Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read John 21:15-17:
Jesus Reinstates Peter
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly 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 truly 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.
My Understanding: In this story of Peter and Jesus, Peter is asked of Jesus three times if he loves him and three times Peter responds by saying, “Lord, you know that I love you.” This was not the first time Peter encountered the Lord in a manner in which Peter was introduced to the triune God. We learned previously in our reading of John 18 that when Jesus was arrested and his disciples deserted him that Peter was approached three times and asked if he was not one of Jesus’ disciples, and three times he denied the fact, even cussing and vehemently denying the association at least one of the 3 times. And, even after Peter is reinstated by the Lord and he reaffirms his love for the Lord, we read in Acts 10 of a vision that the Lord gave Peter three times and of which Peter resisted the Lord three times.
I find it interesting here in this passage in Acts where Peter had the vision three times that Peter knew this was the Lord speaking to him. He didn’t question the source of the voice he heard. And yet, he resisted the Lord based upon his religious and cultural training and upbringing. He challenged the Lord based upon what he had been taught previously, even though the Lord clearly told him not to call anything impure that God had made clean. And, I find it remarkable that he did this three times, especially in light of the fact that he had previously denied the Lord three times, that he had reaffirmed his love for the Lord three times, and now he was given a vision of the Lord three times and yet resisted it 3 times. I wonder how often we do the same, i.e. we resist the voice of the Lord Jesus due to a resistance on our part to let go of traditions, our cultural upbringing, and/or our religious training, etc. that might, in our thinking, war against what the Lord wants to show us that is clearly him speaking, and of him, and completely consistent with his word and who God is.
Peter was a very passionate and impulsive person. And, it was evident in his relationship with the Lord. Peter is the one who asked the Lord’s permission to come to him on the water. Yet, when he went walking to the Lord on the water, he took his eyes off the Lord, he looked at the wind, instead, he was afraid, he began to sink, and he called out to Jesus to save him. When Jesus asked his disciples who people said he was, Peter was the first to exclaim that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. And, Jesus responded to Peter by telling him that his name was Peter (rock), and on this rock he would build his church, and indeed he did, as Peter was the first disciple to share the gospel message following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. As a result, those who believed were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. Yay! Praise Jesus!!
When Jesus told his disciples that he was going to have to suffer and die, Peter exclaimed, “Never Lord, this shall never happen to you!” And, Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” At Jesus’ transfiguration, Peter is the one who suggested building 3 shelters – one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. Then, when Jesus told his disciples that they would all fall away on account of him, Peter said, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” Then, Jesus answered Peter, “I tell you the truth, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” Peter replied, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” Boy, did he ever have to eat those words, because we know Peter did just what Jesus said he would do.
As I considered Peter’s personality and his relationship with the Lord, the Lord brought to mind the parable of the man who had two sons. He asked the first son to go work in the vineyard, to which the son responded, “I will not,” and yet later went and did what the father asked. The second son said, “I will,” but he never followed through with what he said he would do. Jesus asked which of the two did what the father asked, to which the people responded, “The first.” Jesus told this parable mainly to the chief priests and elders who were questioning his authority. The point of the parable was that the religious leaders were proclaiming their devotion to God, but they were not following through with what they proclaimed because they did not accept Jesus as God’s Son. So, the prostitutes and tax collectors would enter heaven ahead of them.
Peter was known for his impulsiveness and speaking before thinking, yet he eventually got it. Even though he denied Jesus three times, when the rooster crowed, Peter recognized what he had done and he wept bitterly in repentance. Then, he was called upon by Jesus to reaffirm his love three times, which Peter, in fact, did, and Peter went on to feed the Lord’s sheep. When Peter refused the vision from the Lord three times, still he went with the men who came to get him and he shared the gospel message with the Gentiles. So, I see Peter as the son who said, “I will not,” but then later did what the Lord said. He was impulsive. He was passionate, definitely! He often reacted without thinking first and he was known for putting his foot in his mouth a lot! I think many of us can identify with Peter. Yet, Peter was the rock on which Jesus began the church. Even if his initial responses were not what they should have been, when he was confronted with the Lord (the triune God), he eventually got it and he followed through, and God used him greatly in His Kingdom!
