Peter’s interruption of Jesus provides us with a picture of this confusion, and we need to see both what he said and when he said it in order for us to understand why he said it, and the best place to begin is in the Biblical narrative. Our focus today is on John 13:36-38, but we need to begin with what Jesus said back in verse 31.
John 13:31–38
31 Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. 32 If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
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 will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
In verses 34 and 35, Jesus gave them this deeply powerful, yet challenging lesson on Christian love, but Peter, almost as if he wasn’t listening to that, latched onto Jesus’ words in verse 33: “Where I am going you cannot come,” by saying, “Lord, where are you going?” in verse 36. Jesus then repeats the fact that where He is about to go, they would not immediately be able to follow, so Peter again makes his point in the following verse: “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus then completely takes the wind out of Peter’s sails by telling him that he would deny Him three times that same night. This was another extremely awkward moment that evening.
We’ve broken the events of that night into several sections, each a week apart, but in reality there was a flow of events one after the other, so what was it like for the disciples? The first sign to them that this Passover Meal was to be like no other they had attended each year was the humbling experience of having their teacher and Lord wash their feet. No sooner had they settled down to begin their meal, when Jesus stunned them by saying one of them was a traitor. After Judas left, Jesus then told Peter that he would deny Him, not once, not twice, but three times before sunrise the next day.
It is hard for us, all these years later, to imagine just how awkward it must have been in that room that night. Every Passover Meal for centuries was exactly the same, even down to the ritual conversations held around the table, so we can certainly understand the confusion and fear these men must have felt.
Look though, at what Jesus says in the opening verse of chapter 14. This gives us a wonderful picture of the heart and the compassion of Jesus. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” He then goes on to speak of the promise of eternity for those who trust Him, but more on that next week.
Peter’s interruption of Jesus happened when Jesus was telling His disciples about what He would provide for them after His departure into glory, but Peter was not having it, so he blurted out, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” (John 13:37) There are many lessons we can learn here, not least of which is where Jesus was going and what He would do for us, and that what Jesus has done for us is far more important than the things we are able to do for Him.
It’s important to stress that there is no doubt that Peter was being sincere by saying he wanted to follow Jesus. Even his brave, if foolhardy claim that he was prepared to die if that’s what it took was well intended. Peter’s sincerity is not the issue here. He wasn’t to know it at the time, but with the exception of John who died of old age, all of them in the room that night would eventually die for the cause of the Gospel. They would all be martyred for the faith, but that’s a subject for another day.
So by wanting to follow Jesus, and publicly declaring it, Peter was not wrong in the sense that all Christians are called to follow Christ, but there are some things that only Jesus can do. Dying on the cross for our sins is the obvious example here. Jesus is able to achieve our salvation without our help.
The Bible teaches what is known as the doctrine of total depravity of the human heart, which means there is nothing we are able to contribute to our salvation. The 18th century preacher Jonathan Edwards said, “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”
Contrast that with the reality that even the things we can and should be doing as Christian disciples, cannot be done in our own strength. This was a lesson that Peter was to learn the hard way, beginning with Jesus’ reply to his bold declaration - a reply Peter would not have been expecting. “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.” (John 13:38)
Jesus had just predicted both His betrayal and His denial by two of His closest friends. There are some remarkable similarities in the stories of Judas and Peter, but of course there are also many fundamental differences too.
They had much in common. Judas and Peter had both spent three years in Jesus’ company, seeing His miracles and having the privilege of hearing His many teachings. They were both recipients of the love of Christ and they had both served Him. Both would fail Jesus dramatically in the hour of His greatest trial. Verse 21 tells us that Jesus “was troubled in His spirit” by Judas’ impending betrayal, and He must have been equally distressed by Peter’s denials.
Judas and Peter reveal to us that anyone can fall into temptation. If these two men can fail, then so can we.
So Peter had a lot in common with Judas, but the differences between them are even more important. The greatest difference is that one of them was saved and the other was not. Even though they both betrayed Jesus on the night of His arrest, Peter was ultimately restored by Jesus, while for Judas, the chilling prophecy of Jesus in Luke 22:21-22 came true. “Behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
When Judas faced up to the enormity of his terrible sin, he responded not with repentance, but with suicide. Peter, on the other hand, mourned, repented, and was restored.
