Pastor David Jang
Professing love takes only a moment, but caring for another person takes time. In John 21, the risen Jesus asks Peter whether he loves him and then entrusts him with the task of feeding his sheep. In his exposition, Pastor David Jang, founder of Olivet University in the United States, connects these words with the preceding miraculous catch of fish to explain why the church must embrace both evangelism and shepherding. The call to “feed my sheep” asks us to nurture people in the Word and take responsibility for their care through the love we have received from the Lord.
John 20:31 explains the purpose of the Gospel: that people may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and receive life through that faith. The following chapter shows how disciples who possess this faith are to live. Those who believe in the resurrection still have work to do, relationships to sustain, and responsibilities to fulfill. Casting nets and caring for sheep thus illustrate how the life received through faith finds expression in the life of the community.
What the Empty Net and the 153 Fish Teach Us About Obedience
At the Sea of Tiberias, the disciples spent the whole night fishing without catching anything. As day was breaking, Jesus appeared and told them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat.” When they did as he said, they caught a great number of fish (John 21:6). The sermon draws attention to his instruction to cast the net on the right side, explaining what it means to hear the Lord’s word and obey it. When the hands that had labored all night moved in the direction the Lord indicated, the disciples encountered an abundance beyond the limits of their own experience.
This scene invites the church to examine where it is directing its efforts. We may faithfully maintain familiar programs while failing to reach neighbors who have not heard the gospel. Even as we discuss our plans and share our experiences, we need to ask how the work we intend to do connects with the mission the Lord has entrusted to us. Obedience takes concrete form in the effort to make time to share the Word with someone and to prepare by seeking to understand that person’s language and circumstances.
The net they dragged ashore contained 153 large fish, yet even with so many, it was not torn (John 21:11). Pastor David Jang interprets this abundant catch as a picture of mission gathering God’s people from the nations, and the unbroken net as a symbol of the gospel’s enduring strength. In this interpretation, the number of fish directs our attention toward people throughout the world who will receive life. This is also why the church looks beyond familiar circles and takes an interest in neighbors from other regions and cultures.
The Table of Grace the Lord Had Already Prepared
When the disciples reached the shore, a charcoal fire, fish, and bread were already waiting for them (John 21:9). The Lord had prepared food before they brought him the fish they had caught. This is why we must first recognize the Lord’s provision before speaking of the fruit of their labor. The sermon sees in this meal the grace that precedes human effort. Those who carry out the Lord’s mission are themselves people who live by first receiving his care.
When we forget this order, we may try to prove our faith and worth through the results of our work. When fruit is slow to appear, we push ourselves harder; when results become visible, we are quick to emphasize our own dedication. Yet the Lord who died on the cross and rose again came to his disciples, fed them, and opened the way for them to renew their confession of love and live accordingly. They can continue in their calling because the Lord first came to them. Faith that remembers grace enables us to persevere in our work without claiming all its fruit as our own achievement.
The love received at the table leads to the love that cares for the sheep. The Lord who calls his disciples to feed others first feeds the disciples themselves. Keeping this order in our hearts helps us bear more patiently with the weaknesses of those in our care. When we recognize that we, too, live by what we have received, we have less reason to think that others must change quickly for our efforts to be recognized. Shepherding that remembers the table of grace is marked by the patience to spend time alongside a person as their faith grows.
The Weight of the Words “Feed My Sheep”
Jesus asks Peter, who had denied him three times, to affirm his love three times. He then entrusts Peter with the task of feeding and caring for his sheep. Someone with a history of failure is able to confess his love for the Lord once more and receive responsibility for caring for others. In this sermon, Peter’s restoration is connected to a life of serving the people entrusted to him. Those who remember the grace of forgiveness can turn their attention from proving themselves toward the neighbors the Lord has placed in their care.
The word “my” in “Feed my sheep” tells us to whom the sheep belong. Although others are entrusted with their care, their lives belong to the Lord. Shepherding, therefore, means accepting the responsibility to serve those entrusted to us so that they may learn the Word and grow in faith. That responsibility includes listening to the same questions repeatedly and searching together for answers, as well as helping people put what they have learned from Scripture into practice. A person’s growth cannot be fully measured in a single encounter.
