John 13:36 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, we see Peter’s curiosity and the correction Jesus gave him. Peter’s question was bold and direct: “Lord, where are you going?” He was referring to what Jesus had just said, “Where I am going, you cannot come” (John 13:33). Peter ignored the practical teaching Jesus had just given about brotherly love, and instead asked about what Jesus had intentionally left unclear.

This is a common human weakness. We are often more eager to know secret things that belong to God alone than to obey the things He has clearly shown us. We want curiosity satisfied more than conscience guided. We want to know what is happening in heaven, instead of what we should do to get there.

Jesus answered Peter in a way that taught him, without giving him the full details he wanted. He did not describe the place He was going, and He never spoke as clearly about His glory and joy as He did about His suffering. He simply repeated what He had already said: “You cannot follow me now, but you will follow me later” (John 13:36).

This can mean Peter could not follow Jesus to the cross yet. He did not have enough strength of faith and courage to drink that cup. His weakness showed itself later, when Christ was suffering and Peter became fearful. For that reason, when Jesus was arrested, He provided for the safety of His disciples and said, “Let these go” because they could not follow Him then. Jesus knows the condition of His followers and does not assign them work and hardship for which they are not ready. The day is matched to the strength.

Peter was indeed meant for martyrdom, but not at that time. He could not follow Christ now because he had not yet come to full maturity. But he would follow later, and in the end he would be crucified like his Master. He should not think that because he escaped suffering once, he would never suffer. If we miss the cross at one time, we should not assume we will never meet it again. We may be kept for greater trials than any we have known so far.

These words can also point to following Christ to glory. Jesus was going to His own glory, and Peter was eager to go with Him. But Christ was saying, in effect, “You cannot follow me now. You are not yet ready for heaven, and your work on earth is not finished. The forerunner, the one who goes ahead to prepare the place, must enter first. Then you will follow after you have fought the good fight, at the time appointed.” Believers should not expect to be glorified as soon as they are truly called. There is a wilderness between the Red Sea and Canaan.

We then see Peter’s confidence and the correction given to that as well. Peter made a bold promise of loyalty. He was not content to be left behind, so he asked, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? Do you doubt my sincerity and courage? I will lay down my life for your sake.” Some think Peter imagined that Jesus was speaking of a journey to some distant place. But since he had heard his Master speak so often of suffering, he could hardly have understood Him any other way than as going away by death. Like Thomas, he seems ready to die with Christ, and he would rather die with Him than live without Him.

We should notice Peter’s real affection for the Lord Jesus. “I will lay down my life for your sake” was more than empty words, even if Peter spoke without enough thought. He loved Christ deeply. Christ should be dearer to us than our own lives, and when He calls us, we should be willing to lay down our lives for His sake (Acts 20:24).

We also see how hard Peter took the idea that his sincerity was being questioned. His words, “Lord, why can I not follow you now?” show that he felt hurt by the suggestion that he might fail. True love does not like to hear its honesty challenged. Jesus had said that one of them was a devil, but that man had already been exposed and gone out. So Peter may have felt even more certain of his own sincerity. Yet he was still too confident, saying in effect, “Lord, I am resolved never to leave you, and so why can I not follow you?”

We are often ready to think we can do anything. We also dislike being told that we cannot do this or that. But apart from Christ, we can do nothing.

Jesus then gave Peter a surprising prediction of his failure. Christ knows us better than we know ourselves. He has many ways of uncovering hidden pride in the people He loves and humbling it. He first pressed Peter’s confidence: “Will you lay down your life for my sake?” It is as if Jesus gently exposed how large Peter’s promise was. Peter had not considered how hard it is to die, or how much struggle it takes to give up life. It is easier said than done.

Jesus was not trying to make Peter abandon his resolve, but to make him add the needed condition, “Lord, if your grace strengthens me, I will lay down my life for your sake.” Jesus was saying, “Will you undertake to die for me? You who trembled to walk on the water to me? You who once cried out, ‘Far be it from you, Lord,’ when suffering was mentioned? It was easy to leave your boats and nets to follow me, but not so easy to die for me.” Even Christ Himself wrestled when His own suffering came, and the disciple is not greater than his Lord. It is good for us to shame ourselves out of proud confidence in ourselves. Can a bruised reed stand as a pillar, or a weak child take up the role of a champion? How foolish it is to speak so boldly.

Jesus then plainly foretold Peter’s cowardice at the critical moment. To stop his boasting, Christ said with certainty, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times” (John 13:38). He does not mention, as He does later, “this night,” because it seems this was two nights before the Passover. But He means that very soon Peter will deny Him three times, all within the space of one night. In fact, it would happen in so short a time that it would take place between the first and last crowing of the rooster.

The rooster is mentioned for two reasons. First, it shows that Peter would fail in the night, which made the prediction even more striking, since such a thing seemed unlikely. Christ’s foreknowledge was exact and certain. Second, the rooster’s crowing would later become the means of Peter’s repentance, which it would not have been by itself unless Christ had included it in the warning.

Christ saw ahead of time that Judas would betray him, even though Judas had only formed that plan in his heart. He also saw that Peter would deny him, even though Peter meant the opposite and did not intend to fail. Christ knows not only the evil in sinners, but also the weakness in his people.

Christ told Peter, first, that he would deny him, renounce him, and refuse to own him. In other words, Peter would do more than stop following Christ for a moment. He would even be ashamed to admit that he had ever followed him. Second, Christ said Peter would not do this just once in a quick, careless slip. He would deny him after pausing, and then repeat it a second and third time. And that is exactly what happened.

People often say that Scripture’s prophecies are sometimes spoken in dark or figurative language because if they were too plain, people might try to stop them from happening, or else they would seem forced by fate in a way that would conflict with human freedom. But this clear and direct prophecy about Peter did neither. It did not prevent Peter’s denial, and it did not make Christ responsible for Peter’s sin.

We can only imagine how deeply this must have shaken Peter’s confidence in himself. It must have been hard to hear that warning, and even harder to hear it in a way he could not safely deny. If he had tried, he might have answered as Hazael, a man in Scripture who was shocked at the thought of doing such evil, “What, is your servant a dog?” This warning would have filled Peter with shame and confusion.

The lesson is clear: people who feel safest are often in the greatest danger. Those who trust most in their own strength often show the deepest weakness when they fall, as Paul warns in (1 Corinthians 10:12).