Ⅲ
In His heavenly ministry the Lord Jesus continues the shepherding that He began in His earthly ministry—Heb. 13:20-21:
Ａ
In John 21:15-17 the Lord commissioned Peter to feed His lambs and shepherd His sheep in His absence, while He is in the heavens; this was to incorporate the apostolic ministry with Christ’s heavenly ministry to shepherd God’s flock:
１
What He was doing in the heavens, the apostles did on earth to carry out His heavenly ministry—Heb. 13:20-21; John 21:15-17.
２
Regarding shepherding, the apostolic ministry cooperates with Christ’s heavenly ministry—vv. 15-17.
Ｂ
The apostle Paul is a pattern of shepherding the saints in cooperation with Christ’s shepherding in His heavenly ministry—Heb. 13:20-21; 7:25-26; 1 Tim. 1:16; 2 Cor. 1:3-4; Acts 20:20:
１
Paul shepherded the saints as a nursing mother and an exhorting father—1 Thes. 2:7-8, 11-12.
２
Paul shepherded the saints in Ephesus by teaching them “publicly and from house to house” (Acts 20:20) and by admonishing each one of the saints with tears even for as long as three years (vv. 31, 19), declaring to them all the counsel of God (v. 27).
３
Paul had been enlarged in his heart to have the intimate concern of the ministering life—2 Cor. 7:2-3; 1 Thes. 2:8; Phil. 2:19-20.
４
Paul came down to the weak ones’ level so that he could gain them—2 Cor. 11:28-29; 1 Cor. 9:22; cf. Matt. 12:20.
５
As a lover of the church in oneness with the church-loving Christ, Paul was willing to spend what he had, referring to his possessions, and to spend what he was, referring to his being, for the sake of the saints in order to build up the Body of Christ—Eph. 5:25; 2 Cor. 12:15; 11:28-29.
Ⅳ
Those who shepherd the flock of God should shepherd according to God—1 Pet. 5:2:
Ａ
To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to what God is in His attributes—Rom. 9:15-16; 11:22, 33; Eph. 2:7; 1 Cor. 1:9; 2 Cor. 1:12.
Ｂ
To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to God’s nature, desire, way, and glory, not according to our preference, interest, purpose, and disposition.
Ｃ
In order to shepherd according to God, we need to become God in life, nature, expression, and function—John 1:12-13; 3:15; 2 Pet. 1:4:
１
We need to be the reproduction of Christ, the expression of God, so that in our shepherding we express God, not the self with its disposition and peculiarities—John 1:18; Heb. 1:3; 2:10; Rom. 8:29; Gal. 4:19.
２
We need to become God in His function of shepherding the flock of God according to what He is and according to His goal in His economy—Eph. 4:16; Rev. 21:2.
３
When we are one with God, we become God in life and nature and are God in our shepherding of others—1 John 5:11-12; 2 Pet. 1:4; 1 Pet. 5:2.
Ⅴ
The shepherding that builds up the Body of Christ is a mutual shepherding—1 Cor. 12:23-26:
Ａ
To shepherd is to take all-inclusive, tender care of the flock—John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28.
Ｂ
All believers, regardless of their stage of spiritual growth, need shepherding.
Morning Nourishment
John 21:15-17 …Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, 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….Shepherd My sheep….Feed My sheep.Acts 20:28 Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God…
If we do not know how to shepherd, we will not be able to feed others. The main purpose of the small groups and the vital groups in the church life is not merely to take care of one another but to shepherd one another. You shepherd me, and I shepherd you….This is mutual shepherding. In shepherding others, we should first cherish them in order to make them happy, and then we should feed them. This kind of feeding is the real shepherding. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “The Secret of God’s Organic Salvation—’the Spirit Himself with Our Spirit,’” p. 239)
Today’s Reading
John 21 reveals the apostolic ministry in cooperation with Christ’s heavenly ministry. After Christ ascended to the heavens, He began His heavenly ministry. In doing this He raised up a group of His followers as His apostles who could fully cooperate with Him. These apostles were commissioned by the ascended Christ to cooperate with Him to carry out God’s New Testament economy. What He was doing in the heavens, the apostles did on earth to carry out His heavenly ministry.The Lord’s shepherding is in His heavenly ministry (1 Pet. 5:4) to take care of the church of God, issuing in His Body. When He was on the earth, He was shepherding. After His resurrection and ascension to the heavens, He is still shepherding.
When the Lord stayed with His disciples after His resurrection and before His ascension, in one of His appearings, He commissioned Peter to feed His lambs and shepherd His sheep in His absence, while He is in the heavens (John 21:15-17). Shepherding implies feeding, but it includes much more than feeding. To shepherd is to take all-inclusive tender care of the flock.
This is to incorporate the apostolic ministry with Christ’s heavenly ministry to take care of God’s flock, which is the church that issues in the Body of Christ. The following words of the apostle Paul confirm this. In Acts 20:28 Paul told the elders of Ephesus, “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained [or, purchased] through His own blood.” Although Paul was on an urgent trip back to Jerusalem, while he was journeying, he sent word for the elders in Ephesus to come to him.
Paul says in Hebrews 13:20, “God …brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in the blood of an eternal covenant.” The eternal covenant is the covenant of the new testament to gain a flock, which is the church issuing in the Body and consummating the New Jerusalem. The eternal covenant of God is to consummate the New Jerusalem by the shepherding. God raised up our Lord from the dead to be the great Shepherd to consummate the New Jerusalem according to God’s eternal covenant.
Peter exhorts the elders to shepherd the flock of God among them so that when the Chief Shepherd is manifested, they, the faithful elders, will receive the unfading crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:1-4). Peter’s word indicates that the heavenly ministry of Christ is mainly to shepherd the church of God as His flock which issues in His Body. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” pp. 446-448)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “The Secret of God’s Organic Salvation—’the Spirit Himself with Our Spirit,’” ch. 2