Oleksandr Zhabenko 🇬🇧

Fellow Partakers in the Sufferings of Christ

With thoughts of lieve Juul on the Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women, the righteous Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus.

'ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, ὅτε ἦς νεώτερος, ἐζώννυες σεαυτὸν καὶ περιεπάτεις ὅπου ἤθελες· ὅταν δὲ γηράσῃς, ἐκτενεῖς τὰς χεῖράς σου, καὶ ἄλλος σε ζώσει καὶ οἴσει ὅπου οὐ θέλεις.
τοῦτο δὲ εἶπεν σημαίνων ποίῳ θανάτῳ δοξάσει τὸν θεόν. καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν λέγει αὐτῷ· ἀκολούθει μοι.
ἐπιστραφεὶς ὁ Πέτρος βλέπει τὸν μαθητὴν ὃν ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀκολουθοῦντα, ὃς καὶ ἀνέπεσεν ἐν τῷ δείπνῳ ἐπὶ τὸ στῆθος αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν· κύριε, τίς ἐστιν ὁ παραδιδούς σε;
τοῦτον οὖν ἰδὼν ὁ Πέτρος λέγει τῷ Ἰησοῦ· κύριε οὗτος δὲ τί;
λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἐὰν αὐτὸν θέλω μένειν ἕως ἔρχομαι, τί πρὸς σέ; σύ μοι ἀκολούθει.' (John XXI, 18-22)

Let us consider the following important questions that shed light on God's will:

Was it God's will for Peter to glorify God through martyrdom?
Was it God's permissive will (allowance) for Peter to suffer martyrdom?
Is there a certain manifestation of God's justice here: Peter left Jesus to die, and now the Lord will permit him to suffer martyrdom?

The answers to these questions are not as obvious as they might seem at first glance.

God's forgiveness does not always mean the removal of all the consequences of sin. In particular, this was the case with David: in the verse 2 Samuel XII, 13, David's sin is forgiven by God, but the entire twelfth chapter is devoted to the theme of consequences. Notably, the prophecy about Absalom's rebellion also sounds there, which indeed came to pass in 2 Samuel XVI, 20-22; the newborn child of David and Bathsheba dies, as the Lord foretold, David's fasting and prayer are of no avail, instead he goes to Bathsheba as his wife, comforts her, sleeps with her, and Solomon is born to them, who receives the name Jedidiah, beloved of the Lord.

A similar story occurred with Moses and Aaron (Numbers XX, 6-13). Because they did not trust God to manifest God's holiness to the people, they could not lead the people into the Promised Land. This was done instead by Joshua, the trusted servant of Moses and one of the spies of the Promised Land (Numbers XIII; Joshua).

When Solomon began to sin, the consequence was the division of the Israelite kingdom into two, which was also announced by the prophet.

Is it the same with Peter?

Everywhere in the mentioned Old Testament stories, God acts for the sake of His glory. And here Christ says that Peter will glorify God…

The Apostle Paul says: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans III, 23). A more precise translation reads everyone lacks (experiences a shortage of) God's glory. That is, one of the consequences of sin is deprivation of God's glory. Glory here refers to God's grace, but as bestowed upon the pure and sinless. Therefore, although the faithful are saved through grace, having sinned, they do not live by glory, but by grace.

The ultimate outcome of Peter's restoration will be God's glory.

God's glory here is not someone's personal privilege; it ought to be inherent to everyone, but because of sin, people feel a lack of it…

Human life often unfolds not in the abundance of God's glory; even among people close to God, it is frequently embedded more in the grace of God's mercy rather than in glory.

Christ had previously rebuked Peter that he savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men — precisely in connection with Peter's stance regarding the sufferings of Christ.

People often seek the forgiveness of sins, but far less frequently seek God's glory. Yet they are not the same thing. And the latter is greater than the former.

Let us recall how Christ healed ten lepers, but only one returned to explicitly glorify God. Christ said only to him: Thy faith hath made thee whole (Luke XVII, 11-19).

When healing the paralysed man according to the faith of those caring for him, Christ forgave his sins. And then, so that people would know that He has the authority to forgive sins, He healed him, and the man glorified God (Luke V, 17-26).

The healing of the man born blind also took place so that the works of God should be made manifest (John IX).

When Christ appeared to Ananias, sending him to heal and baptise Saul, who became Paul, He responded to Ananias's words: 'πορεύου, ὅτι σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς ἐστίν μοι οὗτος τοῦ βαστάσαι τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐνώπιον ἐθνῶν τε καὶ βασιλέων υἱῶν τε Ἰσραήλ· ἐγὼ γὰρ ὑποδείξω αὐτῷ ὅσα δεῖ αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματός μου παθεῖν'. That is, for I will secretly show him how great things he must experience (endure, suffer) for My name's sake (Acts IX, 15-16).

The Apostle Paul himself, writing elsewhere, testifies: 'αὐτὴ ἡ κτίσις ἐλευθερωθήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς δουλίας τῆς φθορᾶς εἰς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ θεοῦ' — speaking of the glorious liberty of the children of God (that is, participation in God's glory and becoming children of God).

Returning to the forgiveness and restoration of Peter, Christ said this to signify (give a sign) 'ποίῳ θανάτῳ δοξάσει τὸν θεόν' (by what death he should glorify God). Death does not glorify God in itself, but what kind of death can. One way or another, Christ's words to Peter testify both to forgiveness and to the subsequent glorification of God.

Let us also remember the forgiveness of the woman caught in adultery (John VIII, 1-11). Go, and sin no more!.

