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Then Peter, turning around, saw a disciple following. This was the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who had also leaned on Jesus’ breast at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?” Peter seeing him, said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”
Jesus said to him, “If I desire that he stay until I come, what is that to you? You follow me.”
John 21:20-22 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Then Peter, turning around, saw a disciple following. This was the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who had also leaned on Jesus’ breast at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?” Peter seeing him, said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”
Jesus said to him, “If I desire that he stay until I come, what is that to you? You follow me.” This saying therefore went out among the brothers, that this disciple wouldn’t die. Yet Jesus didn’t say to him that he wouldn’t die, but, “If I desire that he stay until I come, what is that to you?” This is the disciple who testifies about these things, and wrote these things. We know that his witness is true. There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they would all be written, I suppose that even the world itself wouldn’t have room for the books that would be written.
Then Peter, turning around, saw a disciple following. This was the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who had also leaned on Jesus’ breast at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”
Peter seeing him, said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”
Jesus said to him, “If I desire that he stay until I come, what is that to you? You follow me.”
Peter turned about and sawe that disciple who Iesus loved folowynge: which also lened on his brest at supper and sayde: Lorde which is he that shall betraye the?
When Peter sawe him he sayde to Iesus: Lorde what shall he here do?
Iesus sayd vnto him Yf I will have him to tary tyll I come what is that to the? folowe thou me.
Then Peter turned about, and sawe the disciple whom JESUS loued, folowing, which had also leaned on his breast at supper, and had saide, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
When Peter therefore sawe him, he saide to Iesus, Lord, what shall this man doe?
Iesus said vnto him, If I will that he tarie till I come, what is it to thee? follow thou me.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv20, 22 20. And Peter, turning about. We have in Peter…
20. And Peter, turning about. We have in Peter an instance of our curiosity, which is not only superfluous, but even hurtful, when we are drawn aside from our duty by looking at others; for it is almost natural to us to examine the way in which other people live, instead of examining our own, and to attempt to find in them idle excuses. We willingly deceive ourselves by this semblance of apology, that other people are no better than we are, as if their indolence freed us from blame. Scarce one person in a hundred considers the import of those words of Paul,
Every man shall bear his own burden, (Galatians 6:5.)
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In the person of one man, therefore, there is a general reproof of all who look around them in every direction, to see how other men act, and pay no attention to the duties which God has enjoined on themselves. Above all, they are grievously mistaken in this respect, that they neglect and overlook what is demanded by every man’s special calling.
Out of ten persons it may happen that God shall choose one, that he may try him by heavy calamities or by vast labors, and that he shall permit the other nine to remain at ease, or, at least, shall try them lightly. Besides, God does not treat all in the same manner, but makes trial of every one as he thinks fit. As there are various kinds of Christian warfare, let every man learn to keep his own station, and let us not make inquiries like busybodies about this or that person, when the heavenly Captain addresses each of us, to whose authority we ought to be so submissive as to forget every thing else.
Whom Jesus loved. This circumlocution was inserted, in order to inform us what was the reason why Peter was induced to put the question which is here related; for he thought it strange that he alone should be called, and that John should be overlooked, whom Christ had always loved so warmly. Peter had, therefore, some apparently good reason for asking why no mention was made of John, as if Christ’s disposition towards him had undergone a change. Yet Christ cuts short his curiosity, by telling him that he ought to obey the calling of God, and that he has no right to inquire what other people do.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v20 We must take heed, that while we cast our…
We must take heed, that while we cast our eyes upon others, we neglect not that which is enjoined us.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv20–22 20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom…
20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
Ver. 20. Then Peter turning about] Peter, though restored and resettled in his apostleship, is not without his infirmities. They that are cured of a frensy are not without their mad tricks sometimes. {a} No pomegranate so sound but hath one rotten kernel in it. No book so well printed but hath some errata. David saw so many in himself, that he cries out, "Who can understand the errors of his life? oh purge me," &c., Psa 19:12. They that dream of perfections here suffer a merry madness.
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{a} Quisque aliquid fatuitatis habet adiunctum. Melanct.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv20–22 That is, he saw John, whom we have often…
That is, he saw John, whom we have often before heard so described.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v20 Our Saviour having foretold the manner of Peter’s death…
Our Saviour having foretold the manner of Peter’s death in the foregoing verses; here in these, Peter is inquisitive after, and very solicitous for the knowledge of, what kind of death St. John should die. Christ checks him for his curiosity, as meddling with that which did not concern him, yet intimates to him that John should live till he came to take vengeance on the Jews, and destroy Jerusalem: If I will that he tarry till I come; that is, till I come to execute judgment upon Jerusalem.
