In his last encounter with the apostles in John 21, Jesus appeared to 7 of his 12 for a final conversation, especially with Simon, the Rock. He impressed them by providing one last miracle. He told them where to catch fish, then sat with them around a campfire for a breakfast that included the fish they caught. But, he had one more item on his agenda, a very personal one for Simon.
Jesus knew Simon would not see him again as a living human (except by way of vision), so he wanted to put in a last word to shake him from any indifference to, any doubt of, or any illusions about Jesus as authentically God's son, the last three years as real, and the events from those years as strong memories, not figments of his imagination. Jesus wanted him to know that new followers would be looking to him for guidance, so Simon had to be certain.
Of course, Simon figured this out, but not until after this encounter. Jesus punned with him about the exact nature of their relationship and about the nature of his role from this point forward. He used the idea of sheep and shepherds with Simon to get him to understand how people would view him in the coming age. Jesus had given him a name that had stuck - the Rock. Everybody was calling him that. Now, Jesus would give him a role, not a status necessarily, but a role.
So, Jesus asked Simon, "Do you care about me?" Simon answered, "Of course, Lord, you know that we're friends." Jesus responds to Simon's answer with, "βόσκε τὰ ἀρνία μου" (provide food for my little lambs).
If I had been Simon, I would have wondered about about what Jesus was up to by asking about caring about him, but this second part would have been a mystery. Who are the little lambs? Is Jesus asking for him to perform a miracle of food for little children? One one occasion Jesus had talked about sheep not in his fold. Were those the sheep he meant (John 10.16)? Who were these little lambs, and what kind of food was Jesus expecting?
He didn't know he would very soon stand with 120 others to choose a replacement for Judas, someone who also was a witness to the resurrection (Acts 1). He also didn't realize that right around the corner, the spirit of God would fall on him and the other 11 apostles and that he would stand in front of a crowd and tell them that the Messiah had come, that he had been crucified on their watch, and that it wasn't too late to believe that he had died, risen, and ascended to Heaven to be with God. God provided a very large crowd to hear Simon's bold proclamation (Acts 2). Surely events were happening in a way that he could remember the words of Jesus encouraging him to provide food for this young group of believers (Jesus's little lambs). On that occasion of breakfast in John 21, Jesus had asked Simon a second time if Simon cared about him. Simon had answered the same way, "Sure, Lord, you know that we're friends." But Jesus's response was not the same this second time. Jesus had responded with, "ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου" (protect my sheep and take them to good pastures). The Greek word ποίμαινε means (you) shepherd (a verb). And although there is the verb form to shepherd in English, people don't use it because no one really shepherds anymore. What did Jesus mean? Simon understood the words perfectly clearly. He understood all the word entailed and noticed Jesus had separated the idea of feeding from the word for to shepherd. The main two remaining duties left for a shepherd, as everyone knew at that time, was to constantly move sheep around, taking them to pastures where they could have enough to eat and to keep a watchful eye for predators, warding them away.
Jesus also switched the word after his second question from ἀρνία (little lambs) to πρόβατά (sheep). The obvious difference was the maturity of the lambs. Jesus knew that his followers would need initial nurturing as lambs do, but that they would mature and need guidance. Sure enough, Simon was asked to do some of this shepherding. God chose him to introduce the idea to the Jewish followers that the Messiah's message was for Gentiles as well as Jews by giving him a vision of animals, clean and unclean. Simon was faithful to the vision's meaning by baptizing and welcoming Cornelius, the first Gentile convert (Acts 10). A little later, Simon also presided over the council of Jerusalem when conflict arose between Jewish and Gentile churches (Acts 15).Simon knew Jesus had a point to make when Jesus asked him a third time, "Are we friends?" The tone of the question had changed. So had the statement after the question. When Simon assured Jesus that they were friends, Jesus told him, "βόσκε τὰ πρόβατά μου" (provide food for my sheep). What was Jesus trying to tell him? His request had now changed from "provide food for lambs" to "protect my sheep and take them to good pasture" back to "provide food" but this time for "my sheep."
At the time, Simon may not have known the point Jesus was making, but as time passed, Simon's life showed that he understood Jesus's meaning. After many years, Simon wrote a letter to mature Christians (Jesus's sheep). He gave them lasting food since he put his thoughts to words, words of wisdom lasting into perpetuity. His letter (1st Peter) offered encouragement and advice (a pasture full of food) to women, slaves, men, young men, and elders on how to live a good life as travelers through this temporary life.
A really tasty morsel is found at the very end of this encounter. Jesus tells Simon, "when you are old, someone else will take you where you don't want to go... and they will stretch out your hands." John followed that statement with the comment that Jesus was foretelling the manner in which Peter would die. In a Christian writing of the 2nd century, The Acts of Peter, Simon disguised himself and was on his way out of Rome in order to avoid a direct threat on his life by Agrippa. On the road out, Simon passed Jesus, who was walking into Rome. Simon recognized Jesus as they passed each other and asked Jesus where he was going. Jesus told him that he was going into Rome to be crucified. Peter asked, "Crucified a second time?" Jesus answered, "Yes, again," then ascended into heaven. Simon realized Jesus was asking him to return and be crucified.
From the time of Jesus's ascension after his resurrection until his own crucifixion in Rome, Simon proved what a rock he was, providing food for the early followers, protecting and guiding those followers as Gentiles began accepting the message of Jesus, and providing food through teaching and example in Jerusalem and Rome for followers who had to persevere through Roman persecution of the faith. Simon inspires all of us to do what Jesus told him to do as Jesus ended his encounter with Simon that day on the lakeside, "ἀκολούθει μοι." It means "Follow me!"
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