Here, in John 21, Peter is called upon by the Lord to reaffirm his love for him three times. Jesus asked two times if Peter loved Jesus with a God-like love that was selfless and self-giving, to which Peter responded that he loved the Lord with a friendship love. Lastly, the Lord asked Peter if he loved him with a friendship love, to which Peter responded that the Lord knows all things and he knows that Peter loves the Lord with a friendship love. I don’t know for certain why it transpired that way. Perhaps Peter was so devastated over his sin in denying the Lord three times that he did not feel as though he could promise anything other than friendship love at that point. Or, perhaps Peter’s true understanding of Jesus as God himself was not yet complete and so Peter saw Jesus more on a friendship level than he realized him in actuality as God himself. All we know for sure is that Peter could only offer friendship love at that moment, yet his life and ministry proved that Peter then grew to know and to love the Lord in a selfless and self-giving manner that comes through the development of a relationship over time. Peter grew to love (agape – selfless and self-giving) the Lord through his continued obedience to the Lord and his walk of faith.
Jesus, upon asking Peter if he loved him, commanded him to then feed and to take care of his sheep. At the beginning of this writing, I noted “How Appropriate” it was that the Lord should give me the song “Jesus Paid it All” along with this story of Peter’s reaffirming of his love for the Lord. The Lord thus gave me this understanding of why he put that phrase, “How Appropriate,” into my mind. When we say that we love the Lord, it is entirely appropriate (suitable; fitting) that our confession of love should be followed by our actions that prove our love for the Lord. Words can be cheap if they are not followed by action.
Jesus’ command was for Peter to then “feed his sheep.” He was not speaking of literal food nor was he speaking of literal sheep. He was speaking of spiritual food (the Word of God) and he was referring to his followers (true and genuine believers in Jesus Christ) as his sheep. He also asked Peter to take care of his sheep, i.e. he was asking him to tend to, love, enjoy, appreciate, be concerned about, provide for, support, nurture, protect, show thoughtfulness and consideration for, give oversight, and give attention to his sheep. This is how Peter was to prove his love for the Lord. If we read all of the New Testament, I believe we will see that this command was not for Peter alone, but for all of Christ’s followers.
The first question asked of Peter was, “Do you love me more than these?” It is not clear what Jesus meant by “these,” yet I don’t think it matters what the “these” are. What matters is that Peter was being asked to love Jesus more. If we are busy loving the “these,” whatever the “these” may be in our individual lives more than we love God, then it will be evident by whether or not we show our love for God by how we take care of and feed his sheep. If we are caught up in loving ourselves, the world, the things of the world, our earthly treasures, etc. more than we love God or even to the exclusion of God, then we won’t even have the thought or the time to truly care for and to feed Jesus’ followers. So, it is primary in our love for the Lord first of all that we love him more than we love anything else, because it is that love (agape) that will call upon us to feed and to care for other believers in Jesus Christ, as well as potential believers.
The song says, “Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.” That pretty much sums it up. Because of what Jesus did for us in dying on the cross for our sins and then being raised from the dead, conquering death, hell, Satan and the control, power, authority and rule of sin over our lives, we owe him everything! We owe him our entire lives – our schedules, our time, our activities, our thoughts, our words, our deeds, and our motives, etc. We should all come to Jesus and lay our lives on the altar and just say, “Here I am, Lord, do with me what you will,” instead of thinking we have control over our own lives and us determining what we will or will not do in obedience to the Lord. He doesn’t want our leftovers. He doesn’t want just part of us. He wants ALL of us totally and completely surrendered to him, ready to do HIS will! May we give him our ALL today!
I Surrender All / Judson W. Van De Venter / Winfield S. Weeden
… Lo, we have left all, and have followed Thee. (Mark 10:28)
All to Jesus, I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
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