“Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?”
Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow
later.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why
can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life
for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me
three times”
(John 13:36-38).
The Lord had just dropped a bomb in the
midst of the final Passover meal he was sharing with the chosen Twelve. Not only was there a betrayer in their midst
but He would also be leaving them soon.
A range of emotions gripped the small band of disciples. Shock, grief, suspicion. With regards to the betrayer, Peter speaks up
and seeks an answer to the question that had to be in the minds of his cohorts
-- who is the traitor? With regards to
the leaving of the Master, once again, Peter has questions. Perhaps the fisherman sensed that the exit of
the Lord was somehow tied to a lack of allegiance on his part or of the group
as a whole. Certainly they had
disappointed the Teacher at various times during His work with them. Was that
it? Whatever was going on, Peter felt
the need to boldly affirm his loyalty to the Lord. “I want to follow you now. I’m even willing to die for You.” Jesus ends the exchange with a chilling
prophetic word: before the night was over, the bold disciple would crumble
under the pressure of his own strong words.
And it happened just as Jesus said it would.
It’s so easy to point a judgmental finger at Peter’s failure to live up to his bold proclamation. But when I’m tempted to do so, I only have to remember my own failures at faithfulness and then I stop. How often have I made bold declarations of loyalty to my Savior and then crumbled under the pressure? Far too often to ever be critical of another disciple who does the same.
God loves you!
Mike
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