John 21:15 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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John 21:15

Comments

We now come to the correction of Peter. Christ is not only the only source of blessing, he is the only source of personal strength. This is very serious. Peter has denied the Lord, emphatically, with an oath, not once but three times. He had been forgiven; we read how the risen Lord received him and he was established once again as an apostle of Christ. But it is not entirely the end of the matter. There is more to be done. He is re-instated, he is forgiven, but then Christ comes back to this issue of his denial because this has to be fully purged. The Lord does not say, ‘Peter, lovest thou me?’ He had given him the name Peter, but now you notice he uses his pre-discipleship name, the name he bore before he was called to follow Christ. The Lord puts him right back to square one. Simon, son of John – this is very formal, this is very stern.What did the Lord mean by ‘these’? Some think he is referring to the fishing trade as though Peter had gone fishing out of despondency and had given up the mission. Do you love me and my commission more than these fish and fishing and profit? No, it is not that. ‘Lovest thou me more than these other disciples?’ Peter had thought he did. He had said to the Lord, ‘Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.’ He must be reminded of what he had said. What have you got to say? says the Lord. Do you love me more than these other disciples, who have not denied me? Peter can't answer that. In his reply he leaves out any answer to that question, because he's too convicted. It goes without saying; he's denied the Lord; he has done a terrible thing. Peter says – ‘Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.’‘He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.’ Feed my lambs. Preach the gospel to those whom I will save. Preach the word to my children, Christian people. Be a servant, a shepherd. The word translated ‘feed’ could be translated ‘shepherd’ my lambs, look after them, be a lowly person. Love me and look after the ministry.

Application

It is possible to love Christ sentimentally and not to love him loyally. It is possible to think you have got love, it is possible to have the love of appreciation for what he does, for saving our children, for healing us of a serious illness, but that is not quite the same as loving him. How do you know if you really love the Lord, more than sentimentally, more than out of appreciation? You love him because you see who he is and you see his wonder and his glory and his attributes and his great love and you appreciate these things. You see him in the Scripture, and you sense his greatness in your devotions and you will be loyal to him and you will serve him for all you are worth.

Do you go to church once a week? Maybe you do that because there are very difficult circumstances that compel you. But if you could come more than once a week and you don’t, you can’t say, ‘I love Christ’. You may be able to say, ‘Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul; thank you, Lord, for answering my prayers,’ but you can’t really say you love him. It’s evening time and it’s time for your devotions and other things easily distract you. ‘Oh, but I’m enjoying what I’m reading or watching or doing,’ and so your personal devotions get cut down from half an hour, say, or from 20 minutes to three or four minutes. Can you really say you love the Lord?

‘Feed my lambs.’ Preach the gospel to my little lambs, whom I'm calling and bringing into the fold. Tell them how to be saved. There are many ministers who love the gospel and they only preach it now and then. Teach the rising generation, the little lambs. Open Sunday Schools, enlarge them. Engage as many children from the neighbourhood of the church as you possibly can. Remember in your preaching, never be so sophisticated and advanced that you've left out the lambs, the young in Christ, the ones who need milk rather than meat. Feeding the lambs is a lowly task. You are never to be on show, looking splendid. We are all priests; we are a kingdom of priests. You are nobody special and super. You are a shepherd, a pastor, a feeder of sheep.

Questions

Now when you are expounding this passage, the first thing you notice is that in the Greek the Lord uses one word for love and Peter uses a different word for love. The word which the Lord uses, ‘lovest thou me’, refers comprehensively to love, love with the mind, with the heart, with the will. Love which is not only an affection but it is sacrificial and active. It is a total embracing word. The word Peter used in his response is a little bit weaker and it is often said that it refers more to the affections. So it is as though the Lord said, ‘Do you love me?’ and Peter’s reply is, ‘You know I have great affection for you’, which is a little weaker, which has left out the sacrifice and the commitment. The King James Version and many modern versions, think that actually the two words are so close together they have ignored the difference. Were they right to do that? On balance, they probably were. I think that the difference is quite small. And yes, Peter used a lesser word, but I think he used it, if he did mean to use a lesser word, he used it because he was ashamed to use the stronger word. He is already under conviction for having denied the Lord. He is ashamed to use that strong, all embracing word. He uses a more modest word. ‘Thou knowest that I love thee.’

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John 21:15 Commentary and Bible Study