verted ; he is ready for the Tiberias “ Follow Me.” He has been sifted, he has come to the end o f him self. The crowing o f the cock on the night of his denial really marked in more ways than one the beginning o f a new day. There is an interesting little postscript. Peter saw John also following and asked, “Lord, and what shall this man do?” Jesus answered, “ I f I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me.” It is easy to become too occupied with what happens to other disciples. Our business is not the future of John but the following of Jesus. Peter’s concern was not evil but we must beware of being sidetracked by secondary con siderations. Worrying about John may make us lose sight of Jesus. “ Follow me yourself” is what our Lord said. It is easy to wonder about this preacher and that movement and burn up a lot of time and energy talking about John. It is easy now to understand why Peter was not ready when he asked, “Why cannot I follow Thee now?” Until he reached Tiberias, almost everything he said was a mistake: “We have left all and followed thee; what shall we have there fore?” “Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee” ; “The crowd press thee and sayest thou, Who touched me?” ; “ Though all men deny thee, yet will not I” ; “ Thou shalt never wash my feet.” No wonder we read, “ Peter said . . . not knowing what he said” (Luke 9:33). What made the difference? He had come to the end of his boastful self-sufficiency, broken in re pentance, not bragging any more o f his willing ness to die, but now humbly allowing his Lord to do the talking. But something else tells us the secret of his new power. We read that Jesus breathed on them and said unto them, “ Receive ye the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). And then came Pentecost and Simon becomes truly Péter, the Rock. Not that he was perfect because he still made mistakes as at Antioch. But at Galilee he forsook his nets and boat; at Tiberias he forsook himself. Are you a Galilean disciple following “ straight way” in your own strength? You ask, “Why cannot I follow Thee now?” you are not ready. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” You will sleep in the garden. You will follow afar off. You will warm by the enemy’s fire, where most of our church-members can always be found. No wonder you soon deny your Lord. You must come to the Afterwards, you must be sifted and con verted. Then you will meet the Lord afresh and He will breathe His Spirit upon you and bid you follow Him again not in boasted self-sacrifice but in crucifixion with Him. Tiberias disciples are few and far between. It is so much easier to leave nets and boats than to deny oneself. But that is the price of the last “ Follow Me.” I E 13
any man sin, we have an advocate with the Fa ther, Jesus Christ the righteous.” We may fall into Satan’s hands for testing as did Job and Peter but within God’s permissive will the devil can go only so far. Even then he may defeat his own purpose. In Peter’s case, Satan wanted to winnow out the wheat but our Lord over-ruled so that instead he winnowed out the chaff and left the wheat. Peter was purged of his pride, brought to bitter repentance and converted, turned from his own self-sufficiency. His faith was eclipsed— indeed such is the meaning of “ fail” here—but not extinct. Peter failed his Lord but the Lord did not for get Peter. After the resurrection, the angel said to the women at the empty tomb, “Go tell his dis ciples AND PETER, He goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see Him, as He said unto you.” This is peculiar to Mark and if Peter sup plied Mark with material, how touching! Far from forgetting the wayward disciple, Jesus singled him out. Then followed a private meeting with Peter (Luke 24:34; I Cor. 15:5). We do not know what took place but evidently Peter was made ready for Tiberias. So we arrive finally at that blessed inter view at the end o f a long trail. The risen Lord addresses His disciple as “ Simon, son o f Jonas.” Nothing is said about Peter, the rock. All Bible students know how our Lord asked, “Lovest thou me?” using the word for Divine love. Peter, broken and undone, cannot rise to that lofty term but can profess only a humbler affection. The third time— three questions for three denials—Jesus uses Pet er’s own word and cuts him to the heart. Along with the three questions come three commands, “ Feed my lambs, Tend my sheep, Feed my sheep.” It amounts to the same thing our Lord had said long before, “ Strengthen thy brethren” for now Peter is converted. Only the man who has come to the “ afterwards” and has been turned from self to the Saviour can strengthen the brethren and feed the sheep. Then follows a statement that reminds us of earlier conversations. Heretofore when our Lord spoke o f His own crucifixion, Peter always stum bled over it. He stumbled right after his historic confession and at the Last Supper. Now our Lord speaks of Peter’s own crucifixion that lay ahead. “ Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, FOLLOW ME.” You will observe that Peter makes no bold claims this time. He who had confidently said, “ I will lay down my life for thee” lets the Lord say it now. Now he has reached the “ afterwards” ; he is con- SEPTEMBER, 1968
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