Love, Faith, and Redemption

Lessons from Peter’s Encounter with Jesus

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

John 21:17 ESV

The first time Jesus met Peter, he was fishing in the Sea of Galilee, later named the Sea of Tiberias. In Luke’s account in chapter 5 of his letter, he writes that the fishermen were on the shore washing their nets when Jesus walked by.

He borrowed Peter’s boat and taught from it. When Jesus finished teaching, he told Peter to go back out onto the sea and cast again. Peter told Him they had been fishing all night and caught nothing, but he did as Jesus said.

When Jesus made the appearance to Peter and several other disciples after His resurrection, the circumstances were similar.

At both meetings with Jesus, Peter and the fishermen with him caught more fish than they could physically handle in their boats. However, between the first and second meetings, an event occurred that literally rocked the world: Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Besides this cataclysmic event, Peter’s relationship with Jesus had undergone…