<p>21:17 <em>He said to him the third time: Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he asked him a third time: Do you love me? And he said to him: Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him: Feed my sheep</em>- As noted on :16, Peter has responded to the question about whether he has <em>agape</em> for the Lord by saying that he has <em>phileo</em>. The Lord now in the third exchange as it were gives up trying to get Peter to respond to <em>agape</em> with <em>agape</em>, and probes whether he really has the <em>phileo</em>, the love of human friendship, which he professes. The Lord doesn't make any claim as to whether Peter does or doesn't have the <em>phileo</em> he professes; His response is that love for Him will be reflected in love for those in Him, His sheep. This is brought out in John's letters, where love for the Father and Son is only legitimate if we love their spiritual children, the Lord's sheep.</p><p>Peter was full of a simple, pure love for the Lord as he stood before Him. And he wanted to assure the Lord of that. But the Lord's response seems to be that love for Him is not the passion of a moment. It is shown by loving our brethren, His sheep, over a lifetime of service- as Peter went on to do.</p><p>Peter is asked to feed give food to the lambs (:15); then pastor / shepherd the mature sheep (:16); and now to feed give food to the mature sheep (:17). John took this as a command for him and to us all, for he alludes to it in his spiritual care for the young men cp. lambs and the more mature &quot;fathers&quot; in 1 Jn. 2:14 (Catholics are wrong to assume these words apply only to Peter). The point is that mature sheep still need feeding as they did when they were lambs, although they also need shepherding.</p>