This makes clear why evangelism and shepherding must be considered together. If someone who has received the gospel cannot find a place to turn for help within the community, life after that first day of welcome may become something they must face alone. Even after worshiping together, we need to attend to that person’s circumstances, listen to their questions about faith, and remain beside them through difficult seasons. When the encounters made possible through evangelism develop into ongoing care, the church learns to remain faithful to the love that first moved it to welcome others.
At the same time, if we focus only on the well-being of those already among us, we can forget those who have not yet heard the gospel. Pastor David Jang’s emphasis on a balance between mission and shepherding directs our attention both within and beyond the community. The sermon presents reaching out to poor and lonely neighbors, along with offering practical help to those who need education and care, as expressions of love. The love that shares the gospel also takes on practical responsibility through attention to the education and daily lives of neighbors outside the church.
A Church That Nurtures the Next Generation as It Awaits Christ’s Return
Toward the end of John 21, Peter’s attention turns to another disciple’s future. Jesus directs Peter to follow him according to his own calling. The sermon reads this exchange as a call to entrust the timing of Christ’s return to God and remain faithful to the mission given for today. In Acts 1, too, a question about times and seasons is followed by the commission to receive the Holy Spirit’s power and become witnesses to the ends of the earth. Faith that awaits the fulfillment of history draws us into sharing the gospel now and caring for those entrusted to us.
The hope of the Lord’s return also helps us attend to work whose results are not easily seen. Explaining Scripture to someone, responding to their questions, and praying alongside them can take a long time. As the church perseveres through that time, it remembers that God is the Lord of history. We can let go of the desire to determine for ourselves when history will reach its fulfillment and remain faithful to the relationships and responsibilities given to us now. Faith that entrusts tomorrow to the Lord sustains the care we offer today.
Nurturing the next generation belongs within that same hope. It means helping children and young adults think about their studies and future vocations in light of God’s creation, salvation, and the fulfillment of history. As parents and teachers read the Bible with them, they can ask both what they hope to gain and whom they might serve. By praying for missionaries and learning about the circumstances of people in other countries, children learn responsibility toward the world in which they live. When teaching the Word goes hand in hand with putting love into practice for the wider world, the calling to mission and shepherding passes on to the next generation.
Today, there may be someone with whom we can read Scripture, a neighbor whose well-being we should ask about, or a child whose questions of faith we can explore together. Choosing to set aside time for that person gives concrete expression to our confession that we love the Lord. Just as the disciples who ate the food the Lord had prepared on the shore were entrusted with feeding others, the grace we have received leads to responsibility for someone else. As I profess my love for the Lord today, whom among those around me has he entrusted to me to feed and care for?
Dr. David Jang has proclaimed the gospel in various regions of the world through field missions and digital media ministry, and as the fruit of that ministry, many people devoted to the Great Commission have been raised up. Based on this missionary vision, Olivet first began as a small church school for missionary training. Later, in order to provide more systematic theological education and cultivate missionary leaders, Olivet Theological College and Seminary was established in Los Angeles and Seoul in 2000.
As the school grew, Dr. Jang officially founded Olivet University in San Francisco in 2004. In the diverse and dynamic environment of San Francisco, Olivet expanded its educational fields beyond theology to include music, journalism, art and design, and technology. The university also strengthened its educational capacity by recruiting faculty members, including Dr. William Wagner, and in 2005 moved to the former UC Berkeley Downtown Extension campus, further solidifying its foundation as a university.
In 2006, Dr. Jang transferred the presidency to Dr. David James Randolph in order to focus more fully on missionary work, while continuing to lead global missions as International President. Olivet University later received institutional accreditation in 2009, added a language education college and a business college, and continued to grow as a Christian educational institution for world missions by expanding its degree programs and international partnerships.
David Jang Official Website: www.davidjang.org
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