Originally Posted by jerry

I didn't miss anything. God was re-emphasizing Peter's call to be a pastor - but He was bringing out different things: dealing with lambs (young believers) and sheep (mature believers).

The word for "feed" in "feed my lambs" means "to pasture; by extension to, fodder; reflexively, to graze." This obviously refers to giving them the milk of the Word, providing food for them.

The other word means " to tend as a shepherd of (figuratively, superviser)." This is referring to the older believers, and teaching he needs to watch over them, supervise, shepherd them - but obviously in the context of feeding them spiritually.

The first word is used again in the third reference to "feed my sheep," indicating even mature believers need to be led to grazing at times as well.