What About Me?

“If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”

“Yet while all this was clear to His prescient eye, Jesus did not condescend to give any explanations concerning the appointed lot of the beloved disciple, but allowed Peter to think what he pleased about the future of his friend. ‘If I will,’ He said, ‘that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?’ not meaning to give any information, as contemporary believers imagined, but rather refusing to give any in the bluntest and most peremptory manner. ‘Suppose’- such is the import of the words- ‘Suppose it were my pleasure that John should remain on the earth till I return to it, what is that to thee?’ Suppose I were to grant him to sit on my right hand in my Messianic kingdom, what, I ask again, is that to thee? Suppose John were not to taste of death, but, surviving till my second advent, were, like another Elijah, to be wafted directly into heaven, or to be endowed in his body with the power of an endless life, still what is that to thee? Follow thou me.’” The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pp. 527.

This trait of man is inherent to all of us. We are at one time or another concerned about everyone else except our own selves. We concern ourselves about what else will happen with someone else, as if they had a better chance to be more successful. It comes from our old nature and Jesus knew it well enough to rebuke Peter once again. Jesus knows our old nature; he identified and was tempted by it while He was here on earth and later died for it. Even Satan himself tried it on Jesus in the wilderness. He appealed to his ego by desire for things and power. Aren’t you glad He won that battle?

In the story, Jesus called Peter to follow him after having breakfast. Peter already heard soul searching words earlier when Jesus said, ““Do you love Me?” “Tend My sheep.” Peter probably was thinking he would be the next man in charge and was being groomed for the task ahead so it required some alone time with Jesus. Just a meeting for the upper echelon! But it wasn’t so. After following Jesus away from the breakfast area, Peter turned and saw John following close behind, so Peter asked Jesus the question, “Lord, and what about this man?” as if he had to check if John was allowed to attend. Jesus responded again which caused Peter grief for speaking once again before thinking, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”

You see, we live in a society which is always concerned about what we can get. We live in a hustle and bustle society that determines our net worth. It comes in many forms; power, prestige, play-toys, and plain cold cash. If we don’t have the best or our thoughts are about the best, somehow we aren’t of any value. The problem is each of us is all the same. We all came into this world the same way and will exit it the same way. But somehow along the way someone has told us we have to have everything to be happy and this comes through our fallen nature. Satan in the Garden of Eden appealed to Adam and Eve through their desire to have everything, including the knowledge of everything; to be like God. Today we want all the things we can get, mostly material in nature as if they won’t perish over time. They are temporaries subject to time and aging. Peter didn’t have all the big temptations we have today, but he desired one thing, to be important; but he already was in Jesus eyes, just like John.

We are all valued in our lives by Jesus. Let’s face it; He died for us, each of us! So the next time you think you have to have the next thing to make you feel important or valued, remember that your Savior sees you as His prize! So what should we do in the meantime? Jesus sums this question with a resounding answer of “Follow Me.”