SECTION I. PASTORAL DUTY
John 21:15-17.
" I go a-fishing," said Simon to his companions,
some time after they and he had returned from Jerusalem to the neighborhood of
the Galilean lake. "We also go with thee," replied Thomas and Nathanael, and
James and John, and two others unnamed, making with Peter seven, probably all
of the eleven who were fishermen by trade. One and all went on that fishing
expedition con amore. It was an expedition, we presume, in the first place, in
quest of food, but it was something more. It was a return to dear old ways,
amid familiar scenes, which called up pleasing reminiscences of bygone times.
It was a recreation and a solace, most welcome and most needful to men who had
passed through very painful and exciting experiences; a holiday for men
fatigued by sorrow, and surprise, and watching. Every student with overtasked
brain, every artisan with over strained sinews, can conceive the abandon with
which those seven disciples threw themselves into their boats, and sailed out
into the depths of the Sea of Tiberias to ply their old craft.
Out on the waters that night, what were these
men's thoughts? From the significant allusion made by Jesus to Peter's youth in
the colloquy of next morning, we infer they were something like the
following:--"After all, were it not better to be simple fishermen than to be
apostles of the Christian religion? What have we got by following Jesus?
Certainly not what we expected. And have we any reason to expect better things
in the future? Our Master has told us that our future lot will be very much
like His own,--a life of sorrow, ending probably in martyrdom. But here, in our
native province of Galilee, pursuing our old calling, we might think, believe,
act as we pleased, shielded by obscurity from all danger. Then how delightfully
free and independent this rustic life by the shores of the lake! In former
days, ere we left our nets and followed Jesus, we girded ourselves with our
fishermen's coats, and walked whither we would. When we shall have become
apostles, all that will be at an end. We shall be burdened with a heavy load of
responsibility; obliged continually to think of others, and not to please
ourselves; liable to have our personal liberty taken away, yea, even our very
life."
In putting such words into the mouths of the
disciples, we do not violate probability; for such feelings as the words
express are both natural and common in view of grave responsibilities and
perils about to be incurred. Perhaps no one ever put his hand to the plough of
an arduous enterprise, without indulging for at least a brief space in such a
looking back. It is an infirmity which easily besets human nature.
Yet, natural as it comes to men to look back, it
is not wise. Regretful thoughts of the past are for the most part delusive;
they were so, certainly, in the case of the disciples. If the simple life they
left behind them was so very happy, why did they leave it? Why so prompt to
forsake their nets and their boats, and to follow after Jesus? Ah! fishing in
the blue waters of the Sea of Galilee did not satisfy the whole man. Life is
more than meat, and the kingdom of God is man's chief end. Besides, the
fisherman's life has its drawbacks, and is by no means so romantic as it seems
at the distance of years. You may sometimes go out with your nets, and toil all
night, and catch nothing.
This was what actually happened on the present
occasion. "That night they caught nothing."[29.1] The circumstance probably
helped to break the spell of romance, and to waken the seven disciples out of a
fond dream. Be that as it may, there was One who knew all their thoughts, and
who would see to it that they did not indulge long in the luxury of reactionary
feeling. "When the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore."[29.2] He is
come to show Himself for the third time[29.3] to His disciples,--not, as
before, to convince them that He is risen, but to induce them to dedicate their
whole minds and hearts to their future vocation as fishers of men, and as
under-shepherds of the flock, preparatory to His own departure from the world.
His whole conduct on this occasion is directed to that object. First, He gives
them directions for catching a great haul of fish, to remind them of their
former call to be His apostles, and to be an encouraging sign or symbol of
their success in their apostolic work. Then He invites them to dine on fish
which He had procured,[29.4] roasted on a fire of His own kindling on the
shore, to cure them of earthly care, and to assure them that if they seek to
serve the kingdom with undivided heart, all their wants will be attended to.
Finally, when the morning meal is over, He enters into conversation, in the
hearing of all, with the disciple who had been the leader in the night
adventure on the lake, and addresses him in a style fitted to call forth all
his latent enthusiasm, and intended to have a similar effect on the minds of
all present.
