What About Her?

Today we return to our story in John 21 to see how our Lord addressed Peter’s sinful comparison.

Immediately upon receiving the news of his future death, Peter turns to look at the other disciple, John, and asks: “Lord, what about this man?”

Jesus answers Peter’s question with a rhetorical question of his own: “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

The obvious answer? Nothing. John’s future is none of Peter’s business.

CS Lewis may have had John 21 in mind in The Horse and His Boy when Aslan tells Shasta: “Child, I am telling you your own story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.”

Jesus doesn’t tell Peter what John’s story will be. He doesn’t say, “If it is my will that John die peacefully in exile on the Isle of Patmos, what is that to you?”

Instead, he suggests a far more dramatic possibility: “If it is my will that John live to see my return, that he escape death altogether, what is that to you?”

Basically: "if John’s life is as wonderful as you can possibly imagine, while yours is more difficult than you can comprehend, even so, what is that to you?

And so our Savior would ask us: “If it is my will that another woman receive the blessings you long for and don’t have, and escape the suffering you are destined for but don’t want, even so, what is that to you? I’m telling you your own story, not hers."

This, as it turns out, is the most loving question Jesus could ask.