Simon
Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you can’t follow now, but you will follow afterwards.”
John 13:36
John 13 [31.] When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him immediately. Little children, I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come,’ so now I tell you. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13 [36.] Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you can’t follow now, but you will follow afterwards.”
John 13 [37.] Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
Meaning:
Jesus had just given his disciples the new commandment to love one another (John 13:34-35). But Peter’s mind was still on something Jesus had said a moment earlier: “Where I am going, you can’t come” (John 13:33). Peter could not let that pass, and his question leads to a promise about his own future.
- “Lord, where are you going?”
Peter’s question shows both his love and his confusion. He did not want to be separated from Jesus, and he did not yet understand that Jesus was speaking of his death, resurrection and return to the Father. Thomas would soon ask the same thing in another way: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (John 14:5). The disciples were still thinking of a journey on earth, while Jesus was speaking of the cross and the Father’s house.
- “Where I am going, you can’t follow now”
Jesus was going where no one else could go with him. Only he could bear the sins of the world on the cross, and only he could open the way to the Father. Peter was not yet ready either. In the next breath he would claim, “I will lay down my life for you,” and Jesus would answer that before the rooster crowed Peter would deny him three times (John 13:37-38). Mark and Luke record the same exchange (Mark 14:29; Luke 22:31-32). Peter’s courage was sincere but still rested on his own strength.
- “But you will follow afterwards”
This is a word of grace. Jesus did not reject Peter; he promised that the separation was only for a time. In one sense every disciple will follow Jesus into the Father’s presence, for he goes to prepare a place and will come again for them (John 14:2). But Jesus’ words also pointed to Peter’s own path. After the resurrection Jesus told him, “when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you, and carry you where you don’t want to go.” John explains, “Now he said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God,” and Jesus added, “Follow me” (John 21:19). The man who failed on the night of the arrest would later follow his Lord faithfully, even to death. Near the end of his life Peter wrote that “the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me” (2 Peter 1:14).
The Significance of John 13:36
- Jesus walks the way alone, then leads us
Jesus’ path to the cross was one only he could take. Because he went first, those who belong to him can follow, knowing the way has been opened.
- Patience with weak disciples
Jesus knew Peter would fail, yet he still promised that Peter would follow him. Our Lord’s patience with Peter gives hope to every believer who has fallen short.
Cross-References:
John 21:19: "Now he said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God." Peter later followed Jesus to death.
John 12:26: "If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there will my servant also be." The promise to those who follow.
2 Peter 1:14: "the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me." Peter remembers Jesus' words.
Conclusion: When Peter asked where Jesus was going, Jesus told him that he could not follow now but would follow afterwards. Jesus had to walk the way of the cross alone, and Peter was not yet ready. Yet Jesus promised that Peter would one day follow him, a promise fulfilled in Peter’s restoration, his faithful service, and his death for his Lord.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible