This lesson was taught on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Some of the disciples of Jesus had gone back to their old trade of fishing. On one occasion they had been out all night, but had caught nothing. The next morning, Jesus stood on the shore of the lake, but they did not know him. He asked them if they had anything to eat. They said no. He told them to cast the net on the right side of the ship, and they would find plenty of fish. They did so, and their nets were filled at once. Then John, the loving disciple, was the first to find out who it was. He said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” As soon as Peter heard this, he fastened his fishing coat about him, plunged into the sea, and swam to the shore. The other disciples rowed to land in their boat. As soon as they landed, they found a fire of coals, with fish and bread all ready for eating. Jesus invited them to come and dine with him. They did so, and when the dinner was over, he had a long conversation with them. As they were talking together, he said to Peter, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?” He saith unto him, “Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love thee.” He saith unto him, “Feed my lambs.” This question was repeated by Jesus the second and the third time. Peter gave the same answer each time. The reply of Jesus was—“Feed my sheep.” The lambs of Christ’s flock mean the children, or young members of his church. The sheep of Christ mean the older members of his church. By feeding his lambs and his sheep, Jesus meant teaching his people, both young an old, about himself, and what he has done for their salvation. And by what Jesus said on this occasion, he meant to teach Peter, and you and me, and all his people, that if we really love him, the way in which he wishes us to show that love, is by being kind to others—by teaching them about him, and by trying to get them to love and serve him, too.
This is a good lesson for ministers to learn; for parents, for teachers, and for all who love Jesus. When we have found what a faithful friend, what a loving Saviour, what a kind and tender comforter we have in him, then he wishes us to do all we can to help others to know him, and love him, and serve him. This is what we should all be trying to do.
Let us look at some of the ways in which we may do this.
“The Unexpected Friend.” The Rev. Mr. Moffatt,—the missionary to Southern Africa, tells an interesting story which illustrates very strikingly this part of our subject. “In one of my early journeys in this land,” he says, “I came, with my companions, to a heathen village on the banks of a river. We had travelled far, and were hungry and thirsty and very weary. The people of the village would not let us come near them. We asked for water and they would not give us any. We offered to buy milk, but they refused to sell us any. We had no prospect but that of spending the night without anything to eat, or to drink. But at the close of the day a woman came to us from the village. She bore on her head a bundle of wood, and had a vessel of milk in her hand. Without saying a word, she handed us the milk. She laid down the wood and returned to the village. Presently she came again with a cooking vessel on her head, with a leg of mutton in one hand and a vessel of water in the other. Silently she kindled the fire and put on the meat. Again and again we asked her who she was and why she was doing all this for us strangers. At last she said that years before there had been a missionary in her neighborhood. He had gone away a long while ago; but from him she had learned to know the Saviour. ‘I love him,’ she said, ‘whose servants you are, and I wish to show my love to him by doing what I can to help you.’ ‘I asked her,’ said Mr. Moffatt, ‘how she, alone in that dark land, without a minister, without a church, and without any Christian friends, had kept up the light of God in her heart?’ She drew from her bosom a soiled and worn copy of the New Testament, which the missionary had given her. ‘This,’ she said, ‘is the fountain from which I drink; this is the oil that makes my lamp burn.’”
“How a Boy Showed his Love for Christ.” Some time ago a dreadful accident took place on the river Thames, in England. A steamer, called the Princess Alice, when crowded with passengers, on an excursion, was run into by another vessel and sunk. Fearful screams filled the air as the great crowd of people were plunged into the water. Among those who were drawn to the spot was a good Christian boy, about sixteen years of age, who worked in the neighborhood. Being a good swimmer, he at once plunged into the water, took hold of the first struggler he met with, and bore him away in safety to the shore. He did the same the second time, and then the third. As he was nearing the shore the third time he saw a small bundle floating on the water, which he thought must be a baby. He caught it with his teeth, and thus was the means of saving four lives on that terrible occasion. By the time he had done this, his strength was exhausted, and he was unable to venture again among the drowning ones. But he carried the baby home to his mother’s humble dwelling, and placing the little orphan in her arms, he said, “Here, mother, suppose you nurse this baby for our blessed Saviour; and I will work for its support as long as I live.”
A noble boy that was! and a beautiful illustration he gave of the way in which we should show our love to Jesus, by feeding and taking care of his lambs, and doing good to his people.
I never saw the lesson now before us better expressed than in the following simple lines:
SHINING FOR JESUS.
“Are you shining for Jesus children? You have given your hearts to Him;