May 4, 2025
In Jesus’ Mercy
Pastor Rok Lee
John 21:15-19
15 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 that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt 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. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”
We all remember that Peter denied Jesus three times. Personally, I worry that I talked about this too much last week, and that Peter might be upset with me when I get to heaven. After Peter denied Jesus, Jesus rose from the dead and came to find Peter and the disciples. Jesus met them by the Sea of Galilee, and they ate fish together.
There’s a Korean saying that goes, “Even Mount Geumgang must be seen after eating.” It means that even the most beautiful view doesn’t matter if you’re hungry—eating comes first. There’s also another saying: “Don’t bother even a dog while it’s eating.” This means you shouldn’t scold someone while they’re eating. That’s how important eating is.
In today’s passage in John, everyone is quietly eating. After the meal, in that silence, Jesus finally speaks—and He speaks to Peter. If you were Jesus, what would you have said? Maybe you’d bring up Peter’s past words: “Didn’t you say you’d never deny me? But you did, three times.” That’s what we might say.
But Jesus asks a very different question: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” What do you think Peter felt when he heard that? Maybe he thought, “Wait, He’s not scolding me? Did He forget?” Peter answers, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus asks again. Peter might have thought Jesus didn’t hear him, so he answers again. Then Jesus asks the same question a third time. This time, the Bible says Peter felt hurt. How would you feel if someone asked you the same question three times? You’d probably think your answer was wrong.
Peter might have wondered, “Does Jesus think I don’t love Him?” But Peter wasn’t always quick to understand. Even though he was hurt, he still answered the same way: “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”
This raises a question: Why did Jesus ask the same question three times? The answer many people know is this: because Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus gave him three chances to confess his love. It wasn’t a scolding—it was forgiveness and mercy.
But there’s more. In Genesis, when Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, God also asked them three questions:
1. “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)
2. “Did you eat from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?” (Genesis 3:11)
3. “What is this you have done?” (Genesis 3:13)
God gave them a chance to repent, but they failed. They didn’t answer with the hearts God wanted.
Sometimes when we’re dating or married, we want to hear the other person say, “I love you.” Even if we already know they love us, we want to hear it. Love needs to be spoken. When I first met my wife, I fell in love at first sight. But if I had never told her or proposed to her, we wouldn’t have gotten married. Words matter. First comes the proposal, then marriage, then children. You don’t marry and then propose.
Children represent fruitfulness. After Peter says he loves Jesus three times, Jesus gives the same reply three times: “Feed my sheep.” Jesus’ questions were full of mercy and forgiveness—and a call to bear fruit.
So what does this all mean? It means mercy and forgiveness. Jesus never directly says, “I forgive you,” but by helping Peter say he loves Jesus, He heals Peter’s past. And even more, Jesus begins to fix what was broken since Adam and Eve.
Peter felt hurt when Jesus asked him the same question three times. The repeated question stayed deep in his heart. In other words, Jesus’ words were taking root in Peter’s heart. And when something takes root, identity begins to change.
Before you plant something in the ground, you need to prepare the soil. You must break it up and remove the stones so the roots can grow deep. The same is true when God’s Word is planted in our hearts. We need to clear out the “stones” in our hearts—our ego. We let go of our own thoughts, desires, and plans, and replace them with Jesus’ thoughts, desires, and plans. Then the Word can settle and take root in our hearts.
I mentioned earlier that when something takes root, our identity changes. Next to the apartment where I live, there is a cornfield. But in the winter, you can’t tell what kind of crop the field grows. We name a field based on what is planted in it. If you plant corn, it becomes a cornfield. If you plant potatoes, it becomes a potato field. In other words, the kind of plant that takes root determines the identity of the land.
Before, our hearts were filled with our own things. But when we remove our ego and plant the Word of Jesus, something changes. Our identity is no longer shaped by our own thoughts or desires—it is now defined by the Word that has taken root in us.
After rooting comes growing. In Wisconsin, there are many corn farms. If you go to the Dakotas or Idaho, you’ll find potato farms. In Kansas, they grow wheat. Different crops grow best in different regions. And each crop requires slightly different methods of cultivation. You can’t just give everything a lot of water and sunlight and expect it all to grow well. That’s why you can’t farm potatoes, corn, and wheat all in the same field at once.
Spiritual growth is similar. Just as crops grow together in the same field, our faith grows within a community—the church. Some people claim to have faith but do not belong to a church. But nowhere in the Bible do we see faith being lived out alone. It is always within a community. Even God exists in a community—the Trinity. That’s why being part of a church is essential for spiritual growth.
Now, being part of a church can be tiring. Sometimes, we have to smile and talk with people we don’t get along with. We listen to sermons that feel dull. We’re asked to stand up and sit down repeatedly. We give up sleeping in on Sunday mornings. We miss chances to enjoy a sunny day outdoors. During the Super Bowl, we get anxious if the sermon runs long. If we’re looking for reasons not to go to church, we can find countless ones.
But even so, we still come. Why? Because of Jesus Christ. Despite hundreds or thousands of reasons not to, we choose to stay connected to the church because of Jesus. The church is His body. Jesus said we are branches, and He is the vine. A branch only has life when it’s connected to the main body. And only with that life can it grow. In the end, we grow by belonging to His body, through the mercy of Jesus.
Finally, a tree that has grown must also bear fruit. In today’s passage, Jesus expresses this through the words, “Feed my sheep.” Jesus was a carpenter, following His earthly father Joseph. Carpenters don’t usually raise sheep. So we understand that Jesus wasn’t speaking about literal sheep.
The prophet Isaiah says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way” (Isaiah 53:6). The sheep, then, refer to us—and to our neighbors. Jesus was giving Peter a calling: “Nurture my children, care for all of God’s people living on this earth.” That’s why, immediately after the Gospel of John, the story continues with Acts—the history of the apostles’ mission. In other words, the bearing of fruit.
This is also our mission. When the Word of God takes root in our hearts, it grows within us—and we must bear fruit. Just as Jesus asked Peter, He now asks us: “Do you love me? Has my Word taken root in your heart?” Jesus asks again: “Do you love me? Are you growing in faith, connected to the church?” And finally, Jesus asks once more: “Do you love me? Are you bearing fruit?”
May our response today be the same as Peter’s. May our hearts, like his, be hurt by the weight of that question. And may we be transformed like Peter—called to build up the church and to bear the fruit of faith. I bless you in the name of the Lord to have a week where that transformation begins anew.