Here we may note, there are two great vanities in men with reference to knowledge; the one a neglect to know what is our duty to know; the other a curiosity to know what doth not belong to us to know. Christ tells Peter, it was none of his business to enquire what John should do; but he ought rather to be preparing for what he himself should suffer: If I will that he tarry, what is that to thee.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v20 In these verses, we have,
In these verses, we have,
I. The conference Christ had with Peter concerning John, the beloved disciple, in which we have,
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1. The eye Peter cast upon him (Joh 21:20): Peter, in obedience to his Master's orders, followed him, and turning about, pleased with the honours his Master now did him, he sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following likewise. Observe here, (1.) How John is described. He does not name himself, as thinking his own name not worthy to be preserved in these records; but gives such a description of himself as sufficiently informs us whom he meant, and withal gives us a reason why he followed Christ so closely. He was the disciple whom Jesus loved, for whom he had a particular kindness above the rest; and therefore you cannot blame him for coveting to be as much as possible within hearing of Christ's gracious words during those few precious minutes with which Christ favoured his disciples. It is probable that mention in here made of John's having leaned on Jesus's breast and his enquiring concerning the traitor, which he did at the instigation of Peter (Joh 13:24), as a reason why Peter made the following enquiry concerning him, to repay him for the former kindness. Then John was in the favourite's place, lying in Christ's bosom, and he improved the opportunity to oblige Peter. And now that Peter was in the favourite's place, called to take a walk with Christ, he thought himself bound in gratitude to put such a question for John as he thought would oblige him, we all being desirous to know things to come. Note, As we have interest at the throne of grace, we should improve it for the benefit of one another. Those that help us by their prayers at one time should be helped by us with ours at another time. This is the communion of saints. (2.) What he did: he also followed Jesus, which shows how well he loved his company; where he was there also would this servant of his be. When Christ called Peter to follow him, it looked as if he designed to have some private talk with him; but such an affection John had to his Master that he would rather do a thing that seemed rude than lose the benefit of any of Christ's discourse. What Christ said to Peter he took as said to himself; for that word of command, Follow me, was given to all the disciples. At least he desired to have fellowship with those that had fellowship with Christ, and to accompany those that attended him. The bringing of one to follow Christ should engage others. Draw me and we will run after thee, Sol 1:4. (3.) The notice Peter took of it: He, turning about, seeth him. This may be looked upon either, [1.] As a culpable diversion from following his Master; he should have been wholly intent upon that, and have waited to hear what Christ had further to say to him, and then was he looking about him to see who followed. Note, The best men find it hard to attend upon the Lord without distraction, hard to keep their minds so closely fixed as they should be in following Christ: and a needless and unseasonable regard to our brethren often diverts us from communion with God. Or, [2.] As a laudable concern for his fellow-disciples. He was not so elevated with the honour his Master did him, in singling him out from the rest, as to deny a kind look to one that followed. Acts of love to our brethren must go along with actings of faith in Christ.
2. The enquiry Peter made concerning him (Joh 21:21): "Lord, and what shall this man do? Thou hast told me my work - to feed the sheep; and my lot - to be carried whither I would not. What shall be his work, and his lot?" Now this may be taken as the language, (1.) Of concern for John, and kindness to him: "Lord, thou showest me a great deal of favour. Here comes thy beloved disciple, who never forfeited thy favour, as I have done; he expects to be taken notice of; hast thou nothing to say to him? Wilt thou not tell how he must be employed, and how he must be honoured?" (2.) Or of uneasiness at what Christ had said to him concerning his sufferings: "Lord, must I alone be carried whither I would not? Must I be marked out to be run down, and must this man have no share of the cross?" It is hard to reconcile ourselves to distinguishing sufferings, and the troubles in which we think we stand alone. (3.) Or of curiosity, and a fond desire of knowing things to come, concerning others, as well as himself. It seems, by Christ's answer, there was something amiss in the question. When Christ had given him the charge of such a treasure, and the notice of such a trial, it had well become him to have said, "Lord, and what shall I do then to approve myself faithful to such a trust, in such a trial? Lord, increase my faith. As my day is, let my strength be." But instead of this, [1.] He seems more concerned for another than for himself. So apt are we to be busy in other men's matters, but negligent in the concerns of our own souls - quick-sighted abroad, but dim-sighted at home - judging others, and prognosticating what they will do, when we have enough to do to prove our own work, and understand our own way. [2.] He seems more concerned about events than about duty. John was younger than Peter, and, in the course of nature, likely to survive him: "Lord," says he, "what times shall he be reserved for?" Whereas, if God by his grace enable us to persevere to the end, and finish well, and get safely to heaven, we need not ask, "What shall be the lot of those that shall come after us?" Is it not well if peace and truth be in my days? Scripture-predictions must be eyed for the directing of our consciences, not the satisfying of our curiosity.
3. Christ's reply to this enquiry (Joh 21:22), "If I will that he tarry till I come, and do not suffer as thou must, what is that to thee. Mind thou thy own duty, the present duty, follow thou me."
(1.) There seems to be here an intimation of Christ's purpose concerning John, in two things: - [1.] That he should not die a violent death, like Peter, but should tarry till Christ himself came by a natural death to fetch him to himself. The most credible of the ancient historians tell us that John was the only one of all the twelve that did not actually die a martyr. He was often in jeopardy, in bonds and banishments; but at length died in his bed in a good old age. Note, First, At death Christ comes to us to call us to account; and it concerns us to be ready for his coming. Secondly, Though Christ calls out some of his disciples to resist unto blood, yet not all. Though the crown of martyrdom is bright and glorious, yet the beloved disciple comes short of it. [2.] That he should not die till after Christ's coming to destroy Jerusalem: so some understand his tarrying till Christ comes. All the other apostles died before that destruction; but John survived it many years. God wisely so ordered it that one of the apostles should live so long as to close up the canon of the New Testament, which John did solemnly (Rev 22:18), and to obviate the design of the enemy that sowed tares even before the servants fell asleep. John lived to confront Ebion, and Cerinthus, and other heretics, who rose betimes, speaking perverse things.