On the surface, the words spoken by Jesus to
Peter seem to concern that disciple alone; and the object aimed at appears to
be to restore him to a position as an apostle, which he might not unnaturally
think he had forfeited by his conduct in the high priest's palace. This,
accordingly, is the view commonly taken of this impressive scene on the shore
of the lake. And whether we agree with that view or not, we must admit that,
for some reason or other, the Lord Jesus wished to recall to Peter's
remembrance his recent shortcomings. Traces of allusion to past incidents in
the disciple's history during the late crisis are unmistakable. Even the time
selected for the conversation is significant. It was when they had dined that
Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him; it was after they had supped Jesus gave His
disciples His new commandment of love, and that Peter made his vehement
protestation of devotion to his Master's cause and person. The name by which
the risen Lord addressed His disciple--not Peter, but Simon son of Jonas--was
fitted to remind him of his weakness, and of that other occasion on which,
calling him by the same name, Jesus warned him that Satan was about to sift him
as wheat. The thrice-repeated question, "Lovest thou me?" could not fail
painfully to remind Peter of his threefold denial, and so to renew his grief.
The form in which the question was first put--"Lovest thou me more than
these?"--contains a manifest allusion to Peter's declaration, "Though all shall
be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended." The injunction,
"Feed my sheep," points back to the prophetic announcement made by Jesus on the
way to the Mount of Olives, "All ye shall be offended because of me this night;
for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall
be scattered abroad," and means, Suffer not the sheep to be scattered, as ye
were for a season scattered yourselves. The injunction, "Feed my lambs,"
associated with the first question, "Lovest thou me more than these?" makes us
think of the charge, "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren;" the
idea suggested in both cases being the same, viz. that the man who has fallen
most deeply, and learned most thoroughly his own weakness, is, or ought to be,
best qualified for strengthening the weak,--for feeding the lambs.
Notwithstanding all these allusions to Peter's
fall, we are unable to acquiesce in the view that the scene here recorded
signified the formal restoration of the erring disciple to his position as an
apostle. We do not deny that, after what had taken place, that disciple needed
restoration for his own comfort and peace of mind. But our difficulty is this:
Had he not been restored already? What was the meaning of that private meeting
between him and Jesus, and what its necessary result? Who can doubt that after
that meeting the disciple's mind was at ease, and that thereafter he was at
peace, both with himself and with his Master? Or if evidence is wanted of the
fact, look at Peter's behavior on recognizing Jesus from the boat, as He stood
on the shore in the gray morning, casting himself as he was into the sea, in
his haste to get near his beloved Lord. Was that the behavior of a man
afflicted with a guilty conscience? But it may be replied, There was still need
for a formal public restoration, the scandal caused by Peter's sin being
public. This we doubt; but even granting it, what then? Why did the restoration
not take place sooner, at the first or second meeting in Jerusalem? Then, does
the scene by the shores of the lake really look like a formal transaction? Can
we regard that casual, easy, familiar meeting and colloquy after breakfast with
two-thirds of the disciples as an ecclesiastical diet, for the solemn purpose
of restoring a fallen brother to church fellowship and standing? The idea is
too frigid and pedantic to be seriously entertained. Then one more objection to
this theory remains to be stated, viz. that it fails to give unity to the
various parts of the scene. It may explain the questioning to which Jesus
subjected Peter, but it does not explain the prophetic reference to his future
history with which He followed it up. Between "I allow you, notwithstanding
past misdemeanors, to be an apostle," and "I forewarn you that in that capacity
you shall not have the freedom of action in which you rejoiced in former days,"
there is no connection traceable. Peter's fall did not suggest such a turn of
thought; for it sprang not from the love of freedom, but from the fear of
man.
