The evangelist then has Jesus address His disciples as ("teknia", "little children") - a word frequently used by John in his first epistle but not used elsewhere in this gospel. Many commentators note the tenderness of this word. Theologian Harold Buls suggests "it denotes endearment. It likely also indicates the disciples' immaturity and weakness". Jesus tells His disciples that shortly He will be leaving them; where He is going they cannot come (John 13:33), or at any rate they "cannot follow now, but ... will follow later" (). The apostles Peter (in verse 37), Thomas and Philip (in the next chapter) raise questions about where Jesus is going. Peter seems to have recognised the connection between following Jesus and dying: "Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you" or "on your behalf". Jesus questions whether Peter will lay down his life for Him and tells him that in fact he will have denied Jesus three times "before the rooster crows" (, cf. ).