The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 500

II. 'fnl!l LORD DETERMINER THE MANNER OJ' PmEB'e DEATH. It wa~ to b~ <\ death of violence. He was to become a. me.rtyr of the Christian faith. "When th011 wast young "-Peter WBI! now a. middle-aged ma.n-" thou girdedst thyself"-posse~sirw ruu liberty of life-" a.nd we.lkedst whHher thou wouldest "-with fu II freedom ot' move~ mont-" but when thou she.It be old, thou sh11lt stretch forth thy hands "-ae helpless e.nd in the power of others-" and another shall gird thee "-as a condemned criminal- " and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." A violent death, as being unnatural, is shrunk from. But these words are to be regarded solely from the standpoint of natural feeling. 1. The apostle '11111,derstood the ea:act natwre of this prediction, as we know by his own words, "Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Loni Jesus Obrist hath showed me" (2 Pet, i.14). 2. The death of the apostle was to redou1,d to the glory of God. "Thie spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God." 'fhe martyrs glorify God (1) by their readiness to sacrifice their lives for the sake of God; (2) by their patience and resignation in death; (3) by the evidence afforded in their deaths of the sustaining and comforting presence of the Lord. 3. The martyrdmn of Peter took place in the year A,D. 64. It was, therefore, now a past event which the evangelist records. III. PETER'e DUTY HENOEFOBTH IN LIFE. "Follow me." 1. It was a solemn thought to the apostle to know the destined end of his apostolic labours. 2. This knowledge wo1Jld intensify his eager zeal to work without pause during the term of life that remained to him. 3. The command to follow Christ implied (1) that Peter should cast in his lot with Christ, and make common cause with him; (2) that he should learn his will and do hie comma.tide ; (3) that he should walk in the footsteps of his holy life. Vere. 20-23.-The mystery of John's future, The Apostle Peter began to follow Jesus as he went forth, and, turning round, saw John following. He is an.x;oW1 to know the future destiny of hie fellow-disciple. I. PETER'B QUESTION CONOEBNING JoHN. "Lord, ~d what shall this man do?" or, literally, "Lord, and this man I what?" 1. Consider the motive of this question. (1) It was not prompted by mere curiosity; (2) nor, as some unworthily suppose, by a feeling of rising jealousy, as if the Lord had reserved for John a happier destiny ar;.d a more peaceful end than that predicted for Peter himself. (3) It was prompted by the purest love to a disciple from whom Peter did not desire to be separated in life or in death. (a) They were two apostles most intimately linked together in the associa- tions of our Lord's ministry. They were two of the three honoured with the more intimate confidence of our Lord-apart with him (11) in the holllle of Jairus; (/J) in the Mount of Transfiguration; (-y) in the garden of Gethsemane. (b) Their very variety of gifts and temperament tended to cement the relationship more closely together. The one wae the man of reflection ; the other, of action. 2. Consider the meaning of this question. "Lord, and what shall this man do?" Is he destined to suffer and die like me ? Or is he destined to a still longer life and a more peaceful and natural death? II. OoB LoBD'e ANSWER TO THE QUESTION. "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" 1. The answer assumes a certain tone of rebuke, as if Peter's question lay somewhat outside the sphere of his own direct concernment and duty. 2. It implies that the Lord exercises a Divine sovereignty over the lives and over the deaths of his servants. The Lord can make his servants "tarry" in the world as long as it pleases him. 3. It implies that his servants ought to tarry till the Lord comes. The words, the~ef~re, rebuke (1) the madues~ of the wretched s~cide wb~ is in baste to fling away his life; (2) and the eager longmg f?r death, s~metimes mamfested even by God's saints, who are weary of the troubles of life and aruuoWI for the rest of heaven. They ought, rather, to work on till the Lord comes, and to accept either death or life, after Paul's manner, as either may seem best to the Lord himself or best for the good of the Uhurch (Phil. i. 24). 4. The answer of our Lord implies that each disciple has a distinct position in the world. "What is that to thee? follow thou me." (1) It asserts each man's individuality. Each man has (a) hie more separate sphere of responsibility; (b) his eep~ate cares; (~) hie separate destiny. (2) Therefore each man must look primarily to himself and his own duty. (a) Our Lord does not censure the regard of social relations; (b) but the neglect of individual concern, the dispositioa  516 THE GOSPEL AOOORDING TO BT. JOHN, [oa. :n:r. 1-26,