And here we must see something important. Is it the glory of God that the consequences of people's sins exist even when God has forgiven them? Does the death of the infant, David's son, glorify God? Does the rebellion of David's son Absalom glorify God? Does the fact that Moses and Aaron did not enter the Promised Land glorify God? Does it glorify God that Saul, having already become Paul, will experience, endure, and suffer much (see in particular: 2 Corinthians XI, 21-33, XII, 1-19)? No, but the faithfulness of people even in difficult circumstances does glorify God. This includes Peter's subsequent faithfulness unto martyrdom. For by this faithfulness they are conformed to Christ. The only sufferings which in and of themselves, as such, glorify God, are His own voluntary sufferings on the cross. Our sufferings are accepted by Him, and with His stripes we are healed, as Isaiah prophesies. But the sufferings of the faithful, by making them like unto Christ, can also become manifestations of God's glory — no longer in and of themselves, but as participation in the glorious sufferings of Christ.

As written in the work at the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/15072023.html
As the God-man, Christ ought not to have experienced suffering, but by God's will and permission (here they coincide) the suffering to which creation was subjected after human sin, He took upon Himself. He should not have died, but death, which entered the world through sin and passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Romans V, 12-21), He took upon Himself by God's will and God's permission (here they coincide). He, being the God-man, felt upon Himself (having taken it upon Himself by God's will and God's permission) our God-forsakenness caused by our sins, and descended in soul into hell, although as the sinless One He ought not to have descended there. He did all this as a sinner, whilst being without sin, having borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows (Isaiah LIII, 4-5). Paul also testifies to this, saying: Was Paul (speaking of himself in the third person) crucified for you? (1 Corinthians I, 11-13). Even if Paul had given himself up to suffering for the people, it would have had no redemptive power, because there would be no Divine will for it, only God's permission, for it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish (by the way, the name Paul translates as small) (Matthew XVIII, 12-14). Christ, however, took everything upon Himself voluntarily; He is the Only One Who is such; He came to seek (by becoming, experiencing everything characteristic of) and to save (by remaining sinless, faithful to God, and rising from the dead) that which was lost (sinful people, creation that suffers without its own sins) (Luke XIX, 10).

We must also mention the holy apostles and martyrs. Many of them accepted martyrdom as a gift from God. But as mentioned above, their sufferings, even being voluntary, possess no redemptive power. That is, they are not 'needed' by God. God has mercy on the saints not because of their ascetic feats, but out of His grace through the Redemptive Sacrifice of Christ. Christ alone is the Sole Redeemer. It is exactly in this sense that there is no Divine will for anyone but Christ to suffer. But it is God's will for the faithful to remain faithful. There is God's will in being an example for others. God wants martyrs and apostles to be faithful even in suffering, and for their patience and love, hope, and faith to be a model for others to emulate. Therefore, God permits their suffering. God does not need suffering, but the fact that the faithful accept it draws them closer to God, testifying to their faithfulness and steadfastness in goodness.

End of quote.
See also:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/26012026.html

Therefore, when Christ speaks to Peter beforehand about his martyrdom, He does not rebuke him, He does not say that something else remains unsettled, but He says that these sufferings are Peter's way, the way Christ previously walked (John XIII, 36), a way through which Peter's sufferings will finally be united with Christ's sufferings, and moreover, Peter himself with Jesus Christ. Therefore, He says immediately: Follow Me!.

Peter's death does not glorify God in itself, but through participation in the saving and glorious death of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us also look at the well-known example of the little birds in the Gospel:
I quote:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/26062025.html
Matthew X, 29 — 'οὐχὶ δύο στρουθία ἀσσαρίου πωλεῖται; καὶ ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐ πεσεῖται ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν' — 'oukhi duo strouthia assariou poleitai? kai hen ex auton ou peseitai epi ten gen aneu tou patro hymon' - Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. The translations of this passage are very telling. Many Slavonic ones, in particular the Ukrainian.., add the word will…
The word will is not in the original… Instead, there is the Father Himself. But as Whom? A participant? A judge? The one who kills? The Creator? The Provider? The Almighty? A witness? A co-sufferer? The word will is added, but it narrows all possible meanings to a subset where the Father either intentionally kills the birds, or wants them to become dead… But this is exactly what God does not want.

End of quote.

Consequently, God allows suffering for people and grants them the gift of being conformed to Christ in their sufferings. This conformity is the path for people from what God does not want, for which He did not create them, to what truly glorifies Him.

But the truth will be incomplete if we bypass the story of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, a bystander and, to some extent, a participant as well in Christ's conversation with Peter.

John did not abandon Christ and stood by the Crucified One; he received the Mother of God from the lips of Christ to care for as his own. Tradition bears witness that all those who did not leave Christ alone on the cross at that time, who did not partake in His crucifixion, all peacefully departed to the Lord later, whereas the other apostles, who had scattered, suffered martyrdom. Christ says: If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee [Peter]?. One might think (see in particular Revelation III, 10) that Christ willed that they should not experience bodily martyrdom… Because their martyrdom took place at the foot of His cross through faithfulness and co-suffering with Him Crucified, through care for His burial. It can be said that here too there is participation in the sufferings of Christ, but of a different, spiritual nature.

Peter and John are thus testimonies here that the Lord grants people participation in His sufferings as a path to union with Himself.

Glory to Thy Passion, O Lord! Glory to Thy longsuffering! Glory to Thee, the Only Lover of Mankind!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, unto ages of ages! Amen.

P.S. Translated by Google Gemini Pro.