We Have... - Matt 19:27; Mark 10:28; Luke 18:28

Having witnessed the interaction between Jesus and the rich, young ruler, Peter might have been a little confused, or at least looking for the reassurance that his call to the apostleship was necessary. Peter says to Jesus, “Lo, we have left all and have followed thee.” Kind of like he was saying, “hey forget that guy who is walking away, we’re standing right here and we did what you asked.” There is nothing in the King James version of the Bible that indicates anything negative about Peter’s statement, and gives Jesus’ answer as reassurance. But the JST has Mark 10:30-31 saying that Jesus answer was rebuking Peter.” I thought about why that mattered. Why does it matter that Jesus’ answer wasn’t necessarily encouragement to the apostles about their choices, but instead might have been a rebuke? Let’s start at the beginning, why would Peter make that statement in the first place? There is the obvious comparison, “hey we did what that guy wouldn’t do,” therefore the statement might have been made in order to elevate himself in the eyes of the Master above the ruler. We know that Jesus doesn’t want us to compare ourselves to anyone else, for good or for bad, comparison is the thief of job. Even though it’s not explicitly stated, the implication is there that those who are with Jesus are better than those who are walking away.

The second comparison that could be implied is the live that Peter is living vs the life that he could be living if he had not answered Jesus’ call. Watching the ruler walk away and back into his life of riches after having had the Savior confirm that he was indeed was keeping the commandments might have caused Peter to stop and think, “wait, I was keeping the commandments and gave up everything to follow Jesus, why does this guy get to keep his lifestyle?” For me, it’s really easy to look at the apostles and think “how could they not have understood even while living with Jesus?” it’s easy to cast judgment from 2,000 years in the future. We have to remember that these guys left their families, their professions, and comfort or financial stability to be with Jesus and learn a gospel that was far from what they expected. There must have been a mental disconnect between what they were doing and what they had always been taught would happen. And to have to do it in abject poverty, and without the Holy Ghost, it’s easy to understand the difficult reconciliation they would have had to make in their minds, so let’s cut them some slack.