Reinstated John 21: 15-19
There is the neat counter-balancing of Peter being asked three times by Jesus against the three times that Peter denies Jesus prior to His death. And there is the prophetic bit about the way Peter will be martyred because of his faith. But what always gets me as being so very beautiful about this passage is that Jesus not only wipes the slate clean for Peter but He gives him a crucial job in (“Feed my sheep” v.7) and this is based on love. Jesus trusts Peter. He believes in him.
He believes in us.
Peter messed up. We mess up.
Peter is forgiven. We are forgiven.
Peter says he loves Jesus. Do we love Jesus in the same way?
Peter is restored in this way because he has work to do. We are restored in
this way because we have work to do.
And by the way – notice this all happens after they have eaten together.