John 21: breakfast by the sea and “Feed my sheep”

A night of fishing on Tiberias

Seven disciples are back on the Sea of Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee. Simon Peter says he is going fishing, the others go with him, and they catch nothing all night. At dawn a man on the shore, whom they do not recognize, tells them to cast the net on the right side of the ship. The net fills so full they cannot haul it in.

The disciple whom Jesus loved is the first to understand: It is the Lord. Peter throws his coat around him and jumps into the water. On the shore they find a fire of coals with fish on it and bread. The catch is counted, a hundred and fifty and three great fishes, and the net is not broken.

What does “Feed my sheep” mean?

After breakfast Jesus asks Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? Peter says yes, and Jesus replies, Feed my lambs. A second time he asks and says, Feed my sheep. The third time Peter is grieved, answering that the Lord knows all things, and Jesus says once more the words on our print: “Feed my sheep.”

Readers have long noticed the pattern. Peter had denied Jesus three times, standing by a fire of coals in the high priest's courtyard in John 18. Now, beside another charcoal fire, he is asked three times about his love. Each question undoes a denial, and each answer ends with a task. Forgiveness here is not only an absolution but an assignment: care for the people Jesus loves.

Follow me

Jesus goes on to tell Peter that when he is old, another will gird him and carry him where he would not go. John explains that this signified by what death Peter would glorify God. Then Jesus says simply, Follow me, the same call Peter first heard years before by the same lake. When Peter asks about the beloved disciple, Jesus tells him not to compare: what is that to thee?

A picture of care

Our Jesus Feeding the Lambs print shows Jesus kneeling by a basket of hay, a lamb eating from his hand. It is Christian wall art for a pastor's study, a Sunday school room, a nursery or the home of a teacher, nurse or caregiver whose work is feeding someone else's flock. Peter himself later passes on the charge in 1 Peter 5, urging elders to feed the flock of God among them.