John 21:15
John 21:1515When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.”
Read as Jesus commissioning Peter to care for the flock, and used in Watchtower material on the responsibility of elders to shepherd the congregation. The threefold questioning is understood as matching Peter's threefold denial.
The restoration is the point, and its shape is worth noticing. Peter had denied Jesus three times beside a charcoal fire. John mentions, three verses earlier, that there was a charcoal fire burning here too — the same rare word. Jesus has built the scene deliberately. And what he asks is not for an account, an apology, or a period of proving. He asks one question: do you love me. Then he gives Peter work. Note also what Jesus does not do. He does not withdraw fellowship pending evidence of repentance. He cooks breakfast for the man who denied him and hands him the flock. That is the biblical picture of restoring someone who has failed badly, and it is worth laying beside any arrangement where a person must first satisfy a committee. Paul does the same thing at , telling a congregation to forgive and comfort a disciplined man so he is not overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Compare , , .