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The rocks under Peter’s bare feet cut into his flesh like
knives. The tender words of the Master cut deeper still. He knows that he knows
that he knows that he loves the Lord.
But, how do you look in the eyes of the One you betrayed and say... that you love Him?
But, how do you look in the eyes of the One you betrayed and say... that you love Him?
Lord, You know all things. You know... that I ... do
... love... You.
In that moment, right there on the shore of the Sea of Galilee , Jesus doesn’t change Peter’s past,
because the past, even with the resurrection, can not be changed. But,
with three simple words, three ordinary, common words, He forever re-frames
it. And with that, He also reframes and defines Peter’s future.
Feed.
My.
Sheep.
For, you see, Jesus doesn’t need Peter to proclaim his loyalty to Him before all his Facebook friends and Twitter followers. He
doesn’t need Peter to defend Him with the sword. Nor does He need Peter to go
to prison with Him or to die for Him. At least not yet. The disciple would end up both in prison and
eventually on the cross for his Lord… One day he will actually have opportunity
to fulfill his own word…
What Jesus needs from Peter right now…is somebody to feed…
His… sheep.
Simple. Rocket science. Of loving Jesus.
For when you love somebody, you don’t feed them sugar-coated,
nutritionally-void substitutes, starving them to death even as you stuff them
with the surrogates.
But how do you know the difference between real food and a
substitute?
When you love somebody, you don’t just sit there and watch them gorge themselves on poison that tastes good.
But how can you tell the difference between a
treat and a poison?
And what are the GPS coordinates of the Feed Store where one can get all this good food to feed all these hungry souls?
And Peter realizes that dying for Jesus might be actually easier,
a lot easier, than living – truly living for Him.
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