Mercy and Grace Before Improvement

As I Was Saying is a forum for a variety of perspectives to foster faith-related conversations among our readers with the goal of mutual learning, even in disagreement. Apart from articles written by editorial staff, these perspectives do not necessarily reflect the views of The Banner.

One of the most scenic pictures of holy love in the gospels takes place after the resurrection not in a crowded city or amid a dramatic miracle, but on a quiet shoreline. In John 21, Jesus prepares breakfast for his disciples and then turns his attention to Peter, the same Peter who had denied him three times only days earlier. What follows is not a rebuke, not a test of theological knowledge, and not a demand that Peter prove he has changed. Instead, Jesus asks a simple and devastatingly personal question: “Do you love me?”

Jesus asks Peter this question three times, mirroring Peter’s three denials. Yet the purpose is not humiliation; it is restoration. Christ does not meet Peter as the bold apostle he will become in life, nor as the rock upon which the church will be built. He meets Peter exactly where he is ashamed, uncertain, and painfully aware of his failure.

The Greek text adds depth to this encounter. The first two times Jesus asks, he uses the word agape, a word associated with self-giving, unconditional love. Peter responds with phileo, a word that conveys affection and friendship, but not the same depth of sacrificial devotion. Peter cannot bring himself to claim the higher love Jesus names. He answers honestly, from the place he occupies, not the place he wishes he were.

The third time, Jesus changes his question. He meets Peter on Peter’s terms, using phileo. This shift is often overlooked, but it is the heart of the passage. Jesus does not demand that Peter rise to a level of love he cannot yet claim. Instead, he comes down to meet Peter in his wounded honesty. Christ’s grace is not conditional upon Peter’s present maturity; it is grounded in Peter’s present truthfulness.

This is a profound revelation of how Jesus deals with us. We often imagine that Christ meets us only once we have cleaned ourselves up, figured things out, or grown strong enough to be useful. But the gospel consistently tells a different story. He meets us where we are, not where we think we should be.

Even more striking is what Jesus does next. After each answer, regardless of Peter’s imperfect love, Jesus responds with a commission: “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.” Peter’s calling is not postponed, even though his love has not yet matured into agape. Jesus immediately entrusts him with responsibility and then points forward to the kind of death Peter will face, one that will ultimately glorify God.

This moment reframes Christian discipleship. Faithfulness is not pretending to possess a love we do not yet have. Faithfulness is answering Christ honestly and allowing him to shape us from there. Peter’s future courage, his preaching, his suffering, his eventual martyrdom; flows not from a moment of self-assured devotion, but from an encounter where he was known completely and loved anyway.

For the church, this passage offers comfort and correction. Comfort, because our failures do not disqualify us from Christ’s presence. Correction, because we often expect from others what Jesus does not: instant maturity, polished faith, and unwavering confidence. Christ calls us to shepherd one another with the same patience he shows Peter.

“Do you love me?” is not a trick question. It is an invitation. Jesus does not ask it to expose us, but to restore us. He meets us in our fear, our doubts, our half-formed love; and from that place, he calls us forward. Not because we are ready, but because he is faithful.