Church Fathers Commentary John 21:15-17

"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. 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. 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." — John 21:15-17 (ASV)

Theophylact of Ohrid: When the meal was over, He entrusted to Peter—and not to the others—the oversight of the world’s sheep. So when they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, do you love Me more than these?

St. Augustine of Hippo: Our Lord asked this, already knowing the answer. He knew that Peter not only loved Him, but loved Him more than all the rest.

Alcuin of York: He is called Simon, son of John, with John being his natural father. Mystically, however, Simon means “obedience” and John means “grace”—a name well-suited for him who was so obedient to God’s grace that he loved our Lord more ardently than any of the others. Such virtue arises from a divine gift, not from mere human will.

St. Augustine of Hippo: While our Lord was being condemned to death, Peter was afraid and denied Him. But by His resurrection, Christ implanted love in his heart and drove away fear. Peter had denied because he feared to die; but when our Lord had risen from the dead, and by His own death destroyed death, what was there for him to fear? He said to Him, Yea, Lord; You know that I love You. Upon this confession of his love, our Lord entrusted His sheep to him. He said to him, Feed My lambs, as if to show that the only way for Peter to prove his love was to be a faithful shepherd under the chief Shepherd.

St. John Chrysostom: What most attracts the divine love is care and love for our neighbor. Our Lord, passing over the other disciples, addresses this command to Peter, since he was the chief of the Apostles, the spokesman for the disciples, and the head of their college. Our Lord no longer remembers Peter’s sin of denial or brings it as a charge against him; instead, He immediately entrusts him with the oversight of his brethren. It is as if He said, “If you love Me, take responsibility for your brethren. Demonstrate the love you have always shown, and lay down for My sheep the life you once said you would lay down for Me.”

He asked the same question and gave the same command a third time to show how important He considers the oversight of His own sheep, and how He regards it as the greatest proof of love for Him.

Theophylact of Ohrid: From this exchange comes the custom of the threefold confession in baptism.

St. John Chrysostom: Being asked the question for a third time disturbed Peter. He was grieved because Jesus said to him the third time, Do you love Me? He was afraid, perhaps, of being rebuked again for professing a love greater than he possessed. So he appealed to Christ Himself, saying, Lord, You know all things—that is, the secrets of the heart, both present and future.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He was grieved because he was asked so often by the One who already knew the answer to His own question. He replied, therefore, from his inmost heart: You know that I love You.

He said no more, replying only what he knew about himself. He knew that he loved Him; whether anyone else loved Him, he could not tell, as he could not see into another’s heart. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep, as if to say, “Let the duty of love be to feed the Lord’s flock, just as the impulse of fear was to deny the Shepherd.”

Theophylact of Ohrid: There is perhaps a difference between lambs and sheep. The lambs are the newly initiated, while the sheep are those who are mature in the faith.

Alcuin of York: To feed the sheep means to support believers in Christ so they do not fall from the faith, to provide for the material needs of those under our care, to preach and to model that preaching with our own lives, to resist adversaries, and to correct those who wander.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Those who feed Christ’s sheep as if the sheep were their own, and not Christ’s, plainly show that they love themselves and not Christ. They are moved by the lust for glory, power, or gain, not by the love of obeying, ministering to, and pleasing God.

Let us, therefore, love Him and not ourselves. In feeding His sheep, let us seek His interests, not our own. For whoever loves himself and not God does not truly love himself. Since a person cannot live by his own power, to love oneself apart from God is to choose death, and one cannot truly love oneself if that self-love leads to destruction. In contrast, when we love Him by whom we live, we love ourselves all the more, precisely because we are not loving ourselves for our own sake, but so that we may love Him who is the source of our life.

But unfaithful servants arose who divided Christ’s flock and handed down that division to their successors. You can hear them say, “Those sheep are mine! What do you want with my sheep? I will not let you near them.” If we call the sheep “ours,” as they call them “theirs,” then Christ has lost His sheep.