JOHX
944
JOHN
breast (John xiii, 23). To liim the eager Peter-they hail been sent together to prepare the supper (Luke xxu, 8)— makes signs of impatient questioning that he should ask what was not likely to be answered if it came from anv other (John xiii, 24). As they go out to the Mount of "olives the chosen three are nearest to their Master. They only are vrithin sight or hearing of the conflict in Gethseraane (Matt, xxvi, 37). Wlien the betrayal is accomplished, Peter and John, after the first moment of confusion, follow afar off, while the others simply seek safety in a hasty flight (John xviii, 15). The personal acquaintance which existed between John and Caiaphas enabled him to gain access both for himself and Peter, but the latter remains in tlie jiorch, witii the officers and servants, while John himself apparently is admitted to the council-chamber, and follows Jesus thence, even to the pra2torium of the Koraan procurator (John xviii, 1 0, 19, 28). Thence, as if the desire to see the end, and tlie love which was stronger than dealli, sustained him through all the terrors and sorrows of iliat day, he fol- lowed—accompanied probably by his own mother, Mary the mother of Jesus, and JNIary Magdalene— to the place of crucilixion. The teacher who had been to him as a brother leaves to him a brother's duty. He is to be as a son to the mother who is left desolate (John xix, 2G- 27). The Sabbath that followed was spent, it would appear, in the same company. He receives Peter, in spite of his denial, on the old terms of friendship. It is to them that Mary jVtagdalcne first runs witli the tidings of the emptied sepulchre (John xx, 2) ; they are the first to go together to see what the strange words meant. Not without some bearing on their respective characters is the fact that John is the most impetuous, running on most eagerly to the rock-tomb: Peter, the least restrain- ed by awe, the first to enter in.and look (John xx, 4-6). For at least eight days they continued in Jerusalem (John XX, 2G). Then, in the interval between the res- urrection and the ascension, we find them still together on the Sea of Galilee (.John xxi, 1), as though they would calm the eager suspense of that period of expec- tation by a return to their old calling and their old fa- miliar haunts. Here, too, there is a characteristic dif- ference. John is the first to recognise in the dim form seen in the morning twilight the presence of his risen Lord; Peter the first to plunge into the water and swim towanls the shore where he stood calling to them (John xxi, 7). The last words of the Gospel reveal to us the deep affection which united the two friends. It is not enough for Peter to know his own future. That at once suggests the question— "And what sliall this man do?" (John xxi, 21). The history of the Acts shows the same union. They are of course together at the ascen- sion and on the day of Pentecost. Together they enter the Temjjle as worshijipers (Acts iii, 1), and protest against the threats of the Sanhedrim (iv, IB). They are fellow-workers in the first great step of the Churches expansion. The a]K)stle whose wrath had been roused by the unbelief of tlic Samaritans overcomes his nation- al exclusivcness, and receives them as his brethren (viii, 14). The i)ersecution which was pushed on by Saul of Tarsus did not drive him or any of the apostles from their post (viii, 1). When the persecutor came back as the convert, he, it is true, did not see him (Gal. i, 19), but this, of course, tloes not involve the inference that he ha(l left .lerusalom. The shari)er though shorter perse- cution which followed under Herod Agrippa brought a great sorrow to him in the martyrdom of his brother (Acts xii, 2). His friend was driven to seek safety in flight. Fifteen years after Paul's first visit he was stiU at Jerusalem, and helped to take part in the great set- tlement of the controversy between the Jewish and the Gentile Christians (Acts xv, C). His position and rep- utation tlierc were those of one ranking among the ciiief " piUars" of the Church ((ial. ii, 9). Of the work of the apostle during this period we have hardlv the sliithtcst trace. There may have been special calls to mission- work like that which drew him to Samaria. There