The lesson today was brought to us today by Bro. Ken French. The title of his lesson was “Peter, Feed my Sheep.” The reading for the lesson was from John 21:14-19, which reads “This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. 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 girdest 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.” Peter is not usually associated with strength or one who could encourage someone in the faith. We would probably pick Paul, or Apollos to fill that bill or Barnabas. Yet, we find in Luke 22:32 that the Lord told Peter to strengthen the brethren after his conversion. This implied that he would possess the ability to encourage and build up his brethren, yet, only after he was converted himself. Peter had just been told by the Lord that he would deny him three times, yet Peter insisted that he would die first. The Lord told him that Satan had desired to have him, but the Lord prayed that such would not occur. The conversion here meant that when Peter had denied the Lord, and was humbled, that he would possess the ability to encourage his brethren in the faith. In the above reading the Lord rebukes Peter about his love, yet at the same time charges him with the care of his sheep. The lesson will examine this strengthening aspect of Peter’s life. The reading begins, with verse 15, “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.” We see that the first question the Lord asked Peter was “do you love me more than these?” The word for love is “agape” or the highest form of love. It is a form of self-sacrificing love. This was a love which Peter had boasted of, yet was unable to fulfill when he was called upon to do so. We now see a very humbled Peter who cannot rise to so high a standard of love. The Lord could have said “I told you so” or other similar things but the intent of the Lord was to draw out Peter’s abilities, not to embarrass him. In this we see the Lord bestows a greater responsibility upon this apostle. In response to Peter’s answer, the Lord gave to Peter the responsibility to “Feed my lambs.” The word for “lambs” means “those of tender age; the young of the flock.” The Lord charges Peter with the responsibility of feeding those who are young in the faith. Peter later refers to this in 1 Peter 2:2, “ As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”We must remember that there was a time when we did not know certain things about the gospel. We had to learn them. Peter understood his concept, because he had to also learn those simple things first. He thought he knew a lot but soon learned that he knew so very little. Because he had experienced this, then he would know how to feed the lambs. We must also take this charge seriously and feed the lambs. As Peter learned he was not perfect and that the Lord showed mercy to him, so too must Peter now learn to have patience with those who know less and to guide them to perfection. We must take people from where they are and lead then into the knowledge and truth of God’s word. Verse 16 “ 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.” The Lord asked about the love of Peter a second time, however, this time the question was not in relation to others, rather to the personal love of Peter. Peter, is your love for me a self-sacrificing love? After the second question the Lord charges Peter to “Tend his sheep.” This is the meaning of the original text. The idea of the word “tend” is to shepherd the sheep. The word for “sheep” means those sheep that are of mature, full grown and strong. This would be a different role for Peter. Before, his concern was for himself, not others. Now he must think of the welfare of others before his own welfare. This is what a good shepherd would do. We are challenged to look and see if we have become selfish in our Christianity, with no real concern for the good of our fellow brethren. Like Peter, we must look to the welfare of our fellow brethren. When we consider the welfare of others, we will find that self is taken care of automatically. Unlike the lambs, these are full grown sheep. Therefore they do not need the milk of the word, but rather the meat. Hebrews 5:12-14 says “ For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” If we are to become our brother’s keeper, we must begin to look to their welfare in this area. Verse 17: 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.” The third time the Lord uses the same word for love that Peter had used in the previous responses. In truth the Lord was asking if Peter was truly his friend. The final charge to Peter is to feed the choice sheep. These sheep are different from the others mentioned. They are full grown, but deserve special care and attention. These are the sheep that are young in heart, the old men that are childlike in spirit, and the trembling sheep that need even more care than the lambs themselves. Such require the care of the shepherd, perhaps more than the others. Peter was a good example of this type of sheep. Satan once desired him, but the Lord prayed for him. Through all of the trials that Peter experienced, the Lord was there to assist, to protect, and to guide. Peter was to remember how the Lord had patience with him, and to convey this same patience towards others. Paul provides good advice regarding such sheep: 1 Thess. 5:14; Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.” The unruly were those who failed to keep in step with the commandments of God. They were the idle and careless ones. In such cases, we should to give such Christians some responsibility. In giving them responsibility, they then realize their worth as a Christian and will be more willing to walk according to the commandments of God. “The feebleminded, or fainthearted.” Such do not possess the courage to face life as a Christian. Peter had experienced this in his denial of Christ, therefore he understood. “The weak in spirit” need to be strengthened. When we put aside the weak and feel that they are not worthy of our time and effort, we turn aside one of the Lord’s choice sheep. “Patience toward all” The Lord was patient with Peter, He has been patient with you, so you should also be patient with those with special needs. We can learn a lot from this short encounter that Peter had with His Lord. With all that Peter had been through, the charges that the Lord gave him were well deserved. We too should learn this same lesson, and we can become our brother’s keeper. Summary by Ken D. French
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 06:00:38 +0000
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