Restoration of Peter

Biblical Account

This event is recorded in chapter 21 of the Gospel of John. The risen Jesus appears to the disciples while they are fishing on the Sea of Tiberias and gives them breakfast (John 21:1-14). After the meal, Jesus asks Peter, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?" (John 21:15). Jesus asks the same question three times, and each time Peter answers, "Thou knowest that I love thee." Jesus in turn charges him, "Feed my lambs," "Feed my sheep" (where the Greek verb means "tend" or "shepherd"), and "Feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17). The text records that at the third question "Peter was grieved."

Jesus then tells Peter that when he is old he will be carried where he does not wish to go. The text explains that this saying signified by what death Peter would glorify God, and Jesus summons him, saying, "Follow me" (John 21:18-19).

"The restoration of Peter" is not a phrase found in the Bible. It is a name the church has given to this scene, in which Peter, who had denied Jesus three times, is reinstated as a disciple and a shepherd.

Background

On the night Jesus was arrested, Peter warmed himself at a fire of coals in the courtyard of the high priest's house and denied Jesus three times (John 18:15-27). The fire Jesus has prepared in chapter 21 is likewise a fire of coals. The Greek word for "fire of coals" (anthrakia) occurs only in these two places in the entire New Testament. Because of this shared word and the matching number three, many commentators read this scene as a counterpart to the denial. The text itself, however, does not explicitly link the two events.

The shepherd tending sheep was a familiar Old Testament image for God and for the leaders of Israel (Ezekiel 34). In John 10, Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

In Luke 22:31-32, while foretelling Peter's denial, Jesus says, "when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." John 21 is commonly read as the scene in which this turning back takes place. Peter subsequently appears in the Book of Acts as the one who preaches at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and leads the church in Jerusalem. In 1 Peter 5:2 he exhorts the elders, "Feed the flock of God which is among you." Just as the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, John 21:18-19 anticipates that Peter, having been entrusted with the sheep, will also go the way of death.

Interpretations and Debates

• Two words for "love": In the first two questions Jesus uses agapaō, and Peter answers with phileō. In the third question Jesus also uses phileō. Many sermons attach significance to this difference, taking it to mean that Peter did not dare to profess agape love. Many scholars, on the other hand, regard it as merely a stylistic variation, since elsewhere the Gospel of John uses the two verbs interchangeably without any distinction in meaning. The same debate surrounds the differences between "feed" and "tend" and between "lambs" and "sheep."
• Peter's status: The Catholic Church reads this passage, together with Matthew 16:18, as evidence that Peter was entrusted with a primary office of caring for the whole church. Protestants generally read it as the account of a failed disciple who is forgiven and restored to his calling, and they regard that calling as a summons to pastoral care given to all ministers. Accordingly, they do not see it as support for an exclusive authority belonging to Peter alone.
• Traditions outside the text: Peter's martyrdom in Rome is widely known from early church tradition. The story that he was crucified upside down, however, appears in later writings such as the apocryphal Acts of Peter and is not found in the text of John. Likewise, taking "thou shalt stretch forth thy hands" in 21:18 as a reference to crucifixion is a traditional interpretation rather than a direct statement of the text.

In the Korean Church

The passage is frequently used in preaching on forgiveness after failure and on a faith that begins anew. The words "Feed my sheep" are commonly cited at installation services for pastors and at ordination services as a text reminding officeholders of their calling.