Preparing to Depart

When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.  If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! John 13:31-38

And it was night. (John 13:30). Jesus’ hour had come. The powers of darkness were gathering to engulf Him. Judas had been dismissed. Now, Jesus was alone with the eleven who believed and loved Him. Only now, after all those years of ministry together, Jesus began to teach them about the Church age. This was private family time.

Now came the time for His glorification, with His Father, through the atonement of the cross. That event was rapidly approaching, and Jesus was already feeling the oppression of it. He knew exactly what was coming. He was preparing the disciples (“My children”) for His departure. He inwardly grieved for their fear and confusion as they endured the horrors they would soon see happen to Him. It would only be a little while. He was going where they could not come.

Here’s what to do, children, throughout the coming calamity and all you will experience as My Church: Love one another. As Jesus loved us. That’s completely. Unconditionally. Not because we are lovable, but because He IS love, and we are His. Christ loves from the source of His own essence; because of Who He is. We love from the source of our position IN CHRIST; because of Whose we are. We love our Christian brethren because they, too, are IN CHRIST. They, and we, share His destiny. We are strangers and pilgrims in the world. The world hates us, but because of our shared faith in the unique Son of God, we understand and support each other. And just in case we don’t have the divine perspective to see that for ourselves, we have been given this command: “Love one another.” Christian love is not an emotion. Love is a decision that we make. I Corinthians 13:4-8:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

Peter demanded to know where Jesus was going. After being told again that he could not go there yet, he said assuredly that he was ready to lay down his life for Jesus.

We know he meant it. Jesus knew he meant it. But Peter was a mere man. He couldn’t know what he was vowing to endure, and had not yet even comprehended what Jesus was telling them about His upcoming ordeal. Peter was emotionally “all in” as the saying goes, but the key word is emotional, and that characteristic was about to work against him, as he would face the shocking events just hours later that would take his Master to the cross. As a boisterous fisherman who had survived in the world by bluster and bluff, his instinct in crisis would be to “lay low” until the smoke cleared and he could assess the damage.

Jesus’ omniscience saw it coming, but Peter didn’t, and even Jesus’ warning to him didn’t penetrate his confidence at the time. Only later would he remember these words, with shame.