Peter is called in a special way to tend the sheep of Jesus's flock. He is called to show his love for Jesus by how well he feeds these sheep. He is called to put his own self-will and even his own life second to the love of Jesus and his sheep.
"Do you love me?" and he said to him,
"Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."
Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go."
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
Paul is also called to be fearless in feeding the sheep of Jesus. He is called to feed them the truth of the word no matter what the risk to himself.
And when Paul appealed that he be held in custody
for the Emperor's decision,
I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.
We can grateful that we live in a Church with this heritage. Our leaders are called to be the servants of all. But we, members of the flock, are also called to show our love for Jesus by the way we love and serve one another. We too are called to be fearless about what it might cost. We are called to be very clear about the core of our message.
Instead they had some issues with him about their own religion
and about a certain Jesus who had died
but who Paul claimed was alive.
Jesus is alive! All that we have to feed our fellow sheep is born from that truth. Let us not hold back from it because of fear or desire to comfort. Let us look for opportunities to feed the sheep of Jesus. Let us say with our actions "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
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