The Saturday Night Theologian is part of Progressive Theology
Exegesis of Word and World, based on readings from the Revised Common Lectionary
Easter 3: John 21:1-19
This passage in John is one of several that is frequently misinterpreted because of faulty hermeneutical methodology. I'm talking specifically about the conversation between Jesus and Peter that takes place after breakfast, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus asks Peter three times, "Peter, do you love me?" and Peter responds each time, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Each time Jesus replies, "Feed my sheep," or some variant thereof. It is the variation that is the key to both the misunderstanding and the proper understanding of this passage.
The misunderstanding involves the use of two different Greek verbs for love, agapao and fileo. Of the six uses of the word translated "love" in English in this passage, Jesus uses agapao the first two times and fileo the third time, whereas Peter uses fileo all three times. I have heard innumerable sermons and Bible lessons that claim that agapao is a higher form of love, perhaps even an exclusively Christian form of love, and that Jesus is asking Peter whether or not he loves him is this exalted manner. Peter responds each time by using the weaker form of love, fileo, and he is hurt when Jesus switches to this verb in his third question.
There are at least four problems with this common interpretation. First, it makes no sense for Peter to be hurt because Jesus chose to use the same word that Peter himself was using to describe his love for Jesus. Obviously Peter thought it was a perfectly acceptable word. Second, Jesus and Peter would probably have been conversing in Aramaic, not Greek, so the distinction between the Greek verbs is a literary device. Third, an examination of the immediate context indicates the author's predilection for variation rather than repetition (viz., "feed my lambs," "shepherd my sheep," "feed my sheep"). Fourth, an examination of the use of the two verbs agapao and fileo in John reveals that they are used interchangeably. In particular, notice the following passages, all of which use fileo: "The father loves the Son" (5:20); "See how much he [Jesus] loved him [Lazarus]" (11:36); "The Father himself loves you" (16:27); "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (20:2; in contrast to other occurrences of this phrase, which use agapao).
Peter is upset, then, not because Jesus switches verbs, but because he asked him a third time whether he really loved him or not. Peter's threefold affirmation of his love for Jesus corresponds to his threefold denial of Jesus before the crucifixion. Peter's hurt feeling could be because he wonders whether Jesus will ever believe that he loves him, after his earlier failure, or it may be that the threefold repetition of the question simply reminds him of his earlier weakness. In either case, Jesus responds affirmingly. He seems to be saying, "Yes, Peter, I know that you love me, but maybe you yourself don't realize the depth of that love. I'm sending you out to tend my flock, and you will be faithful doing so, even to the point of death. But that's all in the future. Right now all I ask is that you follow me."
Sometimes we, like Peter, fail Jesus, and maybe we think that our sins are so great that God will never forgive us, or that we'll never be useful to God again. The beauty of this simple story is that regardless of our sins, God always stands ready to forgive us and welcome us back into the fold. As he had for Peter, Jesus has one simple question for us: "Do you love me?" If we answer yes, then he has a simple command: "Follow me."