Then Peter answering said to him, Behold, *we* have left all things and have followed thee; what then shall happen to us?
The rich young man has just walked away, unwilling to give up his wealth. Peter watches him go and speaks for the twelve — and the question he adds opens up all the Lord wants to teach about reward, motive, and grace.
Peter's fact is not in doubt, and the Lord never denies it. What the writers notice is the question that follows, and the claim hidden inside it.
What Peter states is a fact. He and his fellow-apostles had really forsaken all to follow Christ; and this our Lord in His first answer owns. But something of self-importance and self-congratulation clearly lay behind Peter's question, "What then will we have?"... Peter's question hints that no one else could ever match their devotion, or have such a claim on Christ. It is as though he would make Christ debtor to himself and his fellow-disciples.
It is worth weighing what Peter gave up against the One he was speaking to.
The commercialism of such a question is truly painful. He was speaking to One who had left heavenly glory — One who had "emptied Himself" to bless people. Put to Him, the question was little short of an outrage. What was the "all" that Peter and his friends had forsaken? Just fishing boats and tackle, and a few family comforts. And what had they gained even in the present life? The knowledge of God as revealed in the Son, and the daily companionship of the Son of the Father's love.
Another writer looks at what the question shows about the disciples themselves.
Clearly what they have given up still has some value for them. What they will get in return matters to them. The Lord's answer sounds like encouragement, though a note of reproof runs through it as well... Such is God's mercy! Whatever these men thought they had given up for Christ, they were in fact only bankrupt beggars when His grace laid hold of them.
Reward is real, and one writer draws out what that means for how we live now.
There is nothing the believer does or suffers that will not be remembered in the kingdom. While this is most blessed, it is also a very solemn thought. How we live now has nothing to do with the forgiveness of our sins. Yet it matters enormously as a testimony to Christ, and it will strongly affect our future place in the kingdom. We must not use the doctrine of grace to deny that of rewards; but even so, Christ is the sole motive for the saint.
Peter asked for terms. Terms would have shut him out of much that grace gives.
Peter would, in effect, have made our contract with our Lord. But suppose he had been shut out of everything the promise made to him here does not include. Then he would have missed glories that fall to us poor sinners of the Gentiles. Peter had to understand that others besides the apostles would be rewarded. He was also not to suppose that the apostles' reward would be greater simply because they came first in time.
The story of the vineyard workers follows Peter's question for a reason. The difference between the groups is not how long they worked. It is whether they settled a price first.
Of the various groups of workers employed by the Master, only the first made an agreed contract. This surely is Law, and makes God man's debtor. Whoever makes the bargain will get his due and proper reward in righteousness. But the bargain leaves him discontented and full of complaints. There is nothing of this with the rest.
Against the bargain stands God's freedom to give as He pleases.
He maintains His sovereign title to do good, to do as He will with His own. The first of these lessons is, "Many who are first will be last, and the last first." This is the failure of nature — the reverse of what we would expect. The second is, "So the last will be first, and the first last; for many are called, but few are chosen." This is the power of grace.
- The fact stands. Peter had left everything, and the Lord owns it. He answers the question instead of brushing it aside.
- The bargain spoils it. Adding "what then will we have?" turns following into a contract and tries to make Christ a debtor.
- The reward is certain. The kingdom forgets nothing done or suffered for Christ. Grace does not cancel rewards — but Christ Himself must be the motive.
- The reward is wider. Others besides the apostles are rewarded, and being first in time makes no one's reward greater.
- The last go first. Workers who bargain get exactly what they agreed. Grace, not bargaining, is what puts the last first.
And Jesus said to them, Verily I say unto you, That *ye* who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit down upon his throne of glory, *ye* also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Peter has just watched a rich young man walk away from Jesus. He asks what he and the others will get, now that they have left everything behind. The answer goes far past anything Peter had in mind. It points to a future age, a throne, and a glory that other saints will share.
Peter's claim was true — he really had left all — but the way he framed it invited a correction as well as an answer.
What Peter states is a fact. He and his fellow apostles had really left all to follow Christ, and our Lord acknowledges this in His first answer. But it is clear that something of self-importance and self-congratulation lay behind Peter's question, "What then will we have?" It was the same spirit as the question in Matthew 18, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Peter's question suggests that no one could ever show the self-devotion they had shown, or have the claim on Christ that they had. It is as though he would make Christ a debtor to himself and his fellow disciples.
Older translations keep the Greek word as "regeneration." The ESV renders it "the new world." Commentators tie it to a coming age, not to anything happening now.
The "regeneration" here is "the world to come" of Hebrews 2:5, "the restoration of all things" of Acts 3:21 — in other words, the Millennial kingdom. It is called the "regeneration" because in that age evil will be put down and righteousness will be exalted. In that age all the saints will reign — even the faulty Corinthians (1 Corinthians 6:2-3). But places are given out according to how faithful each one was in this present life. A special place is kept for the apostles, in connection with the twelve tribes of Israel.
In Titus the same word describes something personal, not a coming age.
The word translated "regeneration" occurs only twice in the New Testament. The other place is Matthew 19:28. There it means the new order of things that comes when the Lord Jesus Christ reigns, and when "a nation" — Israel — will be "born at once" (Isaiah 66:8). We learn in Titus that the hour of this world-wide regeneration has not come yet. Even so, believers today each receive the washing of regeneration for themselves.
The throne sets the timing. The new order waits until the Son of Man takes His seat.
A time of regeneration is coming. All things will be made over. Groaning creation will be set free, and the reign of Satan and of sin will end. It is the millennial age. Throughout the Old Testament the prophets declare this great regeneration... This regeneration is not yet, and it cannot come as long as the Son of Man does not occupy the throne of His glory. He will not occupy that throne as long as His fellow heirs are not with Him.
This throne is not the great white throne of the final judgment, and the time is not before Christ's coming:
Scripture says plainly that "the regeneration" is when the Son of Man sits on His throne of glory. That is when He comes — not before His coming, and not when heaven and earth flee away before His face as He sits on a wholly different throne, the great white throne for judging the dead, not the twelve tribes of Israel... If it is neither, the millennium is the only option left. And if it is so, in what condition but a glorified one can the apostles judge Israel?
The honour promised here is real, but it is not the highest place a believer receives.
Remember that what we read here does not refer to heaven: there is still better work in heaven than judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Yet it is a glorious destiny reserved for the twelve apostles during the reign of Christ over the earth. God has designed a similar glory for other saints, as we read in 1 Corinthians 6:2: "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?"
The verse promises rewards, but not wages.
Whatever a disciple, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, has done or suffered for His sake will not be forgotten. This, however, does not mean that we can earn a position in glory; it is grace and grace alone which has brought us there. A believer's service and self-denial are the results of grace. So the rewards are mercies, nothing else.
- Followed — the promise goes to those who left all to follow Christ. Yet no one can make Christ a debtor.
- Regeneration — not the new birth, but a whole new order on earth. It is the "restoration of all things," when evil is put down and righteousness exalted.
- Throne — nothing begins until the Son of Man sits on His throne of glory. And He waits until His fellow heirs are with Him.
- Thrones — twelve seats over the twelve tribes. It is a real honour on earth, but not the highest portion of the saints.
- Reward — nothing done or suffered for Christ is forgotten. Yet every reward stays a mercy, never a wage.