(2.) Others think that it is only a rebuke to Peter's curiosity, and that his tarrying till Christ's second coming is only the supposition of an absurdity: "Wherefore askest thou after that which is foreign and secret? Suppose I should design that John should never die, what does that concern thee? It is nothing to thee, when or where, or how, John must die. I have told thee how thou must die for thy part; it is enough for thee to know that, Follow thou me." Note, It is the will of Christ that his disciples should mind their own present duty, and not be curious in their enquiries about future events, concerning either themselves or others. [1.] There are many things we are apt to be solicitous about that are nothing to us. Other people's characters are nothing to us; it is out of our line to judge them, Rom 14:4. Whatsoever they are, saith Paul, it makes no matter to me. Other people's affairs are nothing to us to intermeddle in; we must quietly work, and mind our own business. Many nice and curious questions are put by the scribes and disputers of this world concerning the counsels of God, and the state of the invisible world, concerning which we may say, What is this to us? What do you think will become of such and such? is a common question, which may easily be answered with another: What is that to me? To his own Master he stands or falls. What is it to us to know the times and the seasons? Secret things belong not to us. [2.] The great thing that is all in all to us is duty, and not event; for duty is ours, events are God's - our own duty, and not another's; for every one shall bear his own burden - our present duty, and not the duty of the time to come; for sufficient to the day shall be the directions thereof: a good man's steps are ordered by the Lord, (Psa 37:23); he is guided step by step. Now all our duty is summed up in this one of following Christ. We must attend his motions, and accommodate ourselves to them, follow him to do him honour, as the servant his master; we must walk in the way in which he walked, and aim to be where he is. And, if we will closely attend to the duty of following Christ, we shall find neither heart nor time to meddle with at which does not belong to us.
4. The mistake which arose from this saying of Christ, that that disciple should not die, but abide with the church to the end of time; together with the suppressing of this motion by a repetition of Christ's words, Joh 21:23. Observe here,
(1.) The easy rise of a mistake in the church by misconstruing the sayings of Christ, and turning a supposition to a position. Because John must not die a martyr, they conclude he must not die at all.
[1.] They were inclined to expect it because they could not choose but desire it. Quod volumus facile crediumus - We easily believe what we wish to be true. For John to abide in the flesh when the rest were gone, and to continue in the world till Christ's second coming, they think, will be a great blessing to the church, which in every age might have recourse to him as an oracle. When they must lose Christ's bodily presence, they hope they shall have that of his beloved disciple; as if that must supply the want of his, forgetting that the blessed Spirit, the Comforter, was to do that. Note, We are apt to dote too much on men and means, instruments and external helps, and to think we are happy if we may but have them always with us; whereas God will change his workmen, and yet carry on his work, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of men. There is no need of immortal ministers to be the guides of the church, while it is under the conduct of an eternal Spirit.
[2.] Perhaps they were confirmed in their expectations when they now found that John survived all the rest of the apostles. Because he lived long, they were ready to think he should live always; whereas that which waxeth old is ready to vanish away, Heb 8:13.
[3.] However, it took rise from a saying of Christ's, misunderstood, and then made a saying of the church. Hence learn, First, The uncertainty of human tradition, and the folly of building our faith upon it. Here was a tradition, an apostolical tradition, a saying that went abroad among the brethren. It was early; it was common; it was public; and yet it was false. How little then are those unwritten traditions to be relied upon which the council of Trent hath decreed to be received with a veneration and pious affection equal to that which is owing to the holy scripture. Here was a traditional exposition of scripture. No new saying of Christ's advanced, but only a construction put by the brethren upon what he did really say, and yet it was a misconstruction. Let the scripture be its own interpreter and explain itself, as it is in a great measure its own evidence and proves itself, for it is light. Secondly, The aptness of men to misinterpret the sayings of Christ. The grossest errors have sometimes shrouded themselves under the umbrage of incontestable truths; and the scriptures themselves have ben wrested by the unlearned and unstable. We must not think it strange if we hear the sayings of Christ misinterpreted, quoted to patronise the errors of antichrist, and the impudent doctrine of transubstantiation - for instance, pretending to build upon that blessed word of Christ, This is my body.
(2.) The easy rectifying of such mistakes, by adhering to the word of Christ, and abiding by that. So the evangelist here corrects and controls that saying among the brethren, by repeating the very words of Christ. He did not say that the disciple should not die. Let us not say so then; but he said, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? He said so, and no more. Add thou not unto his words. Let the words of Christ speak for themselves, and let no sense be put upon them but what is genuine and natural; and in that let us agree. Note, The best end of men's controversies would be to keep to the express words of scripture, and speak, as well as think, according to that word, Isa 8:20. Scripture language is the safest and most proper vehicle of scripture truth: the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth, Co1 2:13. As the scripture itself, duly attended to, is the best weapon wherewith to wound all dangerous errors (and therefore deists, Socinians, papists, and enthusiasts do all they can to derogate the authority of scripture), so the scripture itself, humbly subscribed to, is the best weapon - salve to heal the wounds that are made by different modes of expression concerning the same truths. Those that cannot agree in the same logic and metaphysics, and the propriety of the same terms of air, and the application of them, may yet agree in the same scripture terms, and then may agree to love one another.
II. We have here the conclusion of this gospel, and with it of the evangelical story, Joh 21:24, Joh 21:25. This evangelist ends not so abruptly as the other three did, but with a sort of cadency.
