John 21:15-17 – So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, 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 all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.”
This became quite a day of revelation and change for the disciples, especially Simon Peter. It takes place just a short time (maybe two weeks or so) after Jesus had been crucified and raised from the dead. The apostles had already had at least two encounters with the risen Christ but they were still trying to sort out this new world that they were now living in.
Peter and several of the other disciples decided to go back to their old stomping grounds in Galilee and go fishing. But as the famous Yogi Berra saying goes, “It was déjà vu all over again.” They fished all night and caught nothing, this mysterious stranger (Jesus the Lord) shows up on the beach and told them to cast their net on the other side of the boat. Again, they caught a record load of fish just like first time three years ago.
Next, Jesus cooks breakfast on the beach, you guessed it, bread and fish. He then began to question Peter about his love for Jesus. In the Lord’s world, loving Him and loving lost sheep were the same. That’s what this meeting was all about. He asked Peter about his love for Him using a back and forth word play on brotherly love and supernatural love. Jesus was telling Peter that if you love Me like you say you do then you are going to have to replace this natural fishing thing with fishing for men. “This has been my message from the beginning, follow Me and I will make you a fisher of men.” This is still His message to His disciples today, “If you love Me, gather My sheep and feed them.” This is His work and what that breakfast on the beach was all about.
