April 21 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

John 21:15–17

Devotional

The Lord Jesus gave a threefold calling to Peter. He first said, “Feed my lambs.” Formerly, Peter was far too proud for this task. He would have hit the lambs instead of feeding them, or he would have passed them by as if they had no need of food. But now that Peter himself has come so low, he can no longer overlook the smallest creatures of God. Peter looks at the lambs and can now identify with them. The sheep are seeking a guide. When he hears them cry, he can point them to the green pastures found in Christ.

The second calling Peter receives is, “Feed my sheep.” Peter may do this from his own experience, for he has learned how important it is to watch for slips of faith. Peter can now teach caution to others. He can warn the sheep, “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.” He can now refer them to the care of Christ who continually intercedes for them that their faith will not fail. He must take care that they remain with the only Shepherd, for Peter himself knows how easily they can go astray. Even while they are grazing in the green pastures of the Shepherd, they can wander away. He, who himself has wept, may now comfort those that weep.

For the third time the calling comes to Peter, “Feed my sheep.” To feed them is to lead them into the green pastures. That means giving them food. Just as natural life cannot be sustained without food, so also spiritual life must be fed. The dead do not ask for food, but the living cry for nourishment as soon as they are born. Spiritual life hungers for peace, for forgiveness, for righteousness, for sanctification, for truth, for love. You can know if you also belong to the living flock of Christ. Do you know this hunger in your own life?

With what else would Peter have fed these sheep except with Christ Himself? He would lead them to graze in the pasture of His substitution. He would instruct them to let go of their selfish expectations and rely solely on Christ. This is what Peter himself had learned.

The great miracle in this threefold calling is that the Lord would still use Peter. Peter viewed himself as a rejected office-bearer. When he wept bitterly, he no longer expected that God would have anything to do with him. He did not think he was worth anything anymore. What a wonder that the Lord can still use unworthy vessels!

God wants to use unworthy vessels because of His eternal good pleasure. He can use them because only a fallen man can mean something for another fallen one. This applies here to Peter, but also to all the other disciples and all office-bearers. They must know themselves as fallen ones. This is not to say that they need to fall deeply, but they must know for themselves that they are fallen ones. Otherwise Christ cannot use them in His service to feed the lambs and the sheep. They must be able to cry out to lost sheep that they themselves were once lost and have been found and saved. In this witness they place themselves next to an unconverted soul, and identify with him. They understand what it is like to need to be rescued. They know what dwells in man by experience.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.