1. This gospel concludes with an account of the author or penman of it, connected by a decent transition to that which went before (Joh 21:24): This is the disciple which testifies of these things to the present age, and wrote these things for the benefit of posterity, even this same that Peter and his Master had that conference about in the foregoing verses - John the apostle. Observe here, (1.) Those who wrote the history of Christ were not ashamed to put their names to it. John here does in effect subscribe his name. As we are sure who was the author of the first five books of the Old Testament, which were the foundation of that revelation, so we are sure who were the penmen of the four gospels and the Acts, the pentateuch of the New Testament. The record of Christ's life and death is not the report of we know not who, but was drawn up by men of known integrity, who were ready not only to depose it upon oath, but, which was more, to seal it with their blood. (2.) Those who wrote the history of Christ wrote upon their own knowledge, not by hearsay, but what they themselves were eye and ear witnesses of. The penman of this history was a disciple, a beloved disciple, one that had leaned on Christ's breast, that had himself heard his sermons and conferences, had seen his miracles, and the proofs of his resurrection. This is he who testifies what he was well assured of. (3.) Those who wrote the history of Christ, as they testified what they had seen, so they wrote what they had first testified. It was published by word of mouth, with the greatest assurance, before it was committed to writing. They testified it in the pulpit, testified it at the bar, solemnly averred it, stedfastly avowed it, not as travellers give an account of their travels, to entertain the company, but as witnesses upon oath give account of what they know in a matter of consequence, with the utmost caution and exactness, to found a verdict upon. What they wrote they wrote as an affidavit, which they would abide by. Their writings are standing testimonies to the world of the truth of Christ's doctrine, and will be testimonies either for us or against us according as we do or do not receive it. (4.) It was graciously appointed, for the support and benefit of the church, that the history of Christ should be put into writing, that it might with the greater fulness and certainty spread to every place, and last through every age.
2. It concludes with an attestation of the truth of what had been here related: We know that his testimony is true. This may be taken either, (1.) As expressing the common sense of mankind in matters of this nature, which is, that the testimony of one who is an eye-witness, is of unspotted reputation, solemnly deposes what he has seen, and puts it into writing for the greater certainty, is an unexceptionable evidence. We know, that is, All the world knows, that the testimony of such a one is valid, and the common faith of mankind requires us to give credit to it, unless we can disprove it; and in other cases verdict and judgment are given upon such testimonies. The truth of the gospel comes confirmed by all the evidence we can rationally desire or expect in a thing of this nature. The matter of fact, that Jesus did preach such doctrines, and work such miracles, and rise from the dead, is proved, beyond contradiction, by such evidence as is always admitted in other cases, and therefore to the satisfaction of all that are impartial; and then let the doctrine recommend itself, and let the miracles prove it to be of God. Or, (2.) As expressing the satisfaction of the churches at that time concerning the truth of what is here related. Some take it for the subscription of the church of Ephesus, others of the angels or ministers of the churches of Asia to this narrative. Not as if an inspired writing needed any attestation from men, or could thence receive any addition to its credibility; but hereby they recommended it to the notice of the churches, as an inspired writing, and declared the satisfaction they received by it. Or, (3.) As expressing the evangelist's own assurance of the truth of what he wrote, like that (Joh 19:35), He knows that he saith true. He speaks of himself in the plural number, We know, not for majesty-sake, but for modesty-sake, as Jo1 1:1, That which we have seen; and Pe2 1:16. Note, The evangelists themselves were entirely satisfied of the truth of what they have testified and transmitted to us. They do not require us to believe what they did not believe themselves; no, they knew that their testimony was true, for they ventured both this life and the other upon it; threw away this life, and depended upon another, on the credit of what they spoke and wrote.
3. It concludes with an et cetera, with a reference to many other things, very memorable, said and done by our Lord Jesus, which were well known by many then living, but not thought fit to be recorded for posterity, Joh 21:25. There were many things very remarkable and improvable, which, if they should be written at large, with the several circumstances of them, even the world itself, that is, all the libraries in it, could not contain the books that might be written. Thus he concludes like an orator, as Paul (Heb 11:32), What shall I more say? For the time would fail me. If it be asked why the gospels are not larger, why they did not make the New Testament history as copious and as long as the Old, it may be answered,
(1.) It was not because they had exhausted their subject, and had nothing more to write that was worth writing; no, there were many of Christ's sayings and doings not recorded by any of the evangelists, which yet were worthy to be written in letter of gold. For, [1.] Every thing that Christ said and did was worth our notice, and capable of being improved. He never spoke an idle word, nor did an idle thing; nay, he never spoke nor did any thing mean, or little, or trifling, which is more than can be said of the wisest or best of men. [2.] His miracles were many, very many, of many kinds, and the same often repeated, as occasion offered. Though one true miracle might perhaps suffice to prove a divine commission, yet the repetition of the miracles upon a great variety of persons, in a great variety of cases, and before a great variety of witnesses, helped very much to prove them true miracles. Every new miracle rendered the report of the former the more credible; and the multitude of them renders the whole report incontestable. [3.] The evangelists upon several occasions give general accounts of Christ's preaching and miracles, inclusive of many particulars, as Mat 4:23, Mat 4:24; Mat 9:35; Mat 11:1; Mat 14:14, Mat 14:36; Mat 15:30; Mat 19:2; and many others. When we speak of Christ, we have a copious subject before us; the reality exceeds the report, and, after all, the one half is not told us. St. Paul quotes one of Christ's sayings, which is not recorded by any of the evangelists (Act 20:35), and doubtless there were many more. All his sayings were apophthegms.
