“If You Love Jesus, You Will… ” by Mark McGee
Do you love Jesus?
Do you love what Jesus is doing right now?
Do you know what Jesus is doing right now?
He is building His Church.
Do you love that Jesus is building His Church right now?
Do you love the Church Jesus is building?
If you do, what are you doing to help build it?
After His resurrection, Jesus asked Peter an important series of questions –
“So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, 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.’ He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me? Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed My sheep.” John 21:15-17
Peter denied Jesus three times and Jesus asked him three times if Peter loved Him. That’s an important study in itself, but not the emphasis for this article. I want us to consider what it means to love what Jesus loves and invest our lives in it.
Jesus loves His “lambs,” His “sheep.” Who are the Lord’s lambs and sheep? We know who they are because they are us – members of the Church the Lord is building. We are the sheep of His “pasture.”
Read these next verses closely and think about why Jesus asked Peter to “feed” His lambs and “tend” His sheep –
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.’ Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father … Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, ‘How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” John 10:1-18, 22-30
Jesus gave His life for His sheep and is intent on protecting His sheep. That’s how important we are to Jesus.
The Power of Defeating Satan
Protect us from what? Jesus gave Peter a clue prior to His crucifixion –
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:17-18
Jesus is protecting us from Satan and all the forces of his evil kingdom. How does Jesus do that?
Jesus won the victory over Satan by defeating Him on the Cross –
“And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” Colossians 2:13-15
“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews 2:14-15
The Power of Feeding Sheep
Jesus wasn’t kidding when He told Peter that if he loved Him he should “feed” His sheep. How would Peter do that? Jesus told him how several hours before His arrest and crucifixion –
“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” John 16:5-15
God the Son paid the penalty for sin by dying on the Cross –
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Ephesians 1:7
God the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment and guides Christ’s disciples “into all truth.” The Holy Spirit does that speaking “whatever He hears.”
God the Father has given the Son “all things” that are His.
Jesus Christ has all authority in Heaven and on earth and has given us, His disciples, the work of making disciples and “teaching them to observe all things” that Christ has commanded us (Matthew 28:18-20).
What is this “disciple-making” and “teaching to observe” all things that Jesus commanded us? It’s what Jesus said to Peter –
- Feed My Lambs
Tend My Sheep
Feed My Sheep
The Greek word translated “feed” is βόσκω and means “feed, pasture.” It’s what shepherds around the world do every day. They take their sheep to pastures where the sheep can feed (graze).
The Greek word translated “tend” is ποιμαίνω and means “shepherding, protecting, guarding, guiding.”
This is what Jesus does for us and what He commands us to do for others – feed and guard, pasture and shepherd. That’s why Jesus said in John 10 –
“The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.”
Jesus is the Good Shepherd and expects us to be good shepherds of His flock. We are not hirelings who do not care about the Lord’s sheep. That’s why Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him and told Peter to feed and protect His sheep. Jesus wanted Peter to invest his very life in the flock of God.
Where are these “pastures” for feeding the Lord’s sheep? Wherever the Word of God is taught accurately and powerfully.
“For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.” Acts 20:27-31
Do you love Jesus? Then feed His lambs and protect His sheep.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Mark McGee © 2019
About the author ~ Mark McGee
Mark McGee is a career journalist and former atheist. He worked on the news staff of several radio and television stations (including Huntsville’s WAAY-TV from 1984-1996) and two large metropolitan newspapers. Mark was a reporter, correspondent, anchor, managing editor, executive producer, and news director during a four-decade career in news. Since retiring in 2009, Mark has worked as a communications director and consultant.
Mark has written three published books and more than 250 Ebooks. He also writes regularly for several Christian blogs. Mark also serves as Alabama Regional Director for Ratio Christi Campus Apologetics Alliance and works with students at the University of Alabama Huntsville.
Mark has been active in martial arts and self-defense training since 1961 and has been teaching from a Christian perspective since 1971. He is an instructor with Christian Soldiers Karate at Whitesburg Baptist Church and continues to teach privately in the Huntsville area.
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