The paper argues that the verbs ἀγαπάω and φιλέω occurring in John 21, 15–17 do not express different kinds of love (higher and lower), as some commentators claimed. At the same time, it may reasonably be doubted whether John used synonyms here only for stylistic reasons. Context analysis of the dialogue between Jesus and Peter points to allusions to their conversation in John 13, 31–38 and Jesus’ definition of love cited in John 15, 12–14. The identification of the references leads to the conclusion that the alternation of the synonymous verbs reflects the pattern ἀγάπη-φίλοι observed in the latter passage.