Feeding Sheep

I listened to a fellow pastor who raises sheep on his farm. It intrigued me how he gets up in the middle of the night to help the sheep have little lambs to keep them from freezing. He makes sure they are protected from coyotes and wolves. He also sees to it that they have adequate food and water. I see this same pastor up late at night looking after God?s lambs and sheep in the Church family. We are blessed to have a pastor who cares this much for our spiritual well being, that he lays aside his own needs to relate to our needs. There is a Bible story where Jesus had teaches Peter about the connection between loving Him and feeding His sheep. Some of Jesus disciples had been fishing all night, but in the morning, their nets were still empty. Discouraged, they came toward shore when someone called out to them, ?Have you caught anything?? They replied, ?No,? and the man told them to cast their net on the other side of the ship. They tried it and within moments, their net was full of fish and starting to break! (John 21:3?6.) When the disciples realized that it was Jesus standing there on the shore, they came and had breakfast with Him. After they ate together, Jesus turned to Peter and asked him three questions:

?Peter?.do you love me more than these? Feed my lambs.?
?Peter?.do you love me? Feed my sheep.?
?Peter?do you love me? Feed my sheep.? (John 21:15-17)

Jesus used several different Greek words for love in these questions. The word love in His first two questions to Peter was the Greek word agapao. In the third question He used the word phileo. Each time Peter?s response was: ?I love (phileo) you.? The word agapao means ?to esteem, love.? It is an act of the will and implies love for the sake of meeting another person?s needs. It is the kind of love that God shows us, and that we are to show to Him and other people. The meaning of phileo includes ?having affection for someone, to befriend.? It is usually based on mutual interests. Peter was upset when Jesus asked him, ?Do you (phileo) me??
When Jesus instructed Peter, He used two different words that are translated as feed. ?Feed (bosko) my lambs. ? Feed (poimaino) my sheep. ? Feed (bosko) my sheep.? The Greek word bosko means ?to provide food,? while the Greek word poimaino has a broader meaning. It includes all of a shepherd?s responsibilities, such as training, protecting, and leading, in addition to feeding. Jesus was telling Peter and us as pastors to care for both lambs and sheep. A young lamb has unique needs and requires different levels of care than an older sheep.

The word ?my? in Jesus instruction is also significant. These were not Peter?s sheep, they were God?s sheep. Peter brought this out in I Peter 5:2 to fellow pastors when he wrote: ?Feed (poimaino) the flock of God which is among you.? Jesus had charged Peter, to be a spiritual leader in His Church who would feed and tend His lambs and sheep. He wanted Peter to help new Chris tians to grow into maturity and then keep tending and feeding them even after they are mature. This applies to Chris tian leaders as well as parents, who are to be the spiritual leaders in their homes. As parents we should first think of our own children and then all those who are in our sphere of influence. As leaders, our love for Jesus is directly linked to how well we tend and feed those in within our care.
Selah....
Al Yoder