The Lord deals with us all the time. He wants us to be more aware of the
plans He has for us to give us a hope and a future. The Lord will deal with us
as an individual and He will also deal with us corporately. In verse 18, Jesus
turned to Peter to reveal what would ultimately happen to him. John tells us
that He was showing by what death he was to glorify God. Peter’s ministry would
be more than teaching and shepherding the flock of God. It would involve pain,
suffering and death. History bears these facts.
The Gospel of John was written after Peter’s death, hence here John
hinted that he knew the kind of death Peter received. The church historian,
Eusebius said that Peter went to Rome near the end of his life. He was
imprisoned and was bound and led out to a place to be crucified. Feeling
unworthy to die in the same manner as His Lord was crucified, he requested to
be crucified upside down.
Here Jesus was indicating to Peter that he would have to be sacrificed in
the work that He had called him to do, whether in preaching and teaching His
Word or shepherding the flock. The world will not easily welcome the truth of
unseen realities. In fact the world is hostile to them. Yet we cannot deny that
spiritual unseen truths are as real as physical realities. Because human nature
wants everything to be seen and touchable before they will accept them, the
message of Christ that requires faith in the unseen will be resisted. This is
why sacrifice has to be made to propagate the truth of the Gospel. The work of
Christ does demand that we give up our comfortable lifestyle and at times to live
under trying circumstances. Yet it is a privilege to bear and make known the
Word of God, even if it means enduring hardship. Peter realized that in
experience and he laid down his life for the sake of Christ and the Gospel.
When Peter
saw John, he asked the Lord concerning John’s outcome. John, as we know, was
the one who laid on the bosom of Jesus at the last supper in the Upper Room. Peter
goaded him to check with Jesus concerning who His betrayer would be. Since the
Lord had made known Peter’s outcome, he wanted also to know what would be
John’s outcome. We must realize that the Lord has a particular track charted
out for each one of us. It may be different from the other. And it calls for
individual accountability. There are also times that God will deal with us as a
body and we need to discern those situations as well. We are all accountable to
God both as an individual and as a corporate body. There is individual
responsibility and also corporate responsibility.
The response Jesus gave to Peter sounded abrupt. That’s because He
detected a spirit of rivalry here. The Lord wants us to work in collaboration
with fellow believers. The call is to identify each other’s strength and
weakness. It will enable us to either supplement others lack or complement
other’s strength. We are not called to compete with but to complete each other.
Jesus told Peter, “If I want him (John) to
remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow
Me!” The words of Jesus here were misinterpreted. So words went out that
John would not die until the Lord returns. But this was not what the Lord
meant. A careful examination of Jesus’ response will tell us that He was addressing
Peter and telling him to stay focused on his own role. He wanted him to follow
Him in the path He had charted for him. Like His instruction to Peter, we must
also not eye the calling of other’s as it will create jealousy and rivalry and
destroy our effectiveness. So we need to be discerning. He will deal with us on
a personal basis and He will also deal with us as a family. Let us be blooming
where we are planted.
No comments:
Post a Comment