Need Help with Bible Verse

[Winter_Rose]

John 21 vs 15-17
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know I love you." Jesus said "Tend my sheep."

What is the difference between the lambs and sheep?
Who or what was Jesus referring to when he asked Simon if he loved him more than these?

Many thanks and God bless.

 

[jacksknight]

I'm not sure what translation you are using. When Jesus said to Peter do you love me, then said feed my lambs he was talking about his disciples. When he said feed my sheep he was talking about everyone else.

When he said (in your translation) do you love me more than these, he would have been referring to his disciples again.

Hope this helps.

 

[Soyeong]

John 21 vs 15-17
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know I love you." Jesus said "Tend my sheep."

What is the difference between the lambs and sheep?

The Bible often uses parallel statements that are two different ways of saying the same thing.

Who or what was Jesus referring to when he asked Simon if he loved him more than these?

Matthew 15:24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

 

[Winter_Rose]

I'm not sure what translation you are using. When Jesus said to Peter do you love me, then said feed my lambs he was talking about his disciples. When he said feed my sheep he was talking about everyone else.

When he said (in your translation) do you love me more than these, he would have been referring to his disciples again.

Hope this helps.

I was using the the New Revised Standard Version.

 

[dysert]

I think you need to look at the bigger context of the chapter to understand what's going on. And you also have to look into the Greek a bit. My understanding is that in the beginning of the chapter, Peter was saying in effect, "I quit. I'm going back to fishing." Then, when Jesus came along He challenged Peter to see if he would be all in for Christ or if he was going to return to being a fisherman.

So when Jesus started asking him if Peter loved Jesus more than "these", I think he was talking about the fish. In other words, do you love Me to the point of giving up being a fisherman and instead being a full-time fisher of men?

The second thing to note is not the difference between lambs and sheep, but rather the words used when Jesus asked if Peter "loved" Him. In the Greek, Jesus switches words. The first two times He asks Peter if he loved Him, Jesus used the word "agape". So Jesus was asking Peter if the latter had agape love for the Lord. Unsatisfied with his answers to the first two questions, Jesus finally asked the third time but used the word "phileo" for love. So the dialog went from "Do you have agape love for me" to "Do you have a brotherly love for me?"

 

[Winter_Rose]

I think you need to look at the bigger context of the chapter to understand what's going on. And you also have to look into the Greek a bit. My understanding is that in the beginning of the chapter, Peter was saying in effect, "I quit. I'm going back to fishing." Then, when Jesus came along He challenged Peter to see if he would be all in for Christ or if he was going to return to being a fisherman.

So when Jesus started asking him if Peter loved Jesus more than "these", I think he was talking about the fish. In other words, do you love Me to the point of giving up being a fisherman and instead being a full-time fisher of men?

The second thing to note is not the difference between lambs and sheep, but rather the words used when Jesus asked if Peter "loved" Him. In the Greek, Jesus switches words. The first two times He asks Peter if he loved Him, Jesus used the word "agape". So Jesus was asking Peter if the latter had agape love for the Lord. Unsatisfied with his answers to the first two questions, Jesus finally asked the third time but used the word "phileo" for love. So the dialog went from "Do you have agape love for me" to "Do you have a brotherly love for me?"

What is agape love?

 

[dysert]

What is agape love?

Agape love is the highest form of love. It's a godly love that manifests itself in godly actions regardless of feelings. Phileo love is brotherly love. I see it as a step below agape love because it's merely the affection one would feel for a brother instead of the unconditional love that God has for us and calls on us to have for others.

 

[Winter_Rose]

Agape love is the highest form of love. It's a godly love that manifests itself in godly actions regardless of feelings. Phileo love is brotherly love. I see it as a step below agape love because it's merely the affection one would feel for a brother instead of the unconditional love that God has for us and calls on us to have for others.

Thank you for explaining that to me.

 

[Winter_Rose]

I think you need to look at the bigger context of the chapter to understand what's going on. And you also have to look into the Greek a bit. My understanding is that in the beginning of the chapter, Peter was saying in effect, "I quit. I'm going back to fishing." Then, when Jesus came along He challenged Peter to see if he would be all in for Christ or if he was going to return to being a fisherman.

So when Jesus started asking him if Peter loved Jesus more than "these", I think he was talking about the fish. In other words, do you love Me to the point of giving up being a fisherman and instead being a full-time fisher of men?

The second thing to note is not the difference between lambs and sheep, but rather the words used when Jesus asked if Peter "loved" Him. In the Greek, Jesus switches words. The first two times He asks Peter if he loved Him, Jesus used the word "agape". So Jesus was asking Peter if the latter had agape love for the Lord. Unsatisfied with his answers to the first two questions, Jesus finally asked the third time but used the word "phileo" for love. So the dialog went from "Do you have agape love for me" to "Do you have a brotherly love for me?"

Thank you.

 

[Winter_Rose]

The Bible often uses parallel statements that are two different ways of saying the same thing.



Matthew 15:24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Thank you

 

[redleghunter]

John 21 vs 15-17
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know I love you." Jesus said "Tend my sheep."

What is the difference between the lambs and sheep?
Who or what was Jesus referring to when he asked Simon if he loved him more than these?

Many thanks and God bless.

Wonderful dialogue between Jesus Christ and Peter. We are at a loss really using English translations.

As soon as they had finished breakfast (cf. 21:12–13), Jesus initiated the restoration by confronting Peter. That He addressed him as “Simon, son of John”suggests that what followed was a rebuke. Jesus had given Simon the nickname “Peter” (John 1:42), but sometimes referred to him as “Simon” when Peter did something that needed rebuke or correction (e.g., Matt. 17:25; Mark 14:37; Luke 22:31). It was as if our Lord called him by his former name when he was acting like his former self. The Lord’s pointed question, “Do you love Me more than these(i.e., the boat, nets, and other fishing paraphernalia)?” went right to the heart of the issue. As noted in the previous chapter of this volume, Peter, impatient at Jesus’ delay in meeting the disciples and beleaguered by his own failures, had impulsively decided to return to being a fisherman (21:3). That he was sure he could do well—or so he had thought. But Jesus confronted Peter and called him to follow Him and be the fisher of men he was first called to be (Matt. 4:19). “No servant can serve [be a slave to] two masters,” He had previously told them, “for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Luke 16:13). Jesus challenged Peter to permanently abandon his former life and be exclusively devoted to following Him, based on his love.

Peter replied to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” There is an interesting wordplay in the Greek text. The word Jesus used for love is agapao, the highest love of the will, love that implies total commitment (cf. 1 Cor. 13:4–8). Peter, painfully aware of his disobedience and failure, felt too guilty to claim that type of love. The brash pronouncements were a thing of the past; broken and humbled and fully aware that his action precluded him from a believable claim to the highest love, Peter answered by using the word phileo, a less lofty term that signifies affection. He also appealed to Jesus’ omniscience, reminding Him, “You know that I love You.”

Accepting Peter’s humble acknowledgement that his love was less than he had claimed and Christ deserved, Jesus still recommissioned him, graciously saying to him, “Tend My lambs.” Tend translates a form of the verb bosko, a term used of herdsmen pasturing and feeding their livestock. The present tense of the verb denotes continuous action. In keeping with the metaphor He introduced in 10:7–16 (cf. Pss. 95:7; 100:3; Ezek. 34:31), Jesus described believers as His lambs,emphasizing not only their immaturity, vulnerability, and need, but also that they are His (cf. Matt. 18:5–10). It is the same responsibility given to every pastor, as Paul pointed out in Acts 20:28 and as Peter himself exhorted in 1 Peter 5:2. Paul instructed the young pastor Timothy that the means to doing this was to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2).

Continuing to reinforce His point on the supremacy of love as the motive to faithfulness, Jesus said to Peter again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Once again He used the verb agapao, and once again Peter was unwilling to use that word; in his reply, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You,” Peter again used the verb phileo. The Lord then charged him, “Shepherd My sheep.”Jesus chose a different term than the one translated “tend” in verse 15. This word, a form of the verb poimaino, is likely a synonym for the previous verb, both of which are suitable to express the full scope of responsibility that pastoral oversight entails (cf. Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2).