The best way to try and understand the difference between Judas and Peter is to look at the motives behind their actions. Judas’ heart was full of treachery, and he used the cloak of piety to disguise his real intentions. Peter also sinned, but he did so with a boastful, rather than a humble heart.
This shows us the difference between a true disciple who lacks the strength to live up to his or her faith, and a false disciple who has no faith. In the end, the betrayer who has no faith, and having no saving relationship with Jesus, must face the awful consequences of sin by himself, as Judas did by taking his own life and then entering unforgiven into hell.
Peter though, belonged to Christ. He had a faithful Saviour to hold him even though his faith deserted him. Even though he sinned, Peter was restored. So just as Peter’s story teaches us that any of us can fall, it shows the necessity of our having Jesus as our only Saviour.
Why though, did Peter fail so dramatically? There is no doubt that he loved Jesus, and remember, his bold declaration in verse 37 was made with all the best intentions, so what caused him to fail Jesus so badly? The first answer was Peter’s ignorance, which came partly from his tendency to speak, rather than listen to the words of Jesus.
The cross should not have come as a surprise to the disciples, including Peter, because Jesus had spoken often enough about it before. “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Children are often accused of having selective hearing, but this is something that affects us all. Jesus had spoken repeatedly about not only His death, but the reason for it.
Just days before He said to them, “‘I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to show by what kind of death He was going to die.” (John 12:32-33)
Look at Luke 18:31-34, “Taking the twelve, He said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging Him, they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise.’ But they understood none of these things.”
We also need to guard against being critical of Peter. Would we have been any different to him? He was not unique in his failure, because in Matthew and Mark’s accounts, we’re told that the other ten of the remaining eleven disciples said the same thing.
After all that Jesus had taught the disciples about His coming death, it is hard to not miss the irony in His reply to Peter in verse 38: “Will you lay down your life for me?” It was not Peter who would lay down his life for Jesus, but Jesus who would lay down His life for Peter. The commentator Leon Morris wrote, “When the crunch came he was not ready to die; he ran away with the others and went further by denying his Lord.”
Peter was not only was ignorant of what Jesus was about to do, but he also revealed an ignorance of himself. This gives us another picture of our own weaknesses. We have all made some pretty bold claims that make us cringe with embarrassment when we look back at them, so Peter was not alone or unique in his failure.
Using the example of Peter, J. C. Ryle wrote, “We never know how far we might fall if we were tempted. We fancy sometimes, like Peter, that there are some things we could not possibly do. We look pitifully upon others who fall into certain sins, and please ourselves in the thought that at any rate we should not have done so! We know nothing at all. The seeds of every sin are latent in our hearts, even when renewed, and they only need occasion, or carelessness, or the withdrawal of God’s grace for a season, to put forth an abundant crop. The way for Biblically informed Christians to avoid falling into devastating sins is to realise how able we are to do such things. Being properly informed about ourselves, we will then shun temptation, starve our sinful desires, and daily pray as Jesus taught us, ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’”
Peter was far too confident for his own good. Luke records that this conversation took place just after the disciples had been arguing over which of them was the greatest, and what better way for Peter to stake his claim to greatness by driving home his point by saying to Jesus while looking disdainfully at the others, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” (Mark 14:29) Peter would have been familiar with the words of Proverbs 16:18, but he simply chose to ignore or conveniently forget them: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Peter thought that Jesus needed him, but the truth is that he needed Jesus, and so Jesus taught Peter a lesson in humility that he would never forget by telling him that within hours, Peter would break his promise three times.
Here again we see the deity of Jesus, not only in His ability to see future events - something which only God can do - but also in His perfect, divine wisdom. Peter thought he was strong, but that was in fact, his great weakness. He thought that his prideful boasting was enough to withstand temptation and sin, but he was wrong, and it was here where he was most vulnerable to the devil.
Jesus was fully aware of what Satan would think of Peter’s overconfidence. Luke tells us that Jesus said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat.” (Luke 22:31) What did Jesus mean here? Quite simply, Peter’s weakness would be displayed by Satan attacking him where Peter thought he was the strongest - his courage. Satan remains a powerful enemy, and as we all know, it is when we think we’ve got everything under control that we are actually most vulnerable.