Not the restoration of Peter to a forfeited
position, but his recall to a more solemn sense of his high vocation, do we
find in this scene. Not "I allow you," but "I urge you," seems to us to be the
burthen of Christ's words to this disciple, and through him to all his
brethren. By all considerations He would move them to address themselves heart
and soul to their apostolic work, and let boats and nets and every thing else
alone for ever. "By the memory of thine own weakness," He would say to Simon
for that end; "by my forgiving love, and thy gratitude for it; by the need of
brother disciples, which thine own past frailty may teach thee to understand
and compassionate; by the ardent attachment which I know you cherish towards
myself: by these and all kindred considerations, I charge thee, on the eve of
my departure, be a hero, play the man, be strong for others, not for thyself,
'feed the flock of God, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly.' Shrink not from responsibility, covet not ease, bend thy neck to
the yoke, and let love make it light. Sweet is liberty to thy human heart; but
patient, burden-bearing love, though less pleasant, is far more noble."
Such being the message which Jesus meant for all
present, Peter was most appropriately selected as the medium for conveying it.
He was an excellent text on which to preach a sermon on self-consecration. His
character and conduct supplied all the poetry, and argument, and illustration
necessary to give pathos and point to the theme. How dear to his impetuous,
passionate spirit, unrestrained freedom! And what heart is not touched by the
thought of such a man schooling his high, mettlesome soul into patience and
submission? The young, frolicsome, bounding fisherman, girding on his coat, and
going hither and thither at his own sweet will; the aged saintly apostle, meek
as a lamb, stretching forth his arms to be bound for the martyr's doom: what a
moving contrast! Had that passionate man, in some senses the strongest
character among the twelve, been in other senses the weakest, then who could
better illustrate men's need of shepherding? Had he learnt his own weakness,
and through his knowledge thereof grown stronger? Then how better state the
general duty of the strong to help the weak, than by assigning to this
particular disciple the special duty of taking care of the weakest? To say to
Peter, "Feed my lambs," was to say to all the apostles, "Feed my sheep."
In requiring Peter to show his love by performing
the part of shepherd to the little flock of believers, Jesus adapted His demand
to the spiritual capacity of the disciple. Love to the Saviour does not
necessarily take the form of feeding the sheep; in immature and inexperienced
disciples, it rather takes the form of being sheep. It is only after the weak
have become strong, and established in grace, that they ought to become
shepherds, charging themselves with the care of others. In laying on Peter and
his brethren pastoral duties, therefore, Jesus virtually announces that they
have now passed, or are about to pass, out of the category of the weak into the
category of the strong. "Hitherto," He virtually says to them, "ye have been as
sheep, needing to be guided, watched over, and defended by the wisdom and
courage of another. Now, however, the time is arrived when ye must become
shepherds, able and willing to do for the weak what I have done for you.
Hitherto ye have left me to care for you; henceforth you must accustom
yourselves to be looked to as guardians, even as I have been by you. Hitherto
ye have been as children under me, your parent; henceforth ye must yourselves
be parents, taking charge of the children. Hitherto ye have been as raw
recruits, liable to panic, and fleeing from danger; henceforth ye must be
captains superior to fear, and by your calm determination inspire the soldiers
of the cross with heroic daring." In short, Jesus here in effect announces to
Peter and to the rest that they are now to make the transition from boyhood to
manhood, from pupilage to self-government, from a position of dependence and
exemption from care to one of influence, authority, and responsibility, as
leaders and commanders in the Christian community, doing the work for which
they have been so long under training. Such a transition and transformation did
accordingly take prace shortly after in the history of the disciples. They
assumed the position of Christ's deputies or substitutes after His ascension,
Peter being the leading or representative man, though not the Pope, in the
infant Church; and their character was altered to fit them for their high
functions. The timid disciples became bold apostles. Peter, who weakly denied
the Lord in the judgment-hall, heroically confessed Him before the Sanhedrim.
The ignorant and stupid disciples, who had been continually misunderstanding
their Master's words, became filled with the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, so that men listened to their words as they had been wont to
listen to the words of Jesus Himself.
We have said that love to Christ does not impose
on all His disciples the duty of a shepherd; showing itself rather in by far
the larger number in simply hearing the shepherd's voice and following him, and
generally in a willingness to be guided by those who are wiser than themselves.
We must add, that all who are animated by the spirit of love to the Redeemer,
will be either shepherds or sheep, actively useful in caring for the souls of
others, or thankfully using the provision made for the care of their own souls.