(2.) But it was for these three reasons: - [1.] Because it was not needful to write more. This is implied here. There were many other things, which were not written because there was no occasion for writing them. What is written is a sufficient revelation of the doctrine of Christ and the proof of it, and the rest was but to the same purport. Those that argue from this against the sufficiency of the scripture as the rule of our faith and practice, and for the necessity of unwritten traditions, ought to show what there is in the traditions they pretend to be perfective of the written word; we are sure there is that which is contrary to it, and therefore reject them. By these therefore let us be admonished, for of making many books there is no end, Ecc 12:12. If we do not believe and improve what is written, neither should we if there had been much more. [2.] It was not possible to write all. It was possible for the Spirit to indite all, but morally impossible for the penmen to pen all. The world could not contain the books. It is a hyperbole common enough and justifiable, when no more is intended than this, that it would fill a vast and incredible number of volumes. It would be such a large and overgrown history as never was; such as would jostle out all other writings, and leave us no room for them. What volumes would be filled with Christ's prayers, had we the record of all those he made, when he continued all night in prayer to God, without any vain repetitions? Much more if all his sermons and conferences were particularly related, his miracles, his cures, all his labours, all his sufferings; it would have been an endless thing. [3.] It was not advisable to write much; for the world, in a moral sense, could not contain the books that should be written. Christ said not what he might have said to his disciples, because they were not able to bear it; and for the same reason the evangelists wrote not what they might have written. The world could not contain, chōrēsai. It is the word that is used, Joh 8:37, "My word has no place in you." They would have been so many that they would have found no room. All people's time would have been spent in reading, and other duties would thereby have been crowded out. Much is overlooked of what is written, much forgotten, and much made the matter of doubtful disputation; this would have been the case much more if there had been such a world of books of equal authority and necessity as the whole history would have swelled to; especially since it was requisite that what was written should be meditated upon and expounded, which God wisely thought fit to leave room for. Parents and ministers, in giving instruction, must consider the capacities of those they teach, and, like Jacob, must take heed of over-driving. Let us be thankful for the books that are written, and not prize them the less for their plainness and brevity, but diligently improve what God has thought fit to reveal, and long to be above, where our capacities shall be so elevated and enlarged that there will be no danger of their being over-loaded.
The evangelist, concluding with Amen, thereby sets to his seal, and let us set to ours, an Amen of faith, subscribing to the gospel, that it is true, all true; and an Amen of satisfaction in what is written, as able to make us wise to salvation. Amen; so be it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv20–22 Then Peter turning about,.... After he was risen, and…
Then Peter turning about,.... After he was risen, and was following Christ:
seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following also; by whom is designed John the Evangelist, and writer of this Gospel; who hearing Christ bid Peter follow him, rose up likewise, and went after him, in token of his willingness to serve him, and suffer for him too:
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which also leaned on his breast at supper; at the "paschal supper", as the Persic version here reads it: "and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?" This disciple had a peculiar share in the love of Christ, as man, and was admitted to great nearness and freedom with him, signified by his leaning on his breast; and who being so near his person, and allowed to use a liberty with him, everyone did not take, at the motion of Peter, asked our Lord at supper, who the person was he meant that should betray him; all this is said as descriptive of the disciple here spoken of, which leaves it without any doubt, that it was the Apostle John; and who, from Joh 21:2 appears to be one of this company, and is further confirmed at Joh 21:24.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv20, 22 Peter turning - As he was walking after Christ.…
Peter turning - As he was walking after Christ. Seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following him - There is a peculiar spirit and tenderness in this plain passage. Christ orders St. Peter to follow him in token of his readiness to be crucified in his cause. St. John stays not for the call; he rises and follows him too; but says not one word of his own love or zeal. He chose that the action only should speak this; and even when he records the circumstance, he tells us not what that action meant, but with great simplicity relates the fact only. If here and there a generous heart sees and emulates it, be it so; but he is not solicitous that men should admire it. It was addressed to his beloved Master, and it was enough that he understood it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v22 Verse 22. If I will that he tarry till…
Verse 22. If I will that he tarry till I come] There are several opinions concerning this: the following are the principal.
1. Some have concluded from these words that John should never die. Many eminent men, ancients and moderns, have been and are of this opinion.
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2. Others thought that our Lord intimated that John should live till Christ came to judge and destroy Jerusalem. On this opinion it is observed that Peter, who was the oldest of the apostles, died in the year 67, which, says Calmet, was six years before the destruction of Jerusalem; and that John survived the ruin of that city about thirty years, he being the only one of the twelve who was alive when the above desolation took place.
3. St. Augustin, Bede, and others, understood the passage thus: If I will that he remain till I come and take him away by a natural death, what is that to thee? follow thou me to thy crucifixion. On this it may be observed, that all antiquity agrees that John, if he did die, was the only disciple who was taken away by a natural death.
