The scene is that of the Last Supper. Jesus knew that his time to be crucified had come. It was time to prepare his close group for what was coming. Jesus firstly exposed the role of Judas. After that, Jesus said, "I am to be with you only a little longer: you are not able to come where I am going". Though perhaps he had spoken of it several times before, this time around he had managed to get the attention of some of them. These few approached him and voiced their understanding and concerns. Let me look at one of them today.
Simon Peter: Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "You are not able to follow me now where I am going, but you shall follow me afterwards."
Instead of replying to the question per se, Jesus tells Peter that he couldn't go with Him then but "only" later. That was something that really got my man excited; excited not because he could follow Jesus to that place later on, but excited in the exactly contrary sense.
Peter was now, no longer interested in knowing whereto Jesus was going but only that why was it that he couldn't go with him then! Suddenly, his focus and priority had shifted. "Lord, why can’t I follow you NOW?"
Was there a place where Jesus could go and he couldn't? And then, hadn't he, John and James got the privilege to go with Him where the other nine couldn't? This was perhaps the first time Jesus was stopping him from joining him! And what's with these words "not able to". Peter probably thought, "Have I not even walked on water?!" He couldn't take the "No" for an answer. He gets desperate and expresses it when he says, "I am ready to even lay down my life! How come you say, I can't come!"
Peter sincerely felt that he was eligible, qualified and above all that, willing to go wherever Jesus was going! Jesus probably hadn’t thought it over enough. Peter actually could perhaps go with Jesus then itself!
Now, sometimes its does happen that the aide of a big officer or politician does feel like he has become as powerful as his boss himself. They do start acting, talking and behaving like their bosses themselves! Was not Peter perhaps exhibiting such a mannerism?
Moreover here, we also see a man driven by his emotions. He even puts his own life on the line. His heart ruled his decisions. And when one is like that, it’s possible that he becomes irrational and sometimes unreasonable. A man driven by his emotions values his feelings more than any other decision, albeit rational, and also gets quickly irked when confronted. He takes the confrontation as a questioning of his intention! Therefore he says, "I am ready to lay down my life".
A man of such disposition is also easily tempest tossed. It doesn’t take much for him to be side-tracked and forget the ‘Whats’ and ‘Whys’. Peter had taken off into another tangent altogether.
However sincere he might have been when he said about laying down his life, Jesus' reply to emotionally driven Peter was, that he would surely deny him not once or twice but thrice before the dawn on that very day! An alarm bell for all emotionally driven folks!
Frankly, I do behave like Peter sometime or the other, especially when I am charged up by the message of a good preacher. Some people are perpetually so. It’s time to take the warning.
Good intentions, initiative and willingness are not enough to tread the path which Christ took. He has asked me to carry my cross and follow Him. It takes much more than mere human grit and determination to follow in His footsteps. Hasty, emotionally driven, irrational commitments do look unpardonable if not backed up.
Just to endure the suffering and even get crucified might still be possible for some, but to exude the character, self-control, perseverance and perfect understanding-of and alignment-to God’s will at all times is what makes it a "going to where he went".
What a sorry picture of Peter got projected here. But even still, it’s riding on this very Peter’s back that the first century church launched itself as a force to reckon with for "all times". Something changed this man. He started getting driven by some other force, some other power. More on that: later.
Simon Peter: Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "You are not able to follow me now where I am going, but you shall follow me afterwards."
Instead of replying to the question per se, Jesus tells Peter that he couldn't go with Him then but "only" later. That was something that really got my man excited; excited not because he could follow Jesus to that place later on, but excited in the exactly contrary sense.
Peter was now, no longer interested in knowing whereto Jesus was going but only that why was it that he couldn't go with him then! Suddenly, his focus and priority had shifted. "Lord, why can’t I follow you NOW?"
Was there a place where Jesus could go and he couldn't? And then, hadn't he, John and James got the privilege to go with Him where the other nine couldn't? This was perhaps the first time Jesus was stopping him from joining him! And what's with these words "not able to". Peter probably thought, "Have I not even walked on water?!" He couldn't take the "No" for an answer. He gets desperate and expresses it when he says, "I am ready to even lay down my life! How come you say, I can't come!"
Peter sincerely felt that he was eligible, qualified and above all that, willing to go wherever Jesus was going! Jesus probably hadn’t thought it over enough. Peter actually could perhaps go with Jesus then itself!
Now, sometimes its does happen that the aide of a big officer or politician does feel like he has become as powerful as his boss himself. They do start acting, talking and behaving like their bosses themselves! Was not Peter perhaps exhibiting such a mannerism?
Moreover here, we also see a man driven by his emotions. He even puts his own life on the line. His heart ruled his decisions. And when one is like that, it’s possible that he becomes irrational and sometimes unreasonable. A man driven by his emotions values his feelings more than any other decision, albeit rational, and also gets quickly irked when confronted. He takes the confrontation as a questioning of his intention! Therefore he says, "I am ready to lay down my life".
A man of such disposition is also easily tempest tossed. It doesn’t take much for him to be side-tracked and forget the ‘Whats’ and ‘Whys’. Peter had taken off into another tangent altogether.
However sincere he might have been when he said about laying down his life, Jesus' reply to emotionally driven Peter was, that he would surely deny him not once or twice but thrice before the dawn on that very day! An alarm bell for all emotionally driven folks!
Frankly, I do behave like Peter sometime or the other, especially when I am charged up by the message of a good preacher. Some people are perpetually so. It’s time to take the warning.
Good intentions, initiative and willingness are not enough to tread the path which Christ took. He has asked me to carry my cross and follow Him. It takes much more than mere human grit and determination to follow in His footsteps. Hasty, emotionally driven, irrational commitments do look unpardonable if not backed up.
Just to endure the suffering and even get crucified might still be possible for some, but to exude the character, self-control, perseverance and perfect understanding-of and alignment-to God’s will at all times is what makes it a "going to where he went".
What a sorry picture of Peter got projected here. But even still, it’s riding on this very Peter’s back that the first century church launched itself as a force to reckon with for "all times". Something changed this man. He started getting driven by some other force, some other power. More on that: later.
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