Why Did Yahusha Ask Peter “Do You Love Me?” Three Times?
Yahusha asked Peter three times,“Do you love me?” as recorded in John 21:15–17. This occurred when Yahusha was having breakfast with His disciples soon after His resurrection. Yahusha used this opportunity to encourage and exhort Peter about his upcoming responsibilities and even to prophesy the manner in which Peter will die. By asking Peter, “Do you love me?” three times, Yahusha was emphasizing the importance of Peter’s love and unswerving obedience to his Master as necessary for his future ministry.
Yahusha begins by questioning Peter about His love for Him, and each time Peter answers in the affirmative, Yahusha follows up with the command for Peter to feed His sheep. His meaning is that, if Peter truly loves his Master, he is to shepherd and care for those who belong to Messiah. His words reveal Peter’s role as the leader of the new Natsarim Assembly, the Body of Messiah there in Jerusalem that will be responsible for spreading the besorah (gospel) after Yahusha’ ascension into heaven.
It is possible that by His repeated question Yahusha is subtly reminding Peter of his three denials. There’s no doubt those denials and how he felt when Yahusha turned to look at him at that moment were seared deeply into Peter’s mind (Luke 22:54–62). It wasn’t lost on Peter that Yahusha repeated His question to him three times, just as Peter previously denied Him three times.
There is also an interesting contrast when you look at the Greek words for “love” used in John 21:15–17. When Yahusha asked Peter, “Do you love me?” in John 21:15–16, He used the Greek word agape, which refers to unconditional love. Both times, Peter responded with “Yes, Master; you know that I love you,” using the Greek word phileo, which refers more to a brotherly/friendship type of love. It seems that Yahusha is trying to get Peter to understand that he must love Yahusha unconditionally in order to be the leader Yahuah is calling him to be. The third time Yahusha asks, “Do you love me?” in John 21:17, He uses the word phileo, and Peter again responds with “Master, you know everything; you know that I love you,” again using phileo. The point in the different Greek words for “love” seems to be that Yahusha was stretching Peter to move him from phileo love to agape love.
Whatever the reason for the three-fold “do you love me?” question, Yahusha was impressing on Peter how important his new role of tending the flock of Messiah’s followers would be. When someone repeats instructions to us over and over, we quickly understand that it’s extremely important for us to heed them. Yahusha wanted to make sure Peter understood this vital charge He was tasking him with and the ultimate reason for it, to follow Him and glorify Yahuah (John 21:19).
Source:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-Peter-do-you-love-me.html
