"He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?' Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'Do you love Me?...Feed My Sheep." (John 21:17)
Don't be offended if Jesus asks you something several times; there is always a reason for this. One reason our Lord Jesus asked Peter the question of Peter's love for Him could have been to show Peter the "nature" of Jesus,' "love," viz., feeding, caring for, serving others. Jesus' encounter with Peter reveals that love is know "feeling," but doing, "Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth."
The 33 year journey was pretty much "over" now, the Appearing, the Temple, Simeon, Anna, the "growing years," the teaching, the healing of the sick, loving acts of kindness, then Gethsemane, the Blood, the Sanhedrin, Pilate, the beating of the soldiers, the Blood, the Via dolorosa, the nails, the Blood, the Cross, the Blood, the Death, the Blood, the Resurrection. Now, the "parting words," not only to Peter, but also to all of us, "Do you love Me?...Feed My Lambs....Tend My Sheep....Feed My Sheep." Love for our Lord Jesus Christ is manifested not in talk, but in, "Feed/Tend My Lambs/Sheep. These Words of Jesus should be considered fundamental to Church Life. No matter what I "do" in the Church and Kingdom, it should be in the heart of "feeding" and "tending." One word could be translated, "shepherd."
Feeding/tending/shepherding must be the motivation of all apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. If one is more concerned about what he has to say than people receiving the Word, this is not the Love of Jesus. Paul asked the Colossian Church to pray for him that when he spoke, "....I may make it manifest (make clear, visible, known), as I ought...." If this, "manifest," is not in our preaching, teaching, serving others, then all is lost. Without, "make manifest," or, "make known/visible," our Lord Jesus Christ, there is no feeding Jesus to others. Whatever you and I do, it must be, "visible," viz., imparted in such a way that others feed on Jesus, receive Jesus, the Way of Jesus, "made clear/known." This is not just in preaching/teaching. This attitude must be in everything we do and are.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I want to, "feed/tend" in the way only You mean. Amen.
Don't be offended if Jesus asks you something several times; there is always a reason for this. One reason our Lord Jesus asked Peter the question of Peter's love for Him could have been to show Peter the "nature" of Jesus,' "love," viz., feeding, caring for, serving others. Jesus' encounter with Peter reveals that love is know "feeling," but doing, "Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth."
The 33 year journey was pretty much "over" now, the Appearing, the Temple, Simeon, Anna, the "growing years," the teaching, the healing of the sick, loving acts of kindness, then Gethsemane, the Blood, the Sanhedrin, Pilate, the beating of the soldiers, the Blood, the Via dolorosa, the nails, the Blood, the Cross, the Blood, the Death, the Blood, the Resurrection. Now, the "parting words," not only to Peter, but also to all of us, "Do you love Me?...Feed My Lambs....Tend My Sheep....Feed My Sheep." Love for our Lord Jesus Christ is manifested not in talk, but in, "Feed/Tend My Lambs/Sheep. These Words of Jesus should be considered fundamental to Church Life. No matter what I "do" in the Church and Kingdom, it should be in the heart of "feeding" and "tending." One word could be translated, "shepherd."
Feeding/tending/shepherding must be the motivation of all apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. If one is more concerned about what he has to say than people receiving the Word, this is not the Love of Jesus. Paul asked the Colossian Church to pray for him that when he spoke, "....I may make it manifest (make clear, visible, known), as I ought...." If this, "manifest," is not in our preaching, teaching, serving others, then all is lost. Without, "make manifest," or, "make known/visible," our Lord Jesus Christ, there is no feeding Jesus to others. Whatever you and I do, it must be, "visible," viz., imparted in such a way that others feed on Jesus, receive Jesus, the Way of Jesus, "made clear/known." This is not just in preaching/teaching. This attitude must be in everything we do and are.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I want to, "feed/tend" in the way only You mean. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