But Jesus still was not through with Peter, so 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?” The reason for Peter’s grief was a change in the Lord’s vocabulary. Unlike His two previous questions, this third time Jesus used Peter’s word for love, phileo. He called into question even the less than total devotion Peter thought he was safe in claiming. The implication that his life did not support even that level of love broke Peter’s heart. All he could do was appeal even more strongly to Jesus’ omniscience, saying to Him, “Lord, You know all things(cf. 2:24–25; 16:30); You know that I love You.” For the third time Jesus accepted the apostle’s recognized failure and imperfection (cf. Isa. 6:1–8) and graciously charged Peter to care for His flock, saying to him, “Tend My sheep.” Peter’s restoration was thus complete. As Andreas Köstenberger notes,

Perhaps at long last Peter has learned that he cannot follow Jesus in his own strength and has realized the hollowness of affirming his own loyalty in a way that relies more on his own power of will than on Jesus’ enablement.… Likewise, we should soundly distrust self-serving pledges of loyalty today that betray self-reliance rather than a humble awareness of one’s own limitations in acting on one’s best intentions [cf. 2 Cor. 12:9–10]. (John, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004], 598)

http://www.gty.org/resources/bible-qna/BQ072613/simon-peter-do-you-love-me

 

[Hank77]

John 21 vs 15-17
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know I love you." Jesus said "Tend my sheep."

What is the difference between the lambs and sheep?
Who or what was Jesus referring to when he asked Simon if he loved him more than these?

Many thanks and God bless.

lambs - newer, less mature in the Lord sheep - older, more mature

Wonderful dialogue between Jesus Christ and Peter. We are at a loss really using English translations.

I really like what you have posted on the differences in the word Jesus and Peter used for 'love'.

I'd like to just add...I wonder if this conversation wasn't also a chance for Peter to be reconciled with the Lord, in a way. Not Jesus was holding anything against him, but I would imagine Peter was feeling pretty bad about how he had denied the Lord thrice. He had bragged about how even if all the other disciples turned away, he never would.
Maybe this was why he kept his statement of 'philo' love, realizing how he had overstated his ability to love Jesus and stand by Him anymore than the others had. Yes, he was much more humble.
So when Jesus said, Do you love me more than these. I think He was referring to the other disciples.

Mat 26:31 then saith Jesus to them, `All ye shall be stumbled at me this night; for it hath been written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad;
Mat 26:32 but, after my having risen, I will go before you to Galilee.'
Mat 26:33 And Peter answering said to him, `Even if all shall be stumbled at thee, I will never be stumbled.'

 

[Mark51]

The "these" at John 21:15 refer to the fish that remained after their fishing. Note the prior scriptures at John 21.

"Lambs" and little "sheep" refer not only to the disciples but to all of Jesus' "sheeplike" followers.

 

[redleghunter]

John 21 vs 15-17
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know I love you." Jesus said "Tend my sheep."

What is the difference between the lambs and sheep?
Who or what was Jesus referring to when he asked Simon if he loved him more than these?

Many thanks and God bless.

A wonderful passage packed with so much meaning.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/jhn/21/1/s_1018017

Link above is a good source to look at the Greek words used. If you click on the tool tab it will break down each word and the Greek used.

Of interest, which may help with your study, is when Jesus asks Peter if he "loves Him" which 'love' Jesus uses and which 'love' Peter responds with.

 

[hedrick]

I agree that sheep and lambs is typical parallelism. They're the same thing. On "love me more than these" I quote the Word commentary:

"The question, “Do you love me more than these?”, in the context must surely mean, “… more than your fellow disciples do?” (rather than, “more than you love them,” or “more than you love your fishing equipment”). It is not that Jesus would distinguish the depth of Peter’s love from that of the others, but that Peter had brashly asserted his loyalty to Jesus as more steadfast than theirs (see Matt 26:33, which has no real counterpart in John 13:36–37, but which in some form could well have been known in the Johannine circles). The question is whether he is prepared to make such a statement now."