Too many, however, come under neither designation. Some are sheep indeed, but
sheep going astray; others are neither sheep nor shepherds, being self-reliant,
yet indisposed to be helpful; too self-willed to be led, yet disinclined to
make their strength and experience available for their brethren, utilizing all
their talents for the exclusive service of their own private interests. Such
men are to be found in Church and State, sedulously holding back from office
and responsibility, and severely criticizing those who have come under the
yoke; animadverting on their timidity and bondage, as unbroken colts, it they
could speak, might animadvert on the tameness of horses in harness, the bits
and bridles that form a part of church harness, in the shape of formulas and
confessions, coming in for a double share of censure.[29.5]
Now, it is all very well to be wild colts,
rejoicing in unrestrained liberty, for a season in youth; but it will not do to
be spurning the yoke all one's lifetime. "Ye, then, that are strong ought to
bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please yourselves." It is no doubt
most agreeable to be free from care, and to walk about unfettered in opinion
and action, and, shaking off those who would hang on our skirts, to live the
life of gods, careless of mankind. But it is not the chief end of any man,
least of all of a wise and strong man, to be free from care or trouble. He who
has a Christian heart must feel that he is strong and wise for the sake of
others who want strength and wisdom; and he will undertake the shepherd's
office, though shrinking with fear and trembling from its responsibilities, and
though conscious also that in so doing he is consenting to have his liberty and
independence greatly circumscribed. The yoke of love which binds us to our
fellows is sometimes not easy, and the burden of caring for them not light;
but, on the whole, it is better and nobler to be a drudge and a slave at the
bidding of love, than to be a free man through the emancipating power of
selfishness. Better Peter a prisoner and martyr for the gospel, than Simon
inculcating on his Lord the selfish policy, "Save Thyself," or lying in
luxurious ease on the hill of Transfiguration, exclaiming, "Lord, it is good to
be here." Better Peter bound by others, and led whither he would not, as a good
shepherd to be sacrificed for the sheep, than Simon girding on his own garment,
and walking along with the careless jaunty air of a modern pococurantist. A
life on the ocean wave, a life in the woods, a life in the mountains or in the
clouds, may be fine to dream and sing of; but the only life out of which
genuine heroism and poetry comes, is that which is spent on this solid prosaic
earth in the lowly work of doing good.
Note now, finally, the evidence supplied in
Peter's answers to his Lord's questions, that he is indeed fitted for the
responsible work to which he is summoned. It is not merely that he can appeal
to Jesus Himself, as one who knows all things, and say, "Thou knowest that I
love Thee;" for, as we have already hinted, every sincere disciple can do that.
Two specific signs of spiritual maturity are discernible here, not to be found
in those who are weak in grace, not previously found in Peter himself. There
is, first, marked modesty,--very noticeable in so forward a man. Peter does not
now make any comparisons between himself and his brethren as he had done
previously. In spite of appearances, he still protests that he does love Jesus;
but he takes care not to say, "I love Thee more than those." He not only does
not say this, but he manifestly does not think it: the bragging spirit has left
him; he is a humble, subdued, wise man, spiritually equipped for the pastorate,
just because he has ceased to think himself supremely competent for it.
The second mark of maturity discernible in
Peter's replies is godly sorrow for past shortcoming: "Peter was grieved
because He (Jesus) said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me?" He was
grieved because by the threefold interrogation he was reminded that the
threefold denial of which he had been guilty afforded ground for calling his
love in question. Observe particularly the feeling produced by this delicate
reference to his former sins. It was grief, not irritation, anger, or shame.
There is no pride, passion, vanity in this man's soul, but only holy, meek
contrition; no sudden coloring is observable in his countenance, but only the
gracious softened expression of a penitent, chastised spirit. The man who can
so take allusions to his sins is not only fit to tend the sheep, but even to
nurse the lambs. He will restore those who have fallen in a spirit of meekness.
He will be tender towards offenders, not with the spurious charity which cannot
afford to condemn sin strongly, but with the genuine charity of one who has
himself received mercy for sins sincerely repented of. By his benignant
sympathy sinners will be converted unto God in unfeigned sorrow for their
offences, and in humble hope of pardon; and by his watchful care many sheep
will be kept from ever straying from the fold.