Today we get to the famous conversation between Jesus and Peter – it’s one that touches most of us deeply, not least because we all know how easy it is to do: to make a bold promise in the heat of the moment, which we can’t deliver on when it really matters.
There’ll be plenty of time to reflect on what happens to Peter later in the gospel story; today, though, let’s think about the effect on Jesus. It’s possible to overlook what a traumatic effect the last few minutes must have been for him: to know that he is about to be let down by two of his closest friends – first Judas, then Peter.
It’s one thing to know that the scriptures must be fulfilled; quite another to experience the personal impact of that: betrayal and cowardice from people you love. And yet, it is very much part of the plan, one which Jesus is fully aware of, and which necessarily involves his complete isolation from his family and friends: (v33) ‘Just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: where I am going, you cannot come.’
The effect of this statement was so dramatic that the disciples appear to ignore one of the most famous commands in the whole bible – ‘Love one another’ – to get straight back to what Jesus had just said before that: (v36) ‘Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”’ Another detail it’s easy to miss! But it testifies to the huge impact Jesus’ words must have had upon them, thundering so loudly into their souls that nothing else, not even life-changing teaching, could be heard.
At this point, Jesus clarifies his first statement a little: (v36) ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.’ The irony is that, if the disciples had really understood what this clarification meant, i.e. the suffering they would experience later, they might not have wanted to ask the question at this point! Peter certainly learned very quickly the harsh reality of what it meant – something which led to Jesus’ famous reply: (v38) ‘Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the cock crows, you will disown me three times!’ Be careful what you wish for, my dear friend Peter.
It’s hard to imagine everything that must have been whizzing through Jesus’ mind at this point. All the more remarkable then, that, in the midst of chaos and despair, he can call them to ‘love one another,’ a love he had modelled to them throughout, and is about to model to its utmost. Praise God that, where he went, we could not follow – for it means our salvation. And as that thought lifts our hearts, so may it also cause us to pray for those who are called to follow the way of the suffering Saviour – may the Lord grant them all grace to do so today, and may the joy of the Lord be their strength.