Your Order to Feed
John 21:15-17
John 21:15 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.
John 21:16 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.
John 21:17 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.
Our Scripture this morning comes after the Third appearance of the risen Lord Jesus to the Apostles. After the apostles decided to go fishing and after catching nothing they spotted a man on the shore that instructed then to cast their net on the right side of the ship to find the fish.
Knowing not that this man was infact Jesus until their net was filled with fish to the point where they could not carry but had to drag the net to shore. The apostles then knew there was only one man who could have possibly known exactly where the fish were, and it was Jesus. The apostles and Jesus dined on fish and bread at the shore and our scripture picks up right after the meal.
It is important that before we get into Jesus questioning of Peter that we understand that Jesus had already appeared to the Peter before he appeared to the twelve.
Corinthians I 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Corinthians I 15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve
Now Cephas or Peter is the name given by Jesus to Simon son of Jona.
John 1:41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
John 1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
Note the words, “Thou shalt be called.” They refer to the future. Simon’s name was changed to Cephas. This was a prediction that he would be converted and changed from a self-centered, defensive, overbearing, and carnal man into a strong, solid, immovable and unbreakable rock for God.
Peter had failed the Lord miserably, having denied Him three times. Peter’s miserable failure and denials came in the Lord’s most critical hour—the hour when the Lord needed Peter’s loyalty more than ever.
Because he had failed the Lord so terribly, Peter desperately needed a private interview with the Lord; and because the Lord had appeared to Peter, Peter was a strong witness to the love of God for man. He could readily testify that God loves man so much that He had sent His Son into the world to deliver man from his terrible sin and failure.
He could readily testify that God forgives and saves man and gives him eternal life through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter’s testimony was forceful, for he had personally experienced the forgiveness, the deliverance, the salvation, and the promise of eternal life from the lips of the resurrected Lord Himself.
Since Jesus had met with Peter already, it was important that Peter’s leadership now be reinforced in the presence of all the disciples. They all knew about Peter’s denial. And I could just imagine that there might have been a little decision in the ranks toward Peter.
Jesus had to make sure Peter would never deny Him nor fall back from his mission again. Jesus turns his focus after the breakfast to Peter, calling him by his full name. Simon Peter, Simon Son of Jonas.
Now when you just want someone’s attention, you can just call them by their first name or their nick name. But calling someone by their full name demands attention. In not only demands attention from that person, it demands attention from everyone around.
When I was young and my Mother would say Cedric, it was not a cause for concern. But if she said Cedric Anthony Portis, my radar came on immediately, my brother looked up and tuned in, if I had company over they looked in anticipation of something big is going down.
Jesus, by calling Peter’s full name, got not only Peter’s, but the full attention of all the disciples.
And what was about to be said was of critical importance. Announcing Peter as the son of Jonas was humbling to Peter as a reminder of his humble beginning, coming from a lowly father. More importantly, that all he had become and all he would become was a result of God.
Jesus was teaching that apart from the father he was nothing and that no matter what he did, if it was not led by God the Father is was nothing.
As with Peter, everyone must realize that they are nothing apart from Christ. No matter how important man has made you or you think you are with your status, power and money; without Jesus as your savior there will be a lack of meaning, purpose and significance in your life.
Now Jesus has a job, a purpose for Peter and that is to Feed God’s Sheep and His Lambs. But before the commission can be granted there is a question of Love. Without Love, ministry counts for nothing in the eye’s of God. Love has to be the motivation for your work in the ministry. Love for God and love for God’s Children.
If your motive is vain glory, God’s says your work means nothing
If your motive is money, God’s says your work means nothing
If your motive is power, God’s says your work means nothing
If your motive is just to escape hell, God’s says your work means nothing.
Your motive must be to do the work of the Lord, because you love Him and you love His children. When your motive is Love, you will not be working for what you can get out of the deal. When your motive is Love you will go the extra mile, what ever the cost may be.
When your motive is love and your going through trial and tribulation, you persevere, you stay steadfast because the spirit of Love is strong and it propel you to continue in your mission for God.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
This means’s that if you allow the Holy Spirit to lead
and guide your life, one the fruits He will produce in
Your life is love.
So Jesus questions Peter about His love. It may seem that Jesus asked the same question three times and got three similar responses from Peter, but through deeper study it reveals that the questions and the answers were different.
