36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” 37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” 38 Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.
Vs. 36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”
When Jesus finished speaking Peter did not understand what Jesus meant when He said that He was going away. And so, Jesus now tells Peter that where He is going, he cannot come now, that is come to suffer on the Cross with Him and then be buried three days before rising again and later Ascending back to God in heaven. That Jesus must do alone. However, as Jesus says to Peter, “…but you shall follow Me afterward.” That is Peter after Jesus’ Ascension and later holy Spirit’s outpouring, would follow Jesus in ways he could not yet imagine, which would likewise culminate in his own suffering death before going home to be with Him in heaven.
Vs. 37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.”
Peter still not grasping why he could not now follow Jesus, (in all that the Cross entailed), now says that he is willing to lay down his life for Jesus’ sake.
Vs. 38 Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.
Jesus though is unimpressed by Peters statement for He knows the heart of man that when push comes to shove unregenerate man will always default to self-preservation. And so, Jesus calls out Peter on this and says directly to him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.” Again, Peter is not unique in this, for no matter how sincere, how apparently willing, unregenerate man will always do what he believes is in his own best interest, whether in life or in death. Which is one more reason why the Lord Jesus Christ had to go and suffer and die on the Cross for us all (Rom. 5:6-8). That said, Peter would follow Jesus Christ all the way to his own martyrdom death, just like countless other believers and saints who down through the centuries had to also endure the rejection and wrath of this Godless world (Heb. 11:13-16; 24-40). But first Peter had to stumble (just like Jesus foretold that he would) before he would become a man who would endure such things. And so let no one look down on Peter for we all stumble in many things, and yet through our stumbling we are all being refined and made white (Daniel 12:9-10).
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.
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