4. Others imagine that our Lord was only now taking Peter aside to speak something to him in private, and that Peter, seeing John following, wished to know whether he should come along with them; and that our Lord's answer stated that John should remain in that place till Christ and Peter returned to him; and to this meaning of the passage many eminent critics incline. For neatly eighteen hundred years, the greatest men in the world have been puzzled with this passage. It mould appear intolerable in me to attempt to decide, where so many eminent doctors have disagreed, and do still disagree. I rather lean to the fourth opinion. See the conclusion of the Preface to this Gospel.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv20, 22 Joh 21:20-21. Then Peter, turning about — Namely, as…
Joh 21:20-21. Then Peter, turning about — Namely, as he followed Jesus; seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following — Silently, and in humble token of his readiness likewise to suffer the greatest extremities in the service of so gracious a Master. Peter, seeing him follow Jesus in the same manner as he himself did, though he was not called to it, saith to Jesus, Lord, what shall this man do — What is to become of him? must he, who is now following with me, partake of the like sufferings, and in like manner testify his love by dying for thee? “There is a peculiar spirit and tenderness in this plain passage. Christ orders Peter to follow him, in token of his readiness to be crucified in his cause. John stays not for the call, he rises and follows him too; but says not one word of his own love or zeal. He chose that the action only should speak this; and even when he records the circumstance, he tells us not what the action meant, but with great simplicity relates the fact only. If here and there a generous heart sees and emulates it, be it so; but he is not solicitous that men should admire it. It was addressed to his beloved Master, and it was enough that he understood it.” — Doddridge.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv20–22 Which also leaned ... - See Joh 13:24-25.
Which also leaned ... - See Joh 13:24-25.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv21–22 Lord, what shall this man do? St. John Chrysostom…
Lord, what shall this man do? St. John Chrysostom thinks, it was the love and friendship, that St. Peter had for St. John, that moved him to ask this question. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v20 The Continuing Rule of Christ in his Church, Represented…
The Continuing Rule of Christ in his Church, Represented by The Ministry, Spiritual Life and Patriarchal Age of John; or the Destiny of the Church in Respect of her Predominantly Internal Character and Immortal Spiritual Life
THE CONTINUING RULE OF CHRIST IN HIS CHURCH, REPRESENTED BY THE MINISTRY, SPIRITUAL LIFE AND PATRIARCHAL AGE OF JOHN; OR THE DESTINY OF THE CHURCH IN RESPECT OF HER PREDOMINANTLY INTERNAL CHARACTER AND IMMORTAL SPIRITUAL LIFE
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Joh_21:20-23
(Joh_21:20-24, pericope for the third day after Christmas or for St. John the Evangelist’s day.)
20 Then [omit Then] 20 Peter, turning about [turning round], seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which [who] also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, 21 Lord, which [who] is he that betrayeth thee? Peter [therefore] 21 seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do [or, But how will it be with him? οὗτος δὲτί] ? 22Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? 22 follow [Follow] thou me. 23 23Then went this saying [This report therefore went] abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die [dieth not, was not to die, οὐκ ἀποθνήσκει]: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die [dieth not]; but, If t will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Joh_21:20. Following (also) [ἀκολουθοῦντα].—The following of John is to be explained as the result of the involuntary drawing of love. It Proves however, that John did not understand the Lord as wishing to make Peter the recipient of an exclusively confidential communication.
Who also leaned on His breast at the supper [ο͂ς καὶ ἀνέπεσεν ἐν τῷ δείπνῷ ἐπὶ τὸ στῆθος αὐτοῦ].—Wherefore this addition? Interpretations:
1. It is intended to bring to mind the incident Joh_13:23 ff., when John inquired of the Lord on Peter’s behalf, and to demonstrate the fact that Peter has now grown far bolder, insomuch that he himself questions Christ, and that in behalf of John (Chrysostom and others).
2. It is designed as an intimation to this effect; namely that, peradventure, a lot so full of sufferings as Peter’s might not be intended for the disciple so pre-eminently loved by Jesus (Meyer). As if Jesus in partiality protected His particular friends from sufferings!
3. It is intended to assign the motive for John’s following. 24 John, in referring to the fact that he was the confidant of Jesus at the Last Supper, doubtless means to intimate that it was allowable for him now, as the confidant of Jesus, freely to join Him. Peter himself had possibly understood the summons of Jesus as prefacing an instantaneous being “girded” by “another” for an entrance into the other world; John understood it as the prelude to a love-test to be administered at Christ’s withdrawal into concealment.
Joh_21:21. But how will it be with this (man)? 25 οὖτος δὲ τί; [sc.ἔσται]
Meaning op the question:
1. In accordance with the interpretation of the following as accomplished by martyrdom: How shall it be with this my fellow-combatant (Euthymius)?
2. In accordance with the literal interpretation of the following: Is he to be with us now? (Paulus).
3. What sort of a fate shall this man have in his calling? (Tholuck, Luthardt).
4. If Peter saw in the mysterious walk a test of joyful following, his first thought would be: John, without being called, exposes himself to a moment of difficulty. The question: Shall this man go too? had at the same time, then, the background: What shall become of this man?
Motive of the question:
1. Special love for John (Chrysostom, Erasmus, Luthardt).
2. A question prompted by curiosity and a certain jealousy (Lücke, Meyer).
3. Disapprobation of a supposed unauthorized accompanying (Paulus and others).
4. Curiosity and interest as to John’s fate. “A want of concentration, an excess of natural vivacity, was certainly involved in Peter’s ability to turn away his eyes so quickly from himself and his own destiny, and fasten them upon another.” Tholuck.
