Jesus invites us to follow him, and often we don’t.

At least 21 times Jesus says, “Follow me”; we could assume it’s always possible follow him, because he wouldn’t ask us to do something we can’t, right?

Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
John 13:36

In this instance, Jesus reveals a barrier to his invitation to follow him, and not even the most zealous among them can break through:

Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” (v37)

Here is a man so committed to follow Jesus that he would give up his life, and Jesus is saying he can’t do the thing he was called to do (Matthew 4:19).

Jesus told Peter to follow him, and then said he could not.

What if the problem is not that Jesus can’t be followed, but Peter is not yet fully following?

Take a look at the full context and see if you notice Peter’s misstep:

“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”
John 13:33-38

Did you catch it?  Peter is so concerned that Jesus will go somewhere without him that he ignores a new, and vital, commandment.  He hears “where I am going, you cannot come,” and ignores everything else Jesus says until he can respond, “Lord, where are you going?”  Peter is all-in on the concept of following Jesus, but is sometimes so zealous that he misses the real invitation.  In this case, Jesus was telling them exactly how to follow him — love one another — and Peter missed it out of fear of being left behind.

Do you ever do this?  Have you had moments when you weren’t really listening to God because you already knew what needed to happen?

Jesus knows a few things in this moment:

• He knows Peter authentically wants to follow him
• He knows Peter is overly aspirational, convinced he’s willing to die but ultimately destined to deny
• He knows Peter cannot follow… yet

Jesus did not say they could not follow, but that they were not yet ready.  Until Peter really understood the command to love, he would not be able to bear heaven; until he followed Jesus in this way, he could not truly encounter the Father.  As it stood, he cared about Jesus, but was ready to kill guards to show it; Jesus described true love of him as “everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Perhaps the places you are struggling to follow Jesus are not because you are prohibited, but because you haven’t yet followed in simpler ways.  When Jesus restored Peter after the denial, he invited him to devote his life to loving Jesus’s sheep.  Following Jesus in this way eventually prepared him to follow Jesus in that heftier way found in John 13, and he does eventually lay down his life for him.  It is okay to have aspirational goals of following Jesus, but do not neglect the simple call to love one another today; it’s in this that people will see that you truly are following him.