Though Peter had denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus had predicted (Matt. 26:34), these denials were not the end of the story. After the Resurrection, Jesus asked Peter, “ ‘Do you love Me more
than these?’ ” And Peter replied, “ ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ ” And Jesus said, “ ‘Tend My lambs.’ ” Then, Jesus again asked Peter, “ ‘Do you love Me?’ ” And Peter replied, “ ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ ” And Jesus said, “ ‘Shepherd My sheep.’ ” Then, yet again, a third time Jesus asked Peter, “ ‘Do you love Me?’ ” And “Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ ” And Peter replied, “ ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ And Jesus said, “ ‘Tend My sheep’ ” (John 21:15–17, NASB 1995). Just as Peter had denied Jesus three times, Jesus—by way of the crucial question, “ ‘Do you love Me?’ ”—restored Peter three times.
However different our circumstances may be from Peter’s, in many
ways the principle is the same. That is, the question that Jesus had
asked Peter is really the ultimate question that God poses to each of us in our time and place: Do you love Me?
Everything depends on our answer to that question.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 4.
