JOHN 21:16 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”
He said to him the second time, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Tend my sheep' — the second question omits 'more than these,' focusing directly on Peter's love relationship with Jesus. The repetition parallels Peter's three denials; each interrogation is a restoration step. The commissioning shifts from 'lambs' (young sheep, perhaps new converts) to 'sheep' (the full flock). Again Jesus uses agapaō; Peter responds with phileō.
Church Fathers on John 21:16
The dinner being ended, He commits to Peter the superintendence over the sheep of the world, not to the others: So when they had dined, Jesus says to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, Do love you Me more than these do?
He knew that Peter not only loved Him, but loved Him more than all the rest.
He is called Simon, son of John, John being his natural father. But mystically, Simon is obedience, John grace, a name well befitting him who was so obedient to God’s grace, that he loved our Lord more ardently than any of the others. Such virtue arising from divine gift, not mere human will.
Read all 14 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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