In verse 15 Jesus asks Peter, “lovest thou more than these?” And Peter’s reply, “ Yea, Lord thou knowest that I Love thee.
I want to call your attention to one word used by Jesus in His question and that is the word THESE. Lovest thou more that these? Now what does Jesus mean with the word these? It is unclear by the scripture if Jesus was pointing at the disciples or the fishing equipment. But no matter what Jesus was referring to at that particular time, the point is crystal clear to us at this time. Jesus is saying to us, Do you love me more that your spouse, more that your family, more that your job, more that your possessions; DO YOU LOVE ME ABOVE ALL. Because to do my work, I must be first in your life. What ever you put first in your life is lord over your life.
Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,
Let’s look at it this way; if times in your life get tough, trying or unbearable you will turn to the lord of your life. If the lord of your life is
Money: that’s what you turn to
Job: that’s what you turn to
Drugs: that’s what you turn to
Another person: that’s what you turn to
Sports, recreation, house, cars, what ever is lord over your life; that’s what you turn to
But I just stopped by for a little while to tell you that if you are going to do the work of the Lord, then Jesus must be Lord over your life, because the Savior is the only one who can make a way out of no way, be your bridge over trouble water and defeat Satan as he tries to attack and destroy you on your mission
So church the Lord is asking you right now: “Do you Love Me above everything else in your life.”
Peters’ response is Yes Lord I love you above all. You ever heard the expression “God knows my heart” Yes God knows your heart, but let me tell you a secret; man knows your heart also.
Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
This means your heart produces your fruit, or your actions. This means if you say you love the Lord, one will be able to tell by the fruits your bear; evangelism, worship, prayer, study, work in the ministry
Jesus is asking the question right now “Do you love me more that these?”
Jesus then asks Peter a second time in verse 16, “Simon, lovest thou me?”
The Greek translation for love that Jesus uses is agape. Which means a Godly love, the highest form of love, the love of God himself. But Peter responds with the Greek word phileo, which means I love you like a brother. Peter responds to Jesus, I love you like a family member, a love that would cause one to die for his brother.
Now before we get down on Peter, let us remember that before Christ died, this was the greatest love known to man this Greek word Phileo.
So Jesus asks in His a third time, Simon, Lovest thou me. Now this time Jesus used the term phileo and Peter responds like wise with the same word phileo.
Now what is Jesus teaching Peter. Jesus was not challenging the vality of Peter’s love, but instructing him that his love would one day reach an ultimate height. He was preparing His disciples for a new kind of love that was to come that none of them had ever experienced before.
Agape love goes beyond just being willing to die for a friend, but being willing to give and die even for an enemy. Now that’s powerful, that’s beyond possibility being led by the flesh. Agape love is not possible without being led by the Holy Spirit.
We must remember that the apostles had not yet received the Holy Spirit; therefore agape love was foreign to them. But Jesus is saying that this is the love that you must achieve when working in the ministry. Agape love is the love of the mind, of the reason and of the will. It is a love that is born of choice. Agape love is choosing to love regardless of feelings. A person may choose to insult, injure or humiliate you, but agape love seeks only the highest good for that person.
Agape love puts willingness within a man to serve and to die for all men even for a person’s enemies. Agape love will give the understanding that even the enemies of God must hear the gospel and have the opportunity for salvation.
Agape love unconditional love and forgiveness. The love that Jesus gives us is without condition. There is nothing we can do to lose the love of Jesus. We can however refuse it, but it is always there for the taking. Jesus also unconditionally forgives us. When Christ forgives us, we do not have to be burdened and worried that the forgiveness was not complete. We often times unlike Christ, give conditional forgiveness. We say with our mouth that we forgive, but we put that person under a microscope. I forgive you but I am going to keep and eye on you. Don’t you know that it takes a lot of effort to give conditional forgive someone. This is because you have burdened yourself with the obligation of policing the conditions you have set for the forgiveness. This is draining emotionally and physically. This is why Jesus give us the example.
Jesus forgave Peter even though Peter denied that he even knew Jesus at a most critical time. Jesus does not chastise Peter for his denial, nor does he conditionally forgive. He gives complete forgiveness and moves on. Agape love is the key to this kind of forgiveness.
