by Timothy W. Burnett
Just imagine the happiness in their hearts when they saw and touched our Lord Jesus. They must have been in awe over the whole experience as Peter said, "Don't know about y'all, but I'm going fishing!" So he and other disciples got in some boats and hit the lake.
They were on the lake all night and didn't catch a thing. Next morning they saw a man standing on the shore who said, "Children, do you have any food?" And they answered, "No." The man then told them to cast the net on the right side of the ship and they would find fish. Having done as the man instructed, they caught so much fish the net was too heavy to draw up into the boat.
It was at that time that one of the disciples told Peter the man was Jesus our Lord. In hearing this, Peter threw on his clothes and jumped in the water. The other disciples used the different boats to simultaneously drag in the net, and upon landing ashore they found Jesus with fish on a fire along with bread. He told them to bring their fish. Peter and the others drew the net up with nearly 153 fish and the net did not break. Jesus then invited them to dine with him and nobody dared to ask who he was because they all knew. This was the third time Jesus showed himself to the disciples since his resurrection (John 21:4-14).
When they dined, Jesus asked Peter three very important questions that were designed to grab his attention. In each question he asked, "Do you love me more than the others?" Each time Peter emphatically answered "yes." On the first question Jesus followed up with, "Feed my lambs." On the second he said, "Feed my sheep." And on the third he said, "Feed my sheep." This can be found in John 21:15-17. A study of the earlier Greek words for feed, lambs and sheep helps to understand it better.
The first question uses the Greek word bosko for feed, which meant to feed and pasture. It was related to the word lambs, which came from the word arnion meaning young lamb. The second use of feed was from the word poimaino meaning to tend, shepherd and nourish, and was related to sheep (probaton in the Greek). The third time, the word feed comes from bosko again, and is related to sheep, which is also probaton. With the use of Young's Concordance to the King James Bible, a word study of these Greek words as used in other areas will help to understand what Jesus was saying to Peter. I have heard it taught that Jesus told Peter to provide good pasture for growth to the younger believers, and to feed and nourish the elders.
Please note also that Jesus did not say, "Feed your lambs..." Instead he said, "Feed my lambs..." So often we tend to think God gives his people to ministers and pastors. But in truth God gives them to our Lord Jesus. The pastors' responsibilities are to provide good ground so the younger ones can graze on the truth and grow, and to nourish the elder believers. This is done on behalf of our Lord Jesus, as servants of God.
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