SIMON FEED MY SHEEP
15When they had
finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you
love me more than these?”
He said to him,
“Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Feed
my lambs.”
16He said to him
a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
He said to him,
“Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Tend
my sheep.”
17He said to him
the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was
grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to
him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to
him, “Feed my sheep.
18Truly,
truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk
wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and
another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”
19(This he said
to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he
said to him, “Follow me.”
JOHN
21:15-19
COMMENTARY
This event
happened during the time Lord Jesus appeared to his disciples in Galilee, as He
commanded them (Matthew 28:10).
On this particular
occasion only seven of them were present; Simon, Thomas ‘The Twin’, Nathanael, John
and James his brother, and two other disciples not mentioned.
The fact that
two names are not mentioned, and that Nathanael was not an Apostle, suggests
that not only the 11 Apostles were present at the top of the mountain when
Jesus gave them the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18), but more people, including
the disciples that lived in Galilee that were not present in Jerusalem during
the crucifixion, and most probably even the 500 that Paul spoke about in First
Corinthians 15:6, were also there.
As our Lord was
appearing and disappearing and never staying for a long time as He used to do before
his death, the Apostles went back to their everyday lives, but this time with
faith, born again, and expecting instructions from their Lord, until his ascension,
and the same happened with all his disciples.
That morning
they did not expect to see Jesus.
They had been
working all night, as fishermen do to have their product ready in the market by
the morning. But they had caught nothing, and was already late, daylight had beginning
to appear (John 21:4), when they saw a fellow fisherman passing by on the
shore, who asked them if they had any product. When they said that they had
none, their friendly apparent fisherman told them to try the other side of the
boat, and that for sure they will catch something.
The disciples followed
the advice of the man, which indicates they assumed him to be a fellow fisherman,
not a buyer, since he already knew where the fish were. How great must have
been their surprise when immediately their net was full!!
It wasn’t the first
time Jesus did this. He also filled their fishing nets when He called Simon, John
and James for the first time, three years ago (Luke 5:1-10). This time ‘the Disciple
whom Jesus loved’, was there, whom we assumed must have been apostle John, or
another of the two disciples whose names are not mentioned, that remembered
this immediately, since this success wasn’t natural, and told Simon, that that man
was not other but LORD JESUS (John 21:7).
Finally, all
gathered together with the Lord and had their morning meal with Him, sharing fish
and bread, that literally was fully provided by Jesus on this occasion (John
21:9).
JESUS asked three
times Simon if he really loved Him more than that everyday life he had chosen,
because of the nature of the sacrifices he would endure if he decided to follow
Jesus as an Apostle of his.
Most people
assume the Lord was asking Simon if he loved Him more than the other disciples
loved Him.
Jesus was a
caring man, and He rejected several times categorizing his disciples, a thing
left to the Father alone (Mark 10:40).
Even more, there
was ‘the Disciple Whom Jesus loved’, whom it is only logical to assume that he was
the one who really loved our Lord the most.
JESUS did not
underscore the love of his other disciples, but He referred to the life
Simon-Peter was living, in comparison to the three years of preaching and sacrifice
he already had lived as an active disciple of Jesus.
Jesus asked
Peter this, as a restauration act of a man who the last time He saw, had just
denied Him in public three times and under oath on the eve of his execution (Matthew
26:74). In his mercy, our Lord permitted that Simon re-professed his faith and
love for Christ, in front of Him, and his truthfulness is confirmed by his
words ‘You know everything. You know I love you’ (John 21:17).
Jesus commended
Peter the care of his flock, ‘Feed my Lambs. Feed my Sheep’, which he commended
him after declaring that he did love Jesus more than what he had considered
lovable in his life to that point.
Some take this
as an appointment of greatness for Simon, that places him like a father and overlord
on all the Christian community. But there is nothing here that may suggest
that.
Simon was asked
three times if he loved the Lord, for each time he denied Him on the day of his
trial before the Crucifixion. And he was asked to feed his disciples, big and small,
which implies that Peter was officially re-admitted into the quorum of the 12
apostles (11 only at the time), sharing the same command He gave them in
Galilee, at the Great Commission.
This occasion LORD
JESUS CHRIST, demonstrated:
His almighty
power as a PROVIDER.
His infinite KNOWLEDGE.
His infinite
MERCY.
His infinite
LOVE for us all.
Omar Flores.
Comments
Post a Comment