John 21Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So, they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” No,” they answered.6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. …… 15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” "Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you." "Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.
Feed my lambs. Take care of my sheep. Feed my sheep.
What did Jesus mean when He said these things, and who was He telling to feed His sheep?
Most of us are very familiar with these verses. Peter had been in a bad place since he had betrayed Jesus just after Jesus was arrested. He knew that he had boasted that he would die for Jesus, but when it came down to a simple accusation that this man knew Jesus and was one of His followers, Peter flat out denied knowing Him. I do not know the Man. I tell you I don’t know Him. (Matthew 26)
It left Peter feeling like a failure. If you have watched the Chosen, there is a scene where Jesus changes Simon’s name to Peter and tells him “upon this rock I will build My church”. The other apostles were put off by it, teasing Peter about it. There was a lot of back and forth about it in the show, and it really doesn’t seem so far-fetched that it could happen that way. So here is one of Jesus’ chosen and he feels like he has failed Jesus miserably and was in a bad place. Sound familiar? I know I have felt this before. I imagine it affected him physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally, and most of us can relate to that kind of place. And he said – I’m going fishing. I’m going back to the familiar, back to what I know. I’m going back to what is comfortable to me. And this is where Jesus finds him. After having the apostles put the nets down again, Jesus makes it happen to where the nets were overflowing with fish again. John recognizes that only Jesus could make this happen – and when Peter hears this, he jumps out of the boat to go meet Him.
When they all get to the side of the sea, Jesus goes through a series of questions with Peter – asking him if Peter loved Him, to which Peter responded – Yes Lord. And Jesus’ response was “feed my sheep”.
While Jesus spoke this to Peter, and in doing so was restoring Peter back into a place of confidence to be used by Jesus, there is direction for all of us who call ourselves Christians.
Feed my sheep. Take care of my people. Love them. Make sure they are safe. Make sure they are provided for. Make it your job to feed them. And most important, share the Gospel.
So often we are so caught up in our own agenda, our own task list, our own needs, and we lose sight that we are here to glorify God – and when we love on God’s people – the lovable and the unlovable ones, we indeed glorify God.
Make it your mission to love on God’s people. Each time Jesus told Peter to feed His lambs, it followed the question – Do you love me?
Do you love Jesus? Yes Lord – you know I love you. Feed my sheep. Share Christ and the love of Christ.
We could insert an if/then there (if you know me, you know I love a good if/then statement) – If you love Me, then feed My sheep. If you love Jesus, feed His sheep. If you love Jesus, take care of His people.
I truly believe if more people would stop worrying about themselves and take on the mission to love God’s people, our world would be a better place. I can already hear some responses to that. But . . . other people aren’t doing that; if I don’t watch out for myself, then who is going to do it? WELL, if everybody would take care of the other people, you would find that other people would take care of you.
The parable of the Long Spoons hits on the concept of serving others.
One day a man said to God, “I want to know what Heaven and Hell are like.”
God showed the man two doors. Inside the first one, in the middle of the room, was a large round table with a large pot of vegetable stew. It smelled delicious and made the man’s mouth water, but the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles, and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.
The man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. God said, “You have seen Hell.”
Behind the second door, the room appeared the same. There was the large round table with the large pot of wonderful vegetable stew that made the man’s mouth water. The people had the same long-handled spoons, but they were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The man said, “I don’t understand.” God smiled. It is simple, he “Love only requires one skill. These people learned early on to share and feed one another. While the greedy only think of themselves…”
Regardless of what your experience may have been in the past, regardless of what we think we deserve, the bottom line is this; if we love Jesus, we will make it a point to feed His sheep – to care for all of His people.
It should be our mantra. Feed the Fish. Love the People. Take Care of them.
Because at the end of the day, it ain’t about you. It’s about God.
I keep thinking on how our attitudes change when we focus on serving others. Jesus knew that when Peter stopped focusing on himself and what he had done (deny Jesus), Peter would find his joy again; he would find that while he had denied Jesus, he could still live and work for Jesus. It doesn’t matter what our prior actions have been, Jesus can use you. Feed the lambs.
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