Asked Three Times
Saints Peter and Paul
Today's reading · John 21:15-19
Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?' He said, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Feed my lambs.' A second time: 'Do you love me?' A third time: 'Do you love me?' Peter felt hurt. 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Feed my sheep. Follow me.'
Three times Peter denied him. Three times Jesus asks if he loves him.
That's not a coincidence. That's mercy doing something specific.
Peter had to feel the weight of the question each time it came around. The repetition reads, in the tradition, as restoration rather than reproach: a chance to speak love into the exact shape of the wound, to answer where he had gone silent before. Jesus doesn't bring up what happened. He doesn't list Peter's failures. He just keeps asking, and then he gives Peter something to do. Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. Three commands, one after each question, each one an act of trust.
And Peter, to his credit, doesn't flinch into defensiveness. He doesn't explain himself or bring up the circumstances. He just keeps saying yes. By the third time he's hurt, maybe a little raw, but he still answers.
Today's intention
Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.