John 13:36-38 “Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. 37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. 38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.”
Much like a little child (John 13:33) would respond, “Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou?”; Peter honestly didn’t understand, and he was so shocked by the news that the Lord was going away, that he seemed (for the present) to overlook the Lord’s illustration and teaching concerning brotherly love. So, like a loving father would answer his confused child, “Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.”; Peter didn’t get the point, but the Lord was telling him that after he had lived on for a while, his body would die, but he would be with him “in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Again, like a child, “Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now?”, Peter was genuinely and deeply hurting at the thought of not being with His Lord, it sort of makes you want to put your arms around Peter and hold him to comfort him. “Peter” then testifies of his sincere love and commitment for his Lord, he tells Him, “I will lay down my life for thy sake.”. It is easy to make such a commitment when we are not in the heat of a threat, but when our very lives are threatened, our courage is greatly challenged. The Lord told him, “Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.”; that is, before daylight in the morning, things will have gotten so bad that you will have “denied me thrice”! I’m sure that “Peter” didn’t understand that either, but like the rest of the Apostles and us, he would soon learn that his human courage and strength would fail him, but “they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31) and “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalms 27:14). After His Resurrection, the Lord told His Disciples that they were to wait right where they were, and “ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8); and He did exactly that ten days later on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1); then they understood! Like the Apostles, neither can we understand without the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts!