Q:Does the three times Jesus asked Simon Peter if he loved Him have anything to do with the three times Peter denied Him?

A:The restoration of Peter is recounted in John 21:15-19. The three times that Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?" does indeed echo Peter's three-fold denial of Jesus in John 18. The settings also echo each other. Peter denies Jesus around a fire (John 18:18). Jesus then reinstates Peter around a fire (John 21:9).

The gravity of Peter's sin is alluded to in the name that Jesus calls Peter when he reinstates him: "Simon, son of John" (John 21:15). This was the name that Peter went by before he followed Jesus. When Jesus calls him as a disciple, he then gives him the name "Peter" (John 1:42). Yet, in this story, Jesus once again calls him "Simon, son of John." Peter has fallen out of discipleship and therefore, once again, receives the invitation to "follow me" (John 21:19)! The promise of this story, then, is that, no matter how grave our sin – even if it be a denial of Christ – Jesus continuously and compassionately offers us a loving invitation to be his disciples and rest in his grace that covers every sin.