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Service and Betrayal
John 13:36-38

36 Simon [Simon] Peter [Petros] said [lego] unto him [autos] , Lord [kurios] , whither [pou] goest [hupago] thou? Jesus [Iesous] answered [apokrinomai] him [autos] , Whither [hopou] I go [hupago] , thou canst [dunamai] not [ou] follow [akoloutheo] me [moi] now [nun] ; but [de] thou shalt follow [akoloutheo] me [moi] afterwards [husteron] .
37 Peter [Petros] said [lego] unto him [autos] , Lord [kurios] , why [diati] cannot [ou] [dunamai] I follow [akoloutheo] thee [soi] now [arti] ? I will lay down [tithemi] my [mou] life [psuche] for [huper] thy sake [sou] .
38 Jesus [Iesous] answered [apokrinomai] him [autos] , Wilt thou lay down [tithemi] thy [sou] life [psuche] for [huper] my sake [emou] ? Verily [amen] , verily [amen] , I say [lego] unto thee [soi] , The cock [alektor] shall [phoneo] not [ou me] crow [phoneo] , till [heos] [hos] thou hast denied [aparneomai] me [me] thrice [tris] . KJV-Interlinear


36 Simon Peter said to Him, 'Lord, where are You going?' Jesus answered, 'Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you shall follow later.' 37 Peter said to Him, 'Lord, why can I not follow You right 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, a cock shall not crow, until you deny Me three times. NASB


Here we have a dichotomy of sorts. Jesus is about to lay his life down for all of mankind. For this purpose, He came into the world. Jesus knows his mission and purpose. Jesus has known it all of His human life, and as God He has known it since eternity past.

Peter on the other hand does not understand much of anything. He has the general knowledge, but he just does not seem to be able to connect the dots. He is thinking on the physical level rather than on the spiritual level of life. Peter probably thinks that Jesus is going to some far away place, or perhaps Jesus has decided to go once again to the Temple to confront the priests. Actually Peter probably did not think too specifically about where Jesus was going, he was just being emotional and somewhat taken back at the possibility that Jesus could go somewhere that he could not go.

So his emotion continues, 'I would die for you.' And this is a statement purely from emotion not based in any form of truth or concept of purpose. Peter is just making a knee jerk statement. It is also further proof that he just did not know what was going to happen in the next few hours.

It is evening time of Passover eve, and in a few short hours Jesus will be arrested and facing the first trial before Annas, with five more trials to follow before being hung up on a Cross. There He would spend the better part of the day (in the afternoon) hanging on the Cross, He would spend three hours in a total and supernatural darkness, enduring the punishment for our sins, which God the Father would administer upon Him. Then Jesus would have a few final words and then die physically just prior to the end of Passover and the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread at approximately 6 p.m. that evening.

Jesus will be removed from the Cross and his body will be placed in the grave. His soul having gone to Paradise. His spirit having gone to heaven. He will be in a complete and total state of separation, with body, soul, and spirit all separated. He will be the only person who will ever suffer this kind of separation.

When we die (as believers) our soul and spirit both go inseparably to be before the Lord. Our essence (except for our physical body) will never be split apart.

Jesus will be reunited in the grave once again after three days and three nights, in a resurrected body. He will spend the next forty days with the apostles (this is when they will really begin to learn), and then He will ascend into heaven and be seated at the right hand of the Father. We can only imagine that when this coronation occurred, it was quite a ceremony.

Now, Peter wants to go where Christ is going, and obviously he cannot. Furthermore it is obvious that Peter does not understand the extent of Jesus' purpose here on earth.

Peter is a young believer. Young, that is, from the perspective of his spiritual growth. He was weak in his faith. Judas betrayed Jesus from premeditated forethought and greed for money and opportunity. Peter will betray Jesus three times from a state of weak faith. He will be fearful. For over three years now he has been living a life relatively free of danger, eating fishes and bread, healing folks from all walks of life, and more important (in Peters mind) being the object of attention because he was one of the chosen few to be with Christ. An obvious honor that would scratch anyone's ego. So his attitude and frame of mind were somewhat misplaced.

Weak believers have a tendency to be bold (emotionally) but that boldness is usually founded in a very shallow foundation and thus crumbles when tested (really tested).

Now we have reached the end of another chapter in John. This is really a part of our study in Matthew, but we have been putting together a picture of the attitudes that existed in Jesus' time.

At every major change of dispensations there is a notable attitude throughout society. In Noah's time the world scoffed at God and Noah's teaching. In Jesus' time, the general public scoffed at Him. There will be one more change in the future and that will be the change that will occur at the Rapture when all believers in the world will be removed leaving a huge population of unbelievers on planet earth.

It is reasonable to assume that when that occurs, that the general population of the world will have an attitude of indifference toward Jesus Christ. People with that kind of attitude (as unbelievers) have, more or less, an attitude that they do not need God, or they have found something better than God in their lives. So God will let them have their wish - a world without God.

Personally, I do not think that, that time has arrived. Although there is a growing trend of liberal thought in the world as well as ludicrous ideas concerning the Bible (whether there are secret codes or not) and concerning Jesus (whether He was married with children or not) and so forth. Silly as these ideas are they do not mean that mankind has totally left common sense behind him, but they are the foundation for furthering false ideas to a future generation which could drift further away from God because they do not have truth with which to judge life by.

Peter grew up in an apostate era. He had the knowledge, enough to believe in the Savior, but he missed the point of the Cross entirely. Imagine what future generations will think if they are not taught Bible doctrine in its correct context. This is why it is very important to teach the Bible to our children and to others who will pass their spiritual wisdom on to their kids and so forth.

Peter was confused and emotional, and when the bad stuff hits the fan this night of Passover, Peter will be unprepared for the events that follow. He will deny Jesus three times as Jesus tells him, then he will hear a rooster crow, and that will eventually reinforce his faith very subtly, but at the moment he will be very sorrowful (feelings of guilt), not for Christ, but for himself.

So we all have warnings in our life. We can press forward in our spiritual studies and come out winners in life, or we can stay in the fog of what we wish for (sweetness and light and no confrontations) and consequently miss out on a great life and an even greater eternity.
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