WHAT SHALL THIS MAN DO?

WHAT SHALL THIS MAN DO?

John 21:18-22

18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

The commentaries available to me shed very little light on verses 21 and 22, although they ignore the meaning with several paragraphs of flowery language. We are left to muse for ourselves and join the ranks of the uncertain. Undaunted, we press ahead because the Bible itself gives us some clues.

Peter was bathed in the hot glow of rebuke!

The verses just preceding these tell us of Peter’s uncomfortable encounter with the Jesus. He had denied three times. He must have felt foolish as Jesus asked him three times if he was now of the same opinion as before when Peter said “I will die for you!” Jesus simply asks Peter if he truly loved him. Does that love still remain? He asked him three times and then restored him to his calling. “Feed my sheep!”

Peter was told the way he should die!

Eusebius, Prudentius, Chrysostom, and Augustine all write that 34 years later Peter would be crucified and that Peter chose to be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to be crucified in the same posture as our Lord.

But Peter still was evaluating his worth by comparing himself to others!

“Lord, what shall this man do?” John, who is the writer here, refers to himself in a distant and detached manner. He explains that “this man” was the beloved disciple who leaned on Jesus’ breast at supper. Peter, like many of us, wanted to know if he would rise to the level of others. The real question is: “Will my contribution be as important or as well applauded as this man?” Jesus answered Peter like He would answer us all by saying, “That is none of your business!” Your path is a personal one.

It is foolish to boast of God’s blessings upon our work as if they were a result of our superior character, effort or talents!

When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost some three thousand were saved and baptized. When Stephen preached he was stoned to death. What can we conclude from this? Very little! The same Holy Spirit that empowered Peter in his preaching was working in Stephen when he preached. The results were dramatically different. I believe the Master was happy with both of them.

We all want Jesus to say “well done!”

I believe every Christian servant wants to hear those words. There is also a great temptation to want to hear those same words from our peers. We want the praise of other men. We want to be known as one uniquely blessed of God or uniquely talented in some area. It’s a very wrong kind of pride and God hates pride. If we could have been there on that day I think Jesus’ words to Peter would have thundered. “What is that to thee? follow thou me.”

Dear Lord! Deliver me from being a prideful man-pleaser. Help me to be faithful to my own personal calling. AMEN