In John 21:15-22 Christ is unveiled as the Chief Shepherd. In resurrection Christ worked and walked with the believers as the Chief Shepherd to build up the church by shepherding His flock (1 Pet. 5:4). As the great Shepherd in resurrection (Heb. 13:20), the Lord charged His disciples to feed and shepherd His lambs and sheep at the cost of their life and to glorify God by following His pattern of laying down His soul-life for the sheep (John 21:19b-22; 10:11, 15b).
As the Head, Christ is the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet.5:4), and in resurrection He is the great Shepherd of the sheep (Heb. 13:20). Actually, we are not the ones shepherding. When we shepherd, it should be Christ shepherding through us. If we shepherd people apart from Christ, this is not in resurrection but in the old creation. When Christ shepherds through us, our labor is in resurrection. Only Christ is resurrection. Whatever is divine is resurrection. We have to learn to shepherd people not by ourselves in the old creation but by Christ as the shepherding Chief in resurrection.
According to John 21:15-17, after restoring Peter’s love toward Him, the Lord Jesus charged him, saying, “Feed My lambs,” “Shepherd My sheep,” and “Feed My sheep.” Here, to feed the lambs is to nourish them with the riches of the inner life. 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; to love the Lord is to enjoy Him. The Lord came as life and the life supply to us. We need to have faith in Him and love toward Him. This Gospel presents these as the two requirements for us to participate in the Lord.
Lamb-feeding is by the nourishing with the riches of the inner life, and sheep-shepherding is for the building up of the church. Shepherding is for the “flock” (10:14, 16), which is the church (Acts 20:28); therefore, it is related to God’s building (Matt. 16:18). Later, in his first Epistle, Peter indicated this by saying that growth, by feeding on the guileless milk of the Word, is for the building of God’s house (1 Pet. 2:2-5). He also indicated that shepherding is for God’s building by charging the elders to shepherd the flock of God (5:1-4). The growth by nourishing is for the building. The Lord is still working with His disciples in this way. Today by lamb-feeding and sheep-shepherding, the Lord is working with us for the building up of the church.
By considering three chapters—John 10, and 1 Peter 2 and 5—we shall see that feeding the lambs and shepherding the sheep are for the building up of the church. According to John 10, the Lord laid down His soul-life that His sheep might have His divine life and be brought together as one flock. To bring all His sheep together as one is truly the building. In 1 Peter 2, Peter says that we, as newborn babes, must be fed with the guileless milk of the Word that we might grow up to be built up together as a spiritual house. Finally, in 1 Peter 5, Peter, as one of the elders, charges the elders to care for the sheep by feeding and shepherding them. Feeding the sheep is different from shepherding them. In John 21:15 the Lord said, “Feed My lambs”; in 21:16 He said, “Shepherd My sheep”; and in 21:17 He said, “Feed My sheep.” 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. In verse 15 the Lord said, “Feed My lambs,” and in verse 17 He said, “Feed My sheep.” By this we see that both the young believers and the more matured believers need the feeding. If the Lord has committed to us the burden of His flock, we must be sure to do two things—to feed them and to care for them.
After restoring Peter’s love for Him and charging him with lamb-feeding and sheep-shepherding, the Lord, by predicting Peter’s martyrdom, instructed the disciples to follow Him to death. In verse 18 the Lord said to Peter, “Truly, truly, I say to you, When you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go.” In saying this to Peter, the Lord was “signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God” (v. 19a). After predicting Peter’s martyrdom, the Lord said to him, “Follow Me” (v. 19b). We all must follow the Lord as the good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep (10:11, 15b). Our following Him even unto death is to glorify God (21:19). This shows us that after we have been regenerated and commissioned by the Lord, we must love the Lord at any cost and follow Him to the end at any sacrifice. By following the Lord’s pattern of laying down His life for the sheep, we shall accomplish the Lord’s purpose to feed His lambs and to feed and shepherd His sheep.