The self-consciousness with which Peter receives the disclosure and summons of the Lord, turns to compassion for John whose present and future task Jesus apparently fails to appoint. Between Jesus and John everything is understood of itself, tacitly, as it were, while between Jesus and Peter everything has to be expressed, discussed, in a degree stipulated. Now thinks Peter,—in all noble-mindedness, we may say,—the same course must be pursued with John, else will he come short in somewhat: he, therefore, must receive his instructions for now and for the future. Hence Christ, in His reproof, appeals to His will, not to a distinct instruction; while, indeed, indicating the substance of His will. [The words τί πρὸς δέ in the next verse imply a gentle rebuke (Bengel: hoc Petri curiositatem in ordinem redigit), and remind Peter of the distinctness of each man’s position and calling. Hence “Do thou follow Me,” instead of inquiring after him. See Meyer and Alford.—P. S.]
Joh_21:22. If I will that he remain [Ἐὰν αὐτὸν θέλω μένειν ἕως ἕρχομαι, τί πρός σέ;]—As we do not read that Jesus sent John back, or that He returned with Peter and John from the mysterious walk, we must (contrary to our first edition) admit that Tholuck is right in here rejecting the literal interpretation: “If I choose to leave him behind until I return from My walk with thee (Mark, Exerc. exeg. Similarly Paulus).”
In these words, however, Christ enwraps the prophecy concerning John. That he remain—tarry,—μένειν “the opposite of ἀκολουθεῖν which was to be accomplished through martyrdom; therefore: to be preserved alive. Comp. Php_1:25; 1Co_15:6.” Meyer.
Till I come [ἐως ἔρχομαι].
1. To lead him out of Galilee to apostolic activity (Theophyl).
2. In the destruction of Jerusalem (Wetstein and others) 26
3. Reference to the near Parousia of Christ (Lücke, [De Wette], Meyer).
4. In the destruction of Jerusalem as the beginning of the Parousia of Christ (Luthardt). [So also Bengel, Stier and Alford: “After the destruction of Jerusalem began that mighty series of events of which the Apocalypse is the prophetic record, and which is in the complex known as the coming of the Lord, ending, as it shall, with His glorious and personal Advent.” Bengel: “Joannes turn, quum Apocalypsin scripsit, Dominum, venire scripsit.”—P. S.]
5. Legendary interpretation: As expnessive of the mysterious surviving of the disciple until the end of the world. (Vulg.: Sic cum volo manere) see the Introduction [p. 12].
6. Hypothetical: Until the last coming (Rev_22:20). Tholuck: “The sentence hypothetically declares that not even the longest extension of the life-term of Peter’s fellow-disciple ought to be the occasion of jealousy.” [So also Trench, Miracles, p. 466, as quoted by Alford.—P. S.] Supposing the saying to be hypothetical, however, its prophetic meaning would be weakened.
7. The coming [of Jesus] to take [John to heaven] through the medium of an easy [natural] death (adventus gratiosus in artioulo mortis. Rupert, Grotius, Olshausen and others). [So also Lampe, Ewald, Wordsworth.] In opposition to this view Tholuck remarks: The characteristic καὶ παραλήψομαι is wanting. Nevertheless this interpretation alone forms a real antithesis; if ἀκολουθεῖν here mean: to follow the home-returning Jesus through the medium of martyrdom, and μένειν, on the other hand signify: to remain alive,—then to remain alive until I come, means also, until I come to take him. The destruction of Jerusalem, for instance, forms no contrast to martyrdom; neither does the Parousia itself. Such a contrast is presented, however, by a natural death. Natural death is the individual type, continuing throughout New Testament times, of the Parousia for the individual Christian (Mat_24:44; Joh_14:3, etc.); and this Parousia of Christ in the death of believers, is a warranty to them of their participation in the general Parousia (1Co_15:51; 1Th_4:15). Simultaneously with John’s remaining until the coming of Christ in the hour of his natural death, there is indicated, however, the remaining of the Johanneau type until the Parousia of Christ.
Joh_21:23. This saying therefore went abroad [Ἐξῆλθεν οὖν οὖτος ὁλόγος εἰς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ὅτι ὀ μαθητὴς ἐκεῖνος οὐκ ἀποθνήσκει].—The above mentioned tradition, which not even the Gospel has been able utterly to do away with. See the Introduction. According to Baur, that tradition grew out of the Revelation; the statement is entirely without foundation. The tradition to the effect that John did but slumber in the grave and moved the earth with his breath, was a synthesis of the fact of his death and the precipitate apodictic interpretation of Christ’s word.
Yet Jesus said not unto him [οὐκ εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷὁ ̓ Ιησοῦς].—This defense of Christ’s word against a precipitate interpretation is of the highest importance. It warrants the sure conclusion that John was still living when this was written; that consequently, it must have been written by him. Had John been dead, another author would have expressed himself positively against the interpretation of the brethren, giving, very probably, a different interpretation at the same time. The disciple, however, would not anticipate the mysterious purport of Christ’s saying which was as yet unfulfilled.
