John 21:15 ...[Simon Peter] said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs. (16) He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Shepherd My sheep. (17) ...And he said to Him, Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep.
After restoring Peter's love toward Him, the Lord Jesus charged him, saying, "Feed My lambs," "Shepherd My sheep," and "Feed My sheep." Here the lamb-feeding is the nourishing with the riches of the inner life [the life of the indwelling Christ] . In order to feed others we need to enjoy the riches of the Lord's divine life. This requires that we love Him. To believe in the Lord is to receive Him, and to love the Lord is to enjoy Him. The Lord came as life and as the life supply to us. We need to have faith in Him and love toward Him. Lamb-feeding is by the nourishing with the riches of the inner life. and sheep-shepherding is for the building of the church. Shepherding is for the "flock", which is the church (Acts 20:28). Therefore, it is related to God's building (Matt. 16:18)... The growth by nourishing is for the building. Today by lamb-feeding and sheep-shepherding, the Lord is working with us for the building of the church. To shepherd means to take care of the sheep, and to feed means to supply food to the sheep. While we are serving the Lord today, we must not only care for His sheep, but also feed them with spiritual food. It is not sufficient simply to care for and to look after the brothers and sisters; we must also feed them.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-Study of John, pp. 589-590. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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