<p>13:37 <i>Peter said to him: Lord, why cannot I follow you even now? I will lay down my life for you</i>- Peter understood where the Lord was going as meaning 'to His death'. But the Lord had in view the intense spiritual intercourse with the Father and mutual glorification which would arise from that death (see on :32 and :33). His death was far more than death <i>per se, </i>it was a profound glorification of the Father. Peter's loyalty and desire to physically die <i>f</i>or the Lord is commendable, but the record shows that he was rather missing the point and spiritual perspective of the Lord's death. When he says &ldquo;Though I should / must die with you&rdquo; (Mt. 26:35), he uses the word elsewhere translated &ldquo;must&rdquo; in connection with Lord&rsquo;s foreknowledge that He must suffer the death of the cross. Peter knew that he must share the cross- but the flesh was weak. When it became apparent that the Lord was going to actually die, he asked: &ldquo;Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake&rdquo; (Jn. 13:37). He saw the connection between following and laying down life in death. He had heard the Lord saying that He would lay down His life for them (Jn. 10:15,17). And Peter thought he could do just the same for his Lord- but not, it didn&rsquo;t occur to him, for his brethren. He didn&rsquo;t then appreciate the weight or extent of the cross of Christ. The Lord replied that he was not yet able to do that, he would deny Him rather than follow Him, but one day he would be strong enough, and then he would follow Him to the end (Jn. 13:36,37). Peter thought he was strong enough then; for he followed (s.w.) Christ afar off, to the High Priest&rsquo;s house (Mt. 26:58). But in ineffable self-hatred he came to see that the Lord&rsquo;s prediction was right.</p><p>Just before His death, the Saviour spoke of going to the Father, and coming again in resurrection (Jn. 13:36,37 cp. 14:28; 16:16,17; 17:11). He somehow saw the cross as a being with God, a going to Him there (&lsquo;going to the Father&rsquo; in these Johannine passages is hard to apply to His ascent to Heaven after the resurrection). When in this context He speaks of <i>us</i> coming to the Father, He refers to our taking up of His cross, and in this coming to the essence of God (Jn. 14:6 cp. 4, 13:36). See on Jn. 19:19.</p>