JOHN 13.36-38: Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” (37) Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” (38) Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.” (ESV)
The record in the Bible of people accomplishing God’s will in a way that honored Him shows that these people trusted in God to be the One to enable them to actually do the task. They trusted God more than they trusted themselves. David facing Goliath is perhaps the best known event in the Bible of a person trusting God. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews lists many examples of people who were obedient to God by means of their faith in God.
Peter likewise had experiences of obeying the instructions of Jesus and the success that accompanied trusting Him. Jesus had demonstrated His power to the disciples and also put some of His authority upon them. Jesus commissioned the disciples to go on missionary type journeys and they experienced God’s miracles. Peter did walk on the water with Jesus. And it also appears from what Jesus said to Peter after he made his great confession of, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”, recorded in Matthew 16.16, that Peter had become the leader of the disciples.
So I believe that by this time, Peter was a confident man. And rightfully so. He was an extraordinary man. But his confidence in himself at this moment and what he thought he could accomplish by his own power, went over the line. I believe Peter had become so self confident that it flowed unwittingly out of his mouth.
In the verses above, Jesus did not want to tell Peter the details of what was getting ready to happen. This was for Peter’s own emotional protection. The horror of Jesus’ suffering at the hands of Roman soldiers, and His crucifixion would be too horrible to know about at that moment.
But Peter persisted and made a bold statement that he was willing to die for Jesus. At that moment in time, this was not God’s plan for Peter. Here in the upper room, I believe Peter was not acting in faith inspired by God, but rather his own self confidence. But this interchange and Peter’s denial of Christ would not be the end of the story. Peter would glorify Jesus in death at the time appointed for him in the future.