not exact assurances from him each time and that he thereby rescinds his commission on each occasion. It is clear that the author is not realistically depicting an event, but is representing it in a sacral style: the threefold denial of Peter at an earlier time corresponds to a threefold vow taken now and to a commission thrice repeated. Bultmann indeed concedes that verses 15–17* stem from an old tradition.18 But he contests that verses 15–17* are intended to rehabilitate Peter after his denial,