Jesus is asking right now, “Do you Love Me?” Before you answer, understand that
· we cannot claim to love Christ and at the same time persist in bitterness, spite, revenge and gossip.
· We cannot claim to love Christ and seek to destroy the reputation of others by secretly defaming their character.
· We cannot claim to love Christ if we continue to think we are superior to others.
· We cannot claim to love Christ and think that it is still somehow acceptable for us to hate.
A lack of love for people cuts us off from any claim to love Jesus. The simple truth is that if we do not love God’s people, we do not love God.
Jesus is asking right now do you love me? And if your response is in the affirmative like Peter, then Jesus’ response is still the same as it was to Peter. Then Feed My Lambs; Then Feed my Sheep. Now the Lamb and the Sheep make up the flock of God. The Lambs of God are the children, the young converts. The Sheep are the mature believes, the believers who have walked and grown in the Lord for a time.
Now church it must be said right now that being a Lamb of God is a beginning and not an end. We must grow from lambs to sheep and that is only possible with feeding on the Word of God. We must not be satisfied with just being lambs of God.
Corinthians I 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Putting away childish things means getting deeper understanding of the Word, having a more profound walk with God, being able to correct false teachings of the Word.
Jesus has charged you to Feed the flock, therefore to feed the flock you must first eat yourself. God has called all of His children to be ministers of the Word.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
How can you teach (or Feed) if you have refused the food yourself? It is like a mother and her young. If the mother is not eating, she will not be able to produce milk, thus her child dies and eventually she dies as well.
Now lets understand this command to feed. First, we must feed ourselves.
Timothy II 2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
We feed on the Word of God to show ourselves approved for God’s work in our lives. To go where He wants us to go and to do what He wants us to do. If we do not feed on the Word of God, we miss critical instruction; we are off on a journey without a map and without a light.
Without study you are not a follower, you are a wanderer. Wanderers are lost, they have no direction, no purpose, though they try, their efforts are in vain. But to be a follower of God is to be led by the Holy Spirit, studying, teaching, and feeding the Word of God. To be a follower of God is to know that as long as you follow Him, you will never be led astray, you will always have purpose, direction and your effort will be pleasing to the father.
Jesus’ charge to Feed then moves to feeding others. Now there are two ways to feed the flock. By teaching and by doing. When we teach the Word of God it is like preparing a meal. You must first know who you are cooking for, and prepare the meal accordingly. You cannot prepare steak for infants, nor does it make sense to feed adults strained peas. The challenge in preaching is the fact that the congregation is filled with followers of all different spiritual levels. We have to prepare the meal of God’s word that is filling for all the flock. But the desire of the flock should be to feed.
Matthew 11:15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
We must continue to challenge the flock to go deeper into the knowledge of the living Word of God.
Feeding the flock also involves actions. Being a doer of the word. We have all heard the saying, “actions speak louder that words,” This saying rings true even louder when it comes to the work of the Lord. You must live a life that is an example to others that you are a child of God. You may be the only Bible some people may ever read. Is your life one that would bring someone to Christ, or is your lifestyle such that you show others that there is no difference between the saved and unsaved. Does your actions keep them in their comfort zone of sin without a Savior, or does your actions bring conviction upon their lives, sending them to the church asking the question; what must I do to be saved?
So saints this morning Jesus is asking the question, Do you love me?
Can we say yes Lord, I love you with all my heart,
I love you because you first loved me,
I love you because you looked beyond my faults and saw that I had a need,
I love you because when I was sinking deep in sin you saved me,
I love you because even when I was not following You, You protected me
I love you because You sent the Holy Spirit to lead and guide my life
I love you because endured the torture of the cross
I love you because You died on Calvary for my sins
I love you because You defeated death
I love you because of Your resurrection,
I love you Jesus because you will present me sinless and pure before the Father
I love you because no matter how bad things may seem, you have it all under control
I love you Lord because it doesn’t matter how many are against me, I am a conqueror with Jesus on my side.
Lord I’m gonna feed Your lambs
Lord I’m gonna feed Your sheep
Lord I’m going to continue to feed myself
Because Lord I recognize that with you I have everything I need,
But Lord without You I have and am nothing.
Cedric A. Portis
cedque8@cs.com
