sheep; a task which was certainly going to mean danger for the flesh, glory for
324 SAINT A UGUSTINE - SERMONS yet, when he looked round at him, that's when he burst into tears. That, at any rate, is what you have in the gospel. After he had made his three denials, and what the Lord had foretold came true, what does the text say? The Lord looked round at him, and Peter remembered. If the Lord had not looked round, Peter would have totally forgotten. The Lord looked round at him, and Peter remem¬ bered that Jesus had said to him, Before the cock crows, three times will you deny me. And going outside, he wept bitterly (Lk 22:61-62). So to wash away the sin of denial, Peter needed the baptism of tears; but where would he get this from, unless the Lord gave him this too? That's why the apostle Paul gave this advice to his people about those with deviant opinions, and about how they should deal with them: he said, With gentleness correcting those who have deviant opinions, in case perhaps the Lord may give them repentance3 (2 Tm 2:25). So even repentance is a gift from God. The heart of the proud is hard ground; it is only softened for repentance if it is rained on by God's grace.
Let us congratulate the apostle Peter
2. So now it's already after the Lord's resurrection, and Peter is being questioned. His confession is being elicited, his passion predicted; his charity is being ascertained, his courage assured. Now after the resurrection the Lord says to him, "Peter, do you love me more than these? You, the one who denied me, do you love me? You have now been reassured; you see me alive, having seen me dying, when you were afraid of dying. Look, I'm alive, look, here lam; why were you afraid of dying? When you denied me, you certainly didn't lose me. So, do you love me? Because here lam. "
And he answered, "Lord, yes, you know that I love you (Jn 21:15). Why ask me what you know? You knew, when you told me beforehand I was going to deny you; you knew about me what I didn't know myself; and don't you know what I do know? I mean, I can see in my heart that I love you, but you can see it too. After all, you can 'tfail to see love in the present, when you were able to see fear in the future. "
And again the Lord knows, and questions him; and again, as he asks the same question, Peter makes the same reply. And the Lord asks the question a third time, so that the threefold denial may be wiped out by a threefold confession. Let us congratulate the apostle: He was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found (Lk 15:24.32).
Feed my sheep, but remember they are mine, not yours
3. He is being armed for weightier and greater matters; he is told Feed my sheep; a task which was certainly going to mean danger for the flesh, glory for the spirit. How much, I mean, he was going to suffer for the name of Christ, by feeding the sheep of Christ! Feed, my sheep, feed my lambs (Jn 21:17.15). I mean, if you love me, what present are you going to give me? The prince of pastors made him a pastor, so that Peter would feed Christ's sheep, not his own.