OUR LIVES FOR THE SHEEP
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Opening Prayer
Thank you, Father, for your Word. Please speak to my heart through it; instruct and encourage me.
Read JOHN 21:15—19
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
John
John 21
Jesus Reinstates Peter
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. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
Reflect
‘May the love of Jesus fill me / as the waters fill the sea; / him exalting, self-abasing, / this is victory.’1
Everyone remains together after the meal. Jesus intends them to overhear his conversation with Peter. Preachers have long liked to find a parallel between Jesus’ three questions and Peter’s three denials, and, in a literary sense, they may be right. The interaction can certainly be seen as a reinstatement of Peter. Jesus fears for the lives of his followers after his departure. His concern for them dominates his final prayers. With Peter, Jesus purposely uses his familiar metaphor of feeding the sheep. If Peter’s love for his Lord surpasses his love for anything else, he will care for Jesus’ followers, nurturing them in the same way that Jesus does. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
Jesus then speaks figuratively of Peter’s future; John’s editorial comment explains this as an indication of how Peter will die. John uses the same phrase that he earlier used of Jesus: Peter’s death, like Jesus’ death,2 ‘would glorify God’ (v. 19). Ancient traditions date Peter’s crucifixion in Rome to 64 AD, when Emperor Nero sought to blame Christians for the great fire. It is reasonable to presume that John’s gospel was written sometime after then, probably in the last quarter of the first century. In reinstating Peter, Jesus makes him a shepherd of the sheep, not to command but to nurture. Peter fulfilled this charge to the end. It is said that he chose to be crucified upside down, unworthy to be ‘lifted up’ like his crucified Lord. He did what he was long ago asked to do on the shores of Lake Galilee. He, too, gave his life for the sheep.
Apply
Where might Jesus be asking you to shepherd his sheep, not counting the cost?
Closing prayer
Jesus, Lord of your flock, help me not to desire authority or importance, but rather to commit myself humbly to love and care for your people, nurturing them to the end. 1 ‘May the Mind of Christ, My Savior’, Kate B Wilkinson, 1925, 2 John 12:33; 17:1.
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