The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 491

\\-hen, therefore;the Lord here a.eke Simon, Shepherd," nnd, RB Pctor put.a it in I Pet. •A;-a,rnr," Dost thou esteem me worthy of thy v. 4, the "chief She1.1ho1-d." Ho bns lnid t,,Tc? •· Simon, ";the. burst of ponone.1 clffe<-.• down bis life with R now of ta.king it e.goin, ti<'n. mye, yet with e. certain humility, "I and ever after diech1ugiug tho functions oC lo,·e thee "-meo.ning, "Sneh love e.s l oan the Shepherd. lie mccms to bring e.11 the lnvish upon thee, euoh e.e I m11y de.re in " Eheep" into one ilock. They she.11 all my humility to offer thee, 0 my Mnater, heor his voice, and reoeive from him ever- Hrotber, Friend I" Thie being the case, lllsting life. Meanwhile the lender or the Jesus Hith, Feed my la.mbs. LciTe to Chriet aposlles is mode to e.ppreeil\te thl\t love i, the firet, high, me.in oondition of faithful is the condition of l\ll healthy guide.nee. servioe. 'l'he chief of tbe apostles wiU he.ve Faculty for rule is pan of the very nature this as Lie prime, ohief, e.na moet laudable or the pnstoral co.re. The sheep will noed sen·ice. Each of the terms of the oommis• this even more than the "lambs; " the old sion. in its threefold repetition, rescmblesthe disoiplcs will require, even more than the other: e.ud Meyer en.ye 1.he whole dnty-of young converts, both direotion and oommnnd the pnstor of souls and ea.rthly shepherd of In this respect the subsequent oareer of the ilock is iuvol Ted in each of the Uiree Peter was more oonepieuous thnn that of expres.sions. Our Lord commences, howcvc:,r, the rest of the apostles (see Rev. ii. 27; vii. with providing true food,scaeooable nourish- 17; .Acts xx. 28; l Pet. v. 2 for the .use of ment. for the "le.robe" of the Bock. The the word). Dut the shepherding of the tmder emotion involved in the term ca.nnot sheep is e.n cssentie.lly necessary e.nd integral be excluded, but it is a comprehensive and portion of every pastor's ce.re. When 11Bsailed Huggcsti\"e ono, and embl'11,0ee the yonng by the mJlf of heresy, by the hostile marauder, converts, the first believers, those who with by new conditions .of any kind, by special impetuosity and gladness receive the Word; de.ngex, unle88 he can in self-forgetting love the little children who will literally crowd pilot and .protect his dock, -he i1 no trne into the Church become the highest e.nd Bhepherd. . , . IIIIOl'cdest ea.re of the chiefest apostles e.nd Ver. 17.-And now Peter seems to have most honoured af pastors. The :Ii.rat, 1he conquered, by his persistenoe, the heart of ma.in thing they need, is the milk of the his Lord, and Jesus adopts the very phrase Word, and the sweetest pa.stores. This which Peter twice over had substituted for CODBideration of the nert generation, and the.t whioh he had himself used; for he gracious oare for the children e.nd the child- sai.th unto him tlle third time, Simon, 1011. of like of every sncccssive age, is one of the 1onas (Joh11.), lovest thou met (~•"-•is µ<1); eo.cred. Bi.,"WI or Divine re\"ele.tion. Onr Lcird llB if he had so.id, " Dost thou indeed love me is represented in the synoptics as "suKering dearly, love me as e. friend, love me with the the little children" to " come to" him, as earnestoess and fervour that twice over has "blessing them," o.ud rejoicing in their corrected my word into one more congenial boSII.IlllWI. St. John preserves and glorifies to thee, and more ample and trne than that the whole conception by reoording this com• used by myself?" This trait of Pater's cha- mission of the risen Lord to the greatest of racter, which John has hinted on several t.he apostles. If the be.bes and sucklings oCCBBions, is abundantly illustrated in the had " held their peace, t.he stones would synoptic narre.ti ve and in the Acts of the have cried out." is ilie pathetic approval of Apostles. Peter was grieved beoause he said the rejected Lord. "Feed my lambs" is UJ1.to him ths third •time, Lovest thou me t the gracious, uneipected summoUB of the The grief was natural. The repeated question triumphant Christ and Lord of olL suggests some doubt about his sincerity, and Ver.16.-Xe 811.ith to him again the second the adoption of the apostle's own word cut time, Simon, 1onof J'onu (John), lovest thou him with e. more poignant heart-thrust? He me l Here onr Lord omits, llB Peter had ma.y have thought thus: Jesus seems to dis- done, ihe "more than these," but he again, trust the reality of my personal ntrection, with perhaps deeper meo.ning, DBeB the word and will not e.coept my implication that i,.-ya:,ras. Dost t.kou render me even more this is more to me than the most thoughts iii one sense, though less in another, of thy fol a.')'alN\, the most deeply meditated and heart's reverence? DOllt thou treat me with mee.aured reverence. He was grieved the cunfidCluce awl esteem, submiBeion and .because a third time seems like e.n infinite 11.druiroUoD, which are my due? .A,gain Peter, repetition, and, if repeated thus a third time, wiili his heart bursting with penoDBl affec- it may be nsked me age.in and age.in every tion, foelB that he can and m.~ say, Yea., day of my life. He was grieved from the Lord ; thou knowest that I love thee ( ~i>.u inesistible e.ualogy between the threefold a• ; i.e. love tl~ dearly). The collllilisllioo d~i.R.l of w)lich he hnd b~n guilty, and this that folli>wtt is the aecoud stage of pBBtore.l threefold intc1Togatory. He does not say llB office. Kil HitlL to him, 'leni (" o.ct the part before, " Yea, Lord ; " but commences, Lord, ..1/' shepherd ") ~ al:.eep. Christ iB the '' good thou knowest ( o15as) all thinga. Omniscience OH. XXI. 1-26.J 'fIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. ,JOHN. 50i