And after they had eaten, our Lord said to Simon Peter: “Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more[1] than these?” Peter answered: “Yea, Lord, Thou knowest[2] that I love Thee.” Jesus said to him: “Feed My lambs!”[3] Then our Lord said to him again: “Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me?” Peter again replied: “Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee.” And Jesus spoke to him again: “Feed My lambs!” Then Jesus, as though to try His apostle still further, asked him a third time: “Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me?” Peter was grieved[4] because His Divine Master seemed to doubt his love, and he answered warmly and earnestly: “Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee!” Then our Lord said to him: “Feed My sheep.” “Amen, amen, I say to thee, when thou wast younger thou didst gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst; but when thou shalt be old thou shalt stretch forth thy hands [5] and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.” [6]
COMMENTARY.
The Divinity of Jesus Christ is proved by this, His seventh apparition after His Resurrection: i. by the threefold miracle which He worked, namely the miraculous draught of fishes, the marvellous feast, and the unnatural strength of the net which remained unbroken in spite of the weight of the 153 large fishes; 2. by the prophecy of Peter’s martyrdom, which was literally fulfilled by his crucifixion in the year 67. St. Peter also testified to our Lord’s divinity when he exclaimed: “Lord, Thou knowest all things!” for He who knows all things, and can read the secret s of the heart, is omniscient, and must be God, Who alone is omniscient
- ↑ More. Than James and John and the others.
- ↑ Thou knowest. Peter answered humbly and without comparing his love with that of the other apostles. Before his fall he volunteered the statement, without even waiting to be asked, that he would be more true and devoted to our Lord than any of the others (chapter LXVII). Now, however, he had grown humbler and more prudent, and, while confessing his love, was careful not to set himself above the other disciples.
- ↑ My lambs. Or young sheep. The lambs and the sheep together represent the whole flock of the Good Shepherd, i. e. the Church.
- ↑ Grieved. Because the question thrice repeated reminded him of his threefold denial of his Lord, and he feared that Jesus did not trust his faithfulness.
- ↑ Hands. On the cross.
- ↑ Wouldst not. Namely to a violent death, from which the weak nature of man shrinks.
