word boske which means feed; do the part of a herdsman and provide the flock food. In John 21:16 He used the word poimaine which means shepherd the flock, protect, care for, lead the flock, This is the commission of the Chief Shepherd to the under-shepherds to give themselves to the ministry of feeding, protecting, guiding and leading the flock of God (cf. John 10:1-42; Acts 20:18-38; 1 Peter 5:1-11, etc.). The important food for the flock is the spiritual food. Peter was called and charged to carry out this great task and he eventually laid down his life for the sheep.

It is also interesting to note the way Jesus used synonyms for sheep and lambs. In John 21:16-17 the word probatia (sheep) is used. In John 21:15 He used the word arnia which is a diminutive meaning little lambs. The little lambs are mentioned first. The unsophisticated ones, the weak ones, the young ones must be tenderly nurtured. The older ones, even the experienced ones, must also be cared for and fed. We must all grow up together in stature into the full measure of godliness in Christ (cf. Ephesians 4:11-17).

In John 21:18 Jesus culminates his charge to Peter to feed the lambs with the revelation that Peter shall lay down his life for the flock. The figure of speech used by Jesus was vivid. The Jews, in walking or running, gathered up (girded) the long folds of their outer garments and fashioned them about their waists like belts, that their progress might not be impeded. The figure then expresses the freedom to go as one pleases unimpeded and unfettered. In fact Peter had just so girded himself and made his way to Jesus on the shore unfettered and unrestrained. But in his later years it shall not be so. Solemnly Jesus told him that he would stretch forth his hands to be fettered and bound and he would be led according to the will of another.

Most commentators believe this stretching forth of the hands indicates Peter was told he would die by crucifixion. This is highly probable since Peter's Master was put to death in this way and it was a common form of Roman execution administered upon non-citizen malefactors. Works by Eusebius and Tertullian relate the traditional manner of Peter's death to be crucifixion head downward. Whatever the manner of death it was to glorify God. Peter was to be among the first martyrs (from the Greek marturos). Marturia means to testify or bear witness. Peter's life and death in faith bore witness to the glory of God. Just as the death of the first recorded Christian martyr, Stephen (Acts 7:54 ff), glorified God and was instrumental to some degree in the conversion of the great apostle Paul, the death of Peter for the sake of Christ and the church was undoubtedly a great testimony to the power of the word of God and instrumental in the conversion of many other people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints (Psalms 116:15; cf. also Revelation 14:13).

Now after speaking this Jesus admonished again, Follow me. One commentator thinks Jesus began after this admonition to draw apart from the disciples to vanish from their company until His next appearance, and that Peter may have taken Jesus literally and began to withdraw from the group and walk after Jesus. This seems the most probable explanation for Peter turning to see another disciple following.

There can be no doubt that this other disciple who followed was John the beloved (cf. our notes on John 13:23). Both Peter and John (and James) were of the inner circle three, and Peter was involved in the incident at the supper where the other disciple is described in the same way.

Foster says, Follow mein the light of the preceding context seems to mean -follow me in my example of dying on a cross.-' But the succeeding context seems to indicate that Jesus was leading Peter off to a little distance from the group and that John followedor perhaps He was leading all of the disciples hence. It may be that both the spiritual and the literal are meant to be understood by the apostles.

The main point is Peter's question about the other disciple and the Lord's answer to Peter. Peter, having been challenged, commissioned and having had his destiny revealed to him, said, Lord what about him? Peter had missed the mark again! He had allowed his natural mind to take over again, He was out of focus. He was not focused on what Jesus had sought to emphasize. He was worrying about times and seasons, Jesus replied, as He had before to His own mother, and as He would to the disciples later, It is none of your business to know this. if it is My will that John remain alive even until I come again in contrast to your death before I come, it is My affair and not yours, The destiny of this other disciple is minor; the major task for you is to follow me, (cf. our notes on John 2:1-5; also cf. Acts 1:6-8). If a man is going to be a soldier, he must have a soldier's training. Sighing after happiness; brooding over the life we-'ve missedthese are out of place with the Christian soldier. Men are not coddled and indulged when they are trained as soldiers. Orders are given and no questions are solicited. Immediate and implicit obedience is called for. The Lord will tell us all we have need to know. We are His friends. What would be detrimental to us He will withhold (cf. our notes on John 15:12-16). We are not to know times or seasons, but to go to the ends of the earth witnessing.

Some disciples misunderstood the point of Jesus-' reply to Peter. The word was spread among the brethren that Jesus had said John would not die, Barnes points out that first, the words of Jesus might easily be misunderstood and second, the false rumor might gain credence when it was seen that John survived all the other apostles, So John, writing this gospel record in the twilight of life, deemed it necessary to correct this rumor and so said simply, Jesus did not say that the -other-' disciple would not dieJesus said, -If it is my will that the other disciple remain until I come, it is none of your affair, Peter-'. We believe it is significant that John repeated precisely what Jesus said and offered no interpretation. John learned the lesson Jesus intended, His disciples need not know allbut all they need to know is revealed. The primary thing the disciples of Jesus need to do is to love and live the revealed teachings of their Master, leaving times and seasons to the wisdom and will of a loving Father. There are many Christians who need to be, as Hendriksen says, turned from curiosity to their calling. It seems there were many brethren in John's day in the same curious frame of mind. They were majoring in minors. We like the conclusion given by Mr. Barclay:
Some would say that John was the great one, for his flights of thought went higher than those of any other man. Some would say that Paul was the great one for he fared to the ends of the earth for Christ. But this chapter says that Peter, too, had his place. To each Jesus had given his function. It was Peter's function to shepherd the sheep of Christ, and in the end to die for Christ. It was John's function to witness to the story of Christ, and to live to a great old age and to come to the end in peace. That did not make them rivals and competitors in honor and prestige; that did not make the one greater or less than the other; it made them both servants of Christ. Let a man serve Christ where Christ has set him. As Jesus said to Peter: -Never mind the task that is given to someone else. Your job is to follow me.-' And that is what He still says to each one of us. Our glory is never in comparison with men; our glory is the service of Christ in whatever capacity has been allotted to us.

Quiz

1.

What did Jesus have in mind by more than these?

2.

Discuss the difference and similarities in the two Greek words for love used in this context.

3.

Why did Jesus use the same word Peter was using in His third question to Peter?

4.

Why did Jesus ask these questions of Peter? Was it to restore Peter's apostleship?

5.

What two words are used for food and what is indicated by each?

6.

What two words are used for sheep and what is indicated by each?

7.

What is the lesson Jesus intended for all disciples in His reply to Peter's question about the other disciple?