Does God play favorites?

If a kid has siblings, at some point they are going to wonder which kid their parents like the most.  With some parents, it’s painfully obvious that they favor one child over another.  At the other end of the spectrum are parents who express love to their children equally.  However, since we all receive love differently (see: love languages), there is a possibility that children can interpret a parent’s expression of love to a sibling as favoritism.

The same dynamic can play out in other settings when there is an authority person over a group.  Work, sports teams, and social clubs are all examples of places where favoritism can show up.  And if you’ve read even a chapter or two of the gospel accounts, you’ll notice that the disciples are constantly angling to be considered Jesus’ “right-hand man”.

Out of the 12 disciples, Jesus did have an inner circle made up of Peter, James, and John.  However, even among those three, you can find some jostling for position.  While you might assume this kind of posturing only took place early on in the ministry, you would be wrong.  Even after Jesus’ resurrection, we see expressions of concern about positions and favorites.

The setting for this particular scene is a familiar one – Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times during the night Jesus was arrested.  After the resurrection, Jesus spent 40 days with the disciples.  During that time, He had a specific conversation with Peter, restoring him three times and re-commissioning him as a leader.  Towards the end of their conversation, Jesus tells Peter this:

John 21:18-19
“Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted.  But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.”

He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God.  After saying this, He told him, “Follow Me.”

On the one hand, Jesus gave Peter some good news – he’s going to live to the point that he has grown old.  But then there’s also bad news – Jesus is indicating that Peter’s death will be via crucifixion, as to stretch out your hands was a common euphemism for someone dying on a cross.  Although He just gave Peter an incredible foresight into his future, Jesus then brought his attention back to the present with His command of “Follow Me”.

However, Peter’s attention did drift elsewhere:

John 21:20-21
So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is the one that’s going to betray You?”  When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”

John was the youngest disciple, and he seemed to have a special “in” with Jesus…after all, he was the one to ask such a direct question to Jesus during the Last Supper.  In fact, it was Peter who put John up to asking the question in the first place.  Peter didn’t have the confidence that he could ask such a question…but thought John could.

You can almost hear the thoughts of Peter in this moment…Oh, so I’m going to die violently.  I wonder if Jesus’ “favorite” will face the same pain?  How fair is this going to be?

That’s always our hang up, isn’t it?  If we’re going down, we want to know how many others are going to suffer with us.  And…if someone else isn’t going to suffer like us…then we want to know WHY.

However, Jesus didn’t answer Peter’s question.  Instead, He said:

John 21:22
“If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you?  As for you, follow Me.”

Jesus wasn’t obligated to answer Peter’s question.  Peter is not the one to determine if God’s plan for another person’s life is acceptable.  Peter doesn’t get to judge Jesus’ actions, looking for favoritism.  I love the blunt question, “What is that to you?”.  Peter’s focus needs to be on his own walk with God, and not on anyone else.

So, when we get full of ourselves or down on God because someone else has been blessed in ways that we haven’t, or we think that our struggles are unfair compared to the lives of other believers, I hope Jesus’ question to Peter rings in our ears:

What is that to you?  As for you, follow Me.

Keep Pressing,
Ken