"So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon,
son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord;
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon,
son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I
love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?
Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And
he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.
Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and
walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch
forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou
wouldest not. This spake he, signifying
by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto
him, Follow me.” John 21:15 – 19
The Scripture quoted above is very familiar passage. I’ve read it many times and to be honest I’ve
never fully understood it. I’m not
trying to say I fully understand it now – because honestly I’m sure there is
much more the Lord can teach me through His Word; but, I saw something today
that I’ve never considered before.
Remember that Peter was the one disciple that told Jesus that
he was willing to lay down his life for Him?
“Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered
him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me
afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord,
why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy
life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow,
till thou hast denied me thrice.” John
13:36-38
When Jesus was taken to ultimately be crucified Peter
started out strong. He pulled out his
sword and cut off one of the men’s ears – but later when Jesus was indeed
captured, Peter did just as Jesus said – he denied Christ three times! We know that Peter was truly sorry for what
he did – he wept bitterly.
We never see a time that Jesus and Peter discussed what
happened – (John 21:15-19) is the first
conversational exchange between Jesus and Peter we see after the
Resurrection. I believe that when Jesus
is talking to Peter here He is asking him if he will still say that he loves
Jesus with Agape (unconditional) love – Peter then willingly admits that his
love has proven to be conditional – when times got tough he denied Christ. Peter’s heart was breaking as he was
admitting his weakness – he was grieved when Jesus asked him 3 times to realize
his own weakness – but then He told Peter that ultimately he would give his
life to honor the Lord.
Jesus is, without condemning Peter, showing him the
consequences of his past proud position.
Peter is humbling himself to the Lord by admitting that he did not prove
himself to be all that he had aforetime proclaimed. And when Jesus is instructing Peter to feed
his lambs, the young Christians, and then further instructs Peter to feed His sheep
– He is letting Peter know that He is putting His trust in him to be a leader,
a teacher, someone that Jesus Himself considers worthy and qualified to care
for His own precious lambs and sheep.
The difference between a lamb and a sheep is their age. A lamb is a sheep that is under a year old,
one that has not yet produced any offspring.
A sheep is, well, a sheep.
Jesus further proceeds to let Peter know that when he was
young he was leading his own way – that he was proudly proclaiming what he
would and would not do – in the future Peter would indeed stretch forth his
hands – showing humility, and would have done to him something that he wouldn’t
want to be done – but because of his stand for Christ he would indeed glorify
God and lay down his life for Him.
I find this so amazing.
I have read that passage well over 50 times and have never seen that
before! Today, as I came to this
realization, I was overcome with God’s amazing grace! Peter had boldly followed the Lord and
thought that he was “all in;” he was sure that he would lay down his life for
the Lord – but when it came down to it he denied the Lord and even cursed! What a horrible realization!
I am sure that when he saw the Lord he felt shame. He loved the Lord with his own love and
failed. God, in this short passage,
helped Peter to deal with his pride, humble himself before the Lord, and
encouraged Peter to know that God wanted to use him. He let him know that in the end – he wouldn’t
fail the Lord. While God was asking
about agape love, and Peter was sadly stating the he could now only admit to
philos (brotherly) love, God was telling him that he had something to feed to
others. God let Peter know that while he
was unable or not ready to follow the Lord before- he would indeed follow Him
in the future. In John 13 Peter wasn’t
ready, in John 21 – Jesus said, “follow me.”
God knows when we’re ready.
So often we feel shame or disappointment in ourselves
because we ride waves of highs and lows.
We’re riding high on faith, and then scared when our faith is
tried. I’m reminded that the Bible says,
“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith.” Romans
1:17
Faith to faith…when I read that I think of “believing about
this” (whatever the current lesson or situation has taught me) – and then when
the next trial comes we gain a new faith.
We need to understand what happens from faith to faith – it is testing,
trials, sometimes doubt. Each test,
trial, and lesson gives us a new faith – a new way of “believing about this”
than what we previously believed. Peter
believed he was ready to die- but through his testing he realized that Jesus
was right – he wasn’t ready. Then, after
he realized his weakness, and admitted his short comings – he grew in faith and
was then ready. What a lesson I have
learned from this - and hope that in some small way I can convey to you what
God has shown me.
What I see in the Scripture is Peter going from faith to
faith. I see Jesus showing His agape love
and Peter showing his philos love. I see
God’s acceptance, forgiveness, encouragement, and greatness. What a mighty God we serve! Oh, how I love Jesus and pray you will
too.
Have a wonderful day!
