This is a very telling portion of scripture, taken from a very telling Gospel record, giving us a very telling account of Jesus' very last instruction to the very closest to Him on earth. And it blesses our hearts! The main characters in this short passage are of course Jesus and Peter, and the discussion that they have is nearly a sequel to what is recorded of Peter in chapt. 13, where Jesus was attempting to wash his feet. In that passage, Peter represents us all, demonstrating the frailty and the fickleness of every Believing one of us.
Every Christian Brother and Sister can relate on some level, to Peter's fall and recovery, and his doubt and disobedience. So in these verses, we cannot miss his eagerness to please and to reassure the Lord, and to be given a greater challenge for greater service, even if it was to bring greater persecution...perhaps even death!
If you look back to Luke 22.31-32, you would notice that when Jesus acknowledged Peter's impulsiveness, He didn't pray to keep Peter from falling, which is Satan's will for the followers of Jesus. Rather, Jesus' wish was that Peter's faith would be strengthened, that he would realize the condition of his own heart, and the frailty of his own ability to keep himself from sinning when the pressure is on. And Peter's response to the Lord, in vs. 33, shows just how little discernment he had, concerning the direction in which Jesus' ministry was heading. He had some hard lessons to learn, between then, and the time of his Holy Spirit baptism!
You know, Jesus doesn't want a-one of us to fail, any more than He did Peter. His wish is that we turn from our own self-confidence and pride, and come to terms with the fact that we are nothing, without Him. That's when Satan fails in "sifting" us, as he had been able to do, after all, with Peter. For him, his failure in faithfulness could have been a death blow, and I'm sure that, at the least, it nearly had caused him to desert what remained of his faith, in those last critical days during the Lord's last week on earth. But...the Lord had a special role for Peter in the church He was building, just as He does for us, once we have finally received and believed!
Now take a look at chapt. 21.15-19. How much do you really and absolutlety love your Lord? Enough to die because of your faith in Him, as He is prophesying here of Peter? And this is not a word of judgment on Peter because of his earlier "indiscretions"...He hadn't asked Peter, "Why did you deny Me?"
You know, I've heard all kinds of interpretations in regards to the nature of the Believer's judgment before "the Judgment Seat of Christ". But the fact of the matter is, our appearance before Christ on that Day will not be an occasion for loss, but rather, a time for reward for faithfulness in the living-out of our faith, through the accomplishment of the works we have done, in His Name. For the Believer, there will be no reference to our often derelection of duty to the Saviour; only the dying echo of the last tear drops we might have ever shed in life, in that instant in which we experience the fulness of His glory as our eyes are opened, and our created purpose finally becomes clear! No condemnation, but a commendation, as with Peter before his Lord for the very last time in his earthly existence, as he was commissioned for his new work in fishing for men.
"Simon, son of Jonas; lovest thou Me?" If there is any question that might be asked of us at the Judgment Seat of Christ, it will be exactly that..."Do you love Me more...?" And the answer should be, like Peter's, a resounding, "Yes Lord! Thou knowest!" And as we will be, in our time, Peter must surely have been rewarded a crown for his faithfulness. The Lord knew that in just a short while, sinners would be saved by the thousands, and Peter would be one of the headliners in the accounts of the great spiritual awakening which would be soon taking place, beginning back in Jerusalem!
All those new converts would be needing pastors to lead them in their new faith. They would need feeding and tending-to and defending, and Peter was to begin an altogether new vocation...from fishing to shepherding. And the very first of the flock are the most vulnerable...the brand new lambs, the weakest and neediest in the faith-flock. And we in today's church, as well as Peter in his, need to realize that, although they are not our lambs, but the Lord's, it is still the church's responsibility to rear them up to fulness of faith...remembering that it's all about Jesus!
Then we read that, two more times Jesus asks Peter that same question, and a very searching question it is. We all know so much, and talk so much, and give so much, and go through so much, and we make such a show of it all, and yet, like Peter, are half asleep before Christ, practicing mostly dead works. It really is a very good question... "Lovest thou Me more than these?"
Peter was not yet willing to own what Jesus had in store for him. But what about us...have you really counted the cost of discipleship? Jesus surely had good reason to plant that critical thought in Peter's heart. But notice that, according to vs. 17, just as any of us might do, Peter began to get a little testy..."Lord, You know all things!" And I thank You, Jesus, that You do, brcause every time I step off the narrow road, and tend to wander back toward that "broad road that leads to destruction", He knows that I still am in love with Him. So it's probly a little bit OK for us, like Peter, to confirm His all-knowingness; He really does see us little sparrows when we fall! He knows that we're made of flesh and blood. And He knows when it really is Him, that we really trust, and dearly love.
This could very well have been Peter's pivot point...when he finally found himself, because, following his third confirmation of his love for the Lord, Jesus responds, as recorded there in vs. 17, "Then feed My sheep!" Peter had been an "apostate apostle", but Jesus had, as Jesus does, blotted out Peter's sin and fully restored him to a place of useful service. And remember, their conversation had taken place in the presence of the six other disciples; his sins had been very public ones, and so must his restoration be, and his ordination to his new shepherding role in the future church..."Then if you love Me, serve Me!"
In fact, it is only when you really love the Lord that you are ever ready and able to minister in any appreciable way, to the church of Christ. But of course, He's been speaking to Peter in terms of the larger ministry...the work of prophet, pastor, teacher and misssionary, and he was being ordained to fulfill each one of those roles and more, as he began his real life's calling. And I'm sure your own pastor would tell you that that work would be so slow, and painful, and underappreciated, and criticized, that it could only be the love of Christ that would drive him on to the bitter end. So Peter here, is being forgiven for his past failures, restored to full functioning, as well as to even "greater works than these" (14.12)!
There have been times during my many years of sometimes faithful service, when I, like Peter, needed to be "taken to the woodshed" by my Lord! I'm sure He never thinks of it in that way, but it's been my experience that when a not-so-veiled object lesson, as Jesus often used, would be more than enough to keep us on the track that our Lord has ordained us-to. Thank you, Jesus, for Your patience with Peter...and me.
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