When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” -John 21:15
When I read of Jesus commanding Peter to feed his sheep, I think about how Jesus reinstates Peter after an epoch fail. Remember, Peter had denied the Lord three times after telling the Lord he would never deny him. In this passage, Jesus asks Peter three times if Peter loves him, and after three times of Peter saying yes, Jesus tells Peter to feed his sheep. Or does he?
Read John 21:15 closely. Does Jesus tell Peter to feed his sheep or to feed his lambs? Jesus tells Peter to feed his lambs. However, Jesus does tell Peter to tend to or feed his sheep in the second and third answer to his question (John 21:16-17).
In next generation ministry (NGM), Dr. Jeff Lovingood is famously quoted for saying “the cow follows the calf.” In other words, a good next generation ministry will attract students which in-turn will attract families. There have also been many occasions where students have led their parents and or guardians to the Lord!
I wonder in reading John 21:15-19 if Jesus isn’t telling Peter, “the sheep follow the lambs.” I know Jesus doesn’t say those words and may not even mean them. But the statement does make sense and I do wonder why Jesus told Peter to feed his lambs before he told him to feed his sheep. Yes, lambs are sheep and sheep are lambs, but I think Jesus may be saying something more than we often give him credit for.
Or maybe Jesus just wanted to build Peter back up slowly. After all, Peter allowed two servant-girls to intimidate him as he denied Christ, so perhaps he needed to start with the next generation as he patch-worked his faith (Mat 26:69-72).
There are questions we will never know the answer to on earth until we meet Jesus in heaven. But for now, I am going to speculate that Jesus looked at Peter as a next generation leader. I know Peter was called the rock, wrote epistles, preached, and founded churches as an apostle. However, if Peter followed through on loving Jesus by feeding Jesus’s lambs, then Peter ministered to the next generation!
Technically, adult sheep are labeled as tup (male) or ewe (female). Sheep, like adults, require shepherding and care. But lambs, like children, require more supervision, nurture, and protection than sheep. All sheep need fed, but lamb food will look somewhat different than sheep food in both portion size and in substance (think milk). And the differences multiply when you compare sheep to cows. Sheep101.info says, “compared to cattle, sheep eat a greater variety of plants.” Perhaps it would be better for us to say “the sheep follow the lambs” instead of “the cow follows the calf.” No, it doesn’t sound as good, but it makes sense when we consider ourselves as sheep and Jesus as our Chief Shepherd.