Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial

Lesson #219

With this lesson we will cover the last section of chapter 13, defined by John 13:36 – 38, in which Jesus foretells Peter’s denial. Just as Jesus told the Jews, he tells the disciples that they cannot come with him. Peter wants to know more about where Jesus is going and “. . . said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”” (John 13:36 ESV). It is easy to read this verse and pass on to the next without thinking about the impact on John and Peter. As I sat before my computer screen looking at this simple verse the thought struck me about the different focus between John and Peter and about what was covered in the last lesson. Jesus spoke about leaving them in a little while and that they would not be able to come with him. He also spoke about a new commandment that they were to love one another just as he loved them. John was so impressed by his statement on love that he writes about it in 1 John, but Peter was impressed by the statement of not being able to go with Jesus and as we will shortly see, is willing to suffer and die to go with him. This idea of suffering with Jesus comes out in the two letters Peter wrote. The only response Jesus gives to Peter’s question is that he cannot follow now, but will be able to follow “afterward.” I don’t think Peter was helped by that answer and in fact was probably now more confused because of what “afterward” meant; after what?

“Peter, [not being satisfied], said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”” (John 13:37 ESV). Peter had experienced the glory of the Transfiguration and the majesty of Christ’s power, and the depth of his uttermost love, and he probably thought he was ready to die in his stand with Jesus, but he was missing at least one important thing, the love that had taken a grip on John. Paul speaks about this in 1 Corinthians 13:1 – 3: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” (ESV). Without this love Peter was not ready to die. Jesus knew that he was not ready and that when the time came to live out his commitment, he would fail.

“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” (John 13:38 NKJV). There is a difficulty here with timing that we have encountered before in how John writes. John seems more intent to follow a line of thinking than he is in laying events out in a time order. When did this dialog actually take place and how many times did the roster actually crow is uncertain. Mark speaks of the roster crowing twice. Having grown up on a farm, I have no problem with this. During the early morning hours, Peter denied the Lord three times and by that time it was light enough for the roster to crow and he crowed twice in a short time frame. John refers to this as the roster crowing once.

In hindsight of this chapter, be careful when trying to fit events into a strict time frame, because you can’t. Instead, think about the thoughts John is presenting and learn from them.

Prayer

Father, this has been an interesting chapter to write about. There were several things that stood out for me: The importance of humility as demonstrated in the washing of the disciple’s feet; How Jesus used the idea of washing the disciple’s feet to introduce the idea of needing to be clean on the inside also; How Jesus related to the enemy within the group by protecting him by not revealing to others what his evil deeds were, allowing him the chance to believe; The attitude of Jesus as he approaches a horrible time of suffering. There is so much we need to learn from these topics that were introduced in this chapter. Lord, teach us and show us mercy as we learn.