Anchor My Faith

Previous Lesson
Next Lesson
Author: Stephen Weller
931 words, 5 minutes read time

The Need of Context

Scripture: John 21:15-19

With the previous lesson we witnessed the establishment of the setting in which Jesus was going to confront Peter about his denials and help him prepare for future ministry. With this lesson we begin a new section covering the conversation Jesus and Peter had.

¹⁵ 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.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶ He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved 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. ¹⁸ Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Now that breakfast is over it is time for Jesus to confront Peter about his denials and help him see his role in ministry. To lay the context for this we need to recall the times Peter denied Jesus. The six denials are outlined below.

• Peter’s 1st Denial – to a slave girl doorkeeper at the courtyard door (Jn 18:17)
• Peter’s 2nd Denial – to slaves and guards in the courtyard by the fire (Jn 18:25)
• Peter’s 3rd Denial – to another slave girl in the courtyard by the fire (Mt 26:69-71; Mk 14:66-68; Lk 22:56-57)
• Peter’s 4th Denial – to a slave girl and bystanders at the gateway (Mt 26:71-72; Mk 14:69-70a; Lk 22:58)
• Peter’s 5th Denial – to a relative of Malchus (Jn 18:26-27a)
• Peter’s 6th Denial – to bystanders standing around (Mt 26:73-75; Mk 14:70b-72; Lk 22:58-62)

But didn’t Jesus say to Peter that he would deny him three times (Mark 14:61)? In lesson H707 it was pointed out that the six recorded denials occurred at three locations.

The first denial is not questioned and occurred when the servant girl at the door to the courtyard recognizes Peter when Jesus was taken before Annas.

The second denial could be the collection of denials two through four that took place in the courtyard when Jesus went before Caiaphas the high priest. The narrative records the second denial with the slaves and guards in the courtyard by the fire. The third denial in the narrative occurred by the fire with Peter now sitting down. A servant girl points out who Peter was. The fourth denial in the narrative indicates Peter is about to leave the courtyard and go to the gateway and Peter denies before all that he knows Jesus and then the rooster crowed. These three denials occurred in the same location and ended with a rooster crowing and could be summarized as the second denial.

The third denial could be denials five and six of the narrative as they both occur outside the courtyard. The fifth denial of the narrative was when a servant of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, recognized Peter. The sixth denial occurs when bystanders recognized Peter. Peter then invokes a curse on himself and swears that he does not know Jesus and then the rooster crows. These two denials could be summarized as the third denial.

The above shows that the six denials are details that Jesus groups as denials occurring in three locations: the courtyard when Jesus was before Annas, the courtyard when Jesus was before Caiaphas, and then outside the courtyard. Did the rooster crow once or twice? That difference comes from what the gospel writers remembered.

The six denials reported in the harmonization narrative occurred in three locations and are spoken of as three denials by Jesus. With this information fresh in our minds, we are ready to listen to what Jesus has to say to Peter.  

As we read through the narrative for this section, we notice that Jesus asks Peter three times if he loved him and each time Jesus assigned a different aspect of ministry to Peter. Some of the older commentaries suggest that Jesus used a different word for love each time, but modern commentaries suggest that basically there was no difference. However, looking at the Greek, one notices that the first two times Jesus uses the word “agapas” and the third time the word “phileis”. The three aspects of ministry are found in the three metaphors used: “Feed my lambs,” “Tend my sheep,” and “Feed my sheep.”

Conclusion

In this lesson we did a review and found six denials that occurred in three locations. The three denials that Jesus speaks of are these three locations. In relation to these three, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loved him and each time when Peter said yes, Jesus assigned an aspect of ministry to him. The details of this will be covered in the next lesson.