In our own strength, we are far too weak to withstand the sifting of Satan, and the sooner we learn this, the sooner we will learn to run to Christ and become strong in the Lord. The apostle Paul knew this when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” He was writing about the same thing in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 has absolutely nothing to do with us becoming better golfers, better businessmen or even better parents. It’s not about us. It’s about Christ, and how He, by the Holy Spirit, will comfort, strengthen, teach and even admonish us as He did with Peter, to conform us more and more into His likeness each day.
John Calvin wrote, “Let us learn to distrust our own strength and betake ourselves early to the Lord, that He may support us by His power.”
So we have much to learn from Peter’s fall from grace, but there is also a tremendous amount of encouragement and comfort we can take from this episode. Peter fell, and he fell terribly, but Jesus did not forsake him. Anyone can fall into temptation and even deny the Lord, but the story of Peter’s denial proves that when, as true believers we fail, Jesus will hold us right to the end, as He promised in John 10:27-28. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
We have yet to come to Peter’s actual denials in chapter 19, as well as Jesus’ gracious restoration in chapter 21, but even here in chapter 13, despite us knowing how the events would play out in the days and weeks to come, we have the promise that Jesus made to Peter that he would not be lost, as Judas was.
Peter was so focussed on the first part of Jesus’ words in verse 36, that he missed the second part. “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”
“You will follow afterward.” There are two different meanings to these words, and they are both equally true and valid.
Firstly, Jesus was talking about the promise to His true disciples of eternal life, which we touched on earlier. Chapter 14 begins with Jesus teaching them that He was going ahead to prepare a place for us. The promise to Peter and to all those who put their faith in Christ is clear: We will follow Jesus into heaven.
Secondly, these words applied to Peter in the short term. Eventually he would follow Jesus to death. History has shown that Peter also died by crucifixion, but before that He would follow Jesus in many different ways. After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, Peter would have a new, Godly boldness, completely different to what we see in John 13 as he would proclaim the Gospel and perform miracles in the name of Jesus. Many would come to faith through the faithful witness of Peter and the other apostles.
The Peter we meet in the book of Acts was completely different to the Peter we read about in the Gospel accounts, and the difference is the power of the Holy Spirit, and the grace of forgiveness and salvation he received.
Again, this is the difference between Peter and Judas. One was saved, and the other was not.
We have all asked ourselves what we would say if we were in Peter’s shoes later that night when he denied Jesus three times.
The way to answer that question is to ask whether you are a Judas or a Peter. The key difference is that Judas never believed in Jesus, whether he outwardly professed faith or not, but Peter was a genuine believer in Christ, despite his many failures and empty promises.
The truth is that we would probably have failed Jesus just as Peter did, but we need to be a Peter rather than a Judas. Peter’s problem was not that Satan was in his heart, but that he had confidence in his own flesh. His love for and loyalty to Jesus was sincere. When he said, “I will lay down my life for you,” he meant it. Later on that evening it was Peter that cut off the soldier’s ear when Jesus was arrested, but not much later, his bravery deserted him, and he needed the grace and mercy of God to restore and forgive him.
In exactly the same way, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, He has granted you the gift of saving faith, and your salvation is as secure as Peter’s. Believe in Christ and you will follow Him into Heaven.
In Luke’s account of Peter’s promise to not deny Jesus he includes a crucial detail - Jesus tells Peter that He has prayed for him. “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.” (Luke 22:31–32). Satan defeated Peter’s gusto and his weak courage, but he could not defeat Jesus’ prayer.
As we will see when we reach chapter 17, Jesus prayed for us too, and He still intercedes for His own right now. Paul writes in Romans 8:34, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
He has bought you with His own blood, so why would He let you go now? If you are Christ’s, you are His for all eternity, but like Peter, you must belong to Him by faith. Repent of your sins, turn to Jesus in faith, and you will be saved.
The promise of John 10:27-28 will then be yours: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
Homegroup Study Notes
Read John 13:36-38
Discuss the many similarities and differences between Judas and Peter.
Peter has been both commended and condemned over the years for his brave, yet foolhardy promise that he would lay down his life for Jesus.
How have you experienced the grace and forgiveness of God, despite not being as faithful to Him as you should?
Discuss Jesus’ words in verse 36.
How did they apply to Peter in both the short and long terms?
How do they apply to us?
There is more than a little irony in Jesus’ question to Peter in verse 38.
It was Jesus who would lay down His life for Peter; not the other way around.
While there is much we are called and commanded to do for Jesus, there are many things only He can do for us.
What are some of these things?