The change of figure here from fishing to shepherding is striking: the one suggests the evangelist, the other the pastor and teacher. The order is most instructive. Those who have been saved need shepherding—caring for, feeding, defending. And those whom Christ first commends to Peter were not the "sheep" but the "lambs"—the weak and feeble of the flock; and these are the ones who have the first claim on us! Note Christ calls them "my lambs," denoting His authority to appoint the under-shepherds.
