Jesus Predicts Peter’S Denial
JESUS PREDICTS PETER’S DENIAL
JOHN 13:31-38
Peter was no doubt sincere in what he said, but Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves.
When the Greeks had asked to see him, Jesus had said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (12:23), and his soul had been troubled as he considered what the “hour” would mean (12:27). At the supper he is troubled again (13:21) as he contemplates the betrayal, and when the traitor has gone out into the night he repeats in similar terms, “Now is the Son of Man glorified” (13:31). Each step that brings death nearer brings glory nearer also, for there is glory even in his death. What is glory for the Son of Man is glory also for God, for it is the final result of perfect obedience to his will.
Jesus now speaks, as he will do frequently in this discourse, of the fact that he must leave the disciples very soon and go to a sphere of existence which they will not be able to penetrate. If he is to be absent in body his presence may still be known in their midst. It will be demonstrated clearly to all men by the new Christian virtue of love. This was a love that was to spring out of his love for them (13:1,15,35).
Peter inevitably wishes to know where Jesus is going and to follow him even if it means laying down his life. Fine words and sincerely meant. But he does not know what lies ahead and Jesus, with sounder knowledge of coming events and of human nature, has to tell him sadly that he will deny him three times before morning.
Notes 13:33: “little children”—this is the only time this word is used in the Gospel, though it is used seven times in 1 John. A similar word is found in 21:5. “A little while”—cf. 14:19; 16:16-19. “As I said to the Jews”—see 7:33f.; 8:21. 13:34: “a new commandment.” This was not new in the sense that it had never been commanded previously, for the Law had told them to love their neighbors as themselves (Leviticus 19:18). It was new in the sense that the love of God had been demonstrated by the sending of his Son (3:16) who had himself loved them right to the end (13:1). Their mutual love was to be a reflection of that, which gave it a new dynamic. 13:38: Peter’s failure to submit patiently to Christ and obey him, shown already in his attitude to the foot-washing, will have shameful consequences. So does ours!