[“So also Alford, whose note may be added: The following words are to me a proof that this chapter was written during John’s life-time. If written by another person after John’s death, we should certainly, in the refutation of this error, have read, ἀπἐθανεν γὰρ, καὶ ἐτάφη, as in Act_2:29.” This notion of John’s not having died, was prevalent in the ancient Church,—so that Augustine himself seems almost to credit the story of the earth of John’s tomb heaving with his breath. Tract 124:2. “The English sect of the ‘Seekers’ under Cromwell expected the reappearance of the Apostle as the forerunner of the coming of Christ.” Tholuck. See Trench on the Miracles, ed. 2, p. 467, note. The simple recapitulation of the words of the Lord shows that their sense remained dark to the writer, who ventured on no explanation of them; merely setting his own side of the apostolic duty over against that of Peter, who probably had already by following his Master through the Cross, glorified God, whereas the beloved disciple was, whatever that meant, to tarry till He came.” Wordsworth makes the following practical remark on Joh_21:23 : “The Holy Spirit, by commenting here on a fulfilled prophecy, that concerning Peter, teaches us to attend to the fulfilment of prophecy in our own times. And by only correcting an error with regard to an unfulfilled prophecy,—that concerning St. John, He teaches us not to speculate curiously on unfulfilled prophecies; but to wait patiently, till Christ comes to us in the events of history, and interprets His own prophecies by fulfilling them.”—P. S.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The foregoing section should, above all, be valued as an eloquent token of the authenticity of this Gospel. Every later writer would, in one way or another, have labored after additional emphasis. See the last Exeg. Note.
2. The word of Jesus concerning John has been fulfilled, in a literal sense, in the circumstance of his dying a natural death at an advanced age. And it is in accordance with this fact, therefore, that we have to apply the saying in respect of its primary signification. That it, however, as well as the saying concerning Peter, was at the same time intended to designate John as a type of the post-temporal presence of Christ in the Church, is proved by the very fact that men gave vent to the feeling of the lofty significance of the saying, whose ideal sense they came short of, in mythical allegations touching the continuous on-living of John. See Exeg. Note to Joh_21:22. Further communications on this subject, as also concerning the dark counterpart of this tradition, the tradition of the Wandering Jew, see in Heubner, Joh. p. 542.
3. The higher sense of the saying, then, is expressive of a Johannean form of Christianity, just as the previous saying is significant of a Petrine form of the same. The words mean, therefore:
(1) There shall always be friends of God, friends of Christ, inward—subjective,—intuitive Christians, in accordance with the characteristic of John, representative of the innermost presence of Christ in the Church.
(2) In this form, the Christian spiritual life shall remain until Christ returns.
(3) The more the Petrine characteristic of the Church recedes, the more prominent will her Johannean characteristic become. The Church shall attain to maturity. She shall be a bride adorned with her ornaments, Rev_19:7-8.
4. Pauline Christianity may be regarded as a form of transition from the Petrine type to the Johannean. And so far as this, the schellingean distinction of the three Christian ages is correct. Only we must not identify Petrinism with Roman Catholicism, Paulinism with Protestantism (though in Protestantism, Paulinism has found its triumphant expression), and least of all must we make a synthesis of Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, affirming said synthesis to represent Johannean Christianity.
The Petrine characteristic is the trait of the Church as influenced by law; as the confessing Church; the Pauline is the trait of the Church as influenced by the freedom of faith; as the witnessing Church; the Johannean, the trait of the Church as filled with the ideality of faith, working and keeping joyful holiday, the Church of the light, love and life of Christ, i.e. the Adorned Bride. These three degrees of development, however, denote but the one unitous post-temporal presence of the Spirit of Christ in the Church, in accordance with the ground-forms of that presence. Now the two primitively distinct ground-forms are Peter and John. See the discussions on this subject: Apostolisches Zeitalter, II., p. 649, and the concluding section of Schaff’s History of the Apostolic Church.
5. John’s free joining in the following which Christ commanded Peter is likewise a characteristic of the Johannean essence. It is the involuntary drawing of love’s impulse and friendship’s right; the perfect humanity of the life of faith. The expression of this ripe spiritual fellowship with the glorified Lord makes so ghostly and yet so human an impression upon the world, that John passes, almost untouched, through its persecutions. He is exiled, but not killed. His keenest sufferings, however, are prepared him by the misconceptions of external circles of [religious] fellowship themselves, these latter stamping the Petrine as the statutory essence. He too, in his own way, is nailed to the cross like Peter, but not with heathen nails—ah no! with Christian or Judo-Christian; and, insomuch as this is true, with silver nails.
6. Here, then, belongs also the entire import of all Christian mysticism and speculation, in respect of their pure, ideal form.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The solemnization of the resurrection of Jesus: A call to follow Him.—The following of Jesus not simply a following of the Crucified One, but also of the Risen One.—The disciples’ following of the Lord: 1. In its unity, 2. in its diversity.—How Peter, as he follows the Lord, hears the rustle of John’s foot behind him.—The question of Peter: Lord, but what shall this man do? 1. In the mouth of Peter himself: well-meant and yet not wholly warranted; 2. in the mouth of those who boast of Peter: ill-meant and unwarrantable.—How the most zealous servants of Christ frequently fail to understand His most intimate friends.—John, the friend of Jesus, the patriarch of all the friends of God and of Christ.—Christ’s presence in the world and Church through the medium of the love of His friends.—Friendship with Christ on earth an undying spring, enduring until the summer-time at the end of the world.—If I will that he tarry: Christ’s will the fate of His people (if we live, we live unto the Lord, etc.)—How the Lord has appointed such different careers to His people, yet deciding for all aright.—Christ can insure the longest life.—“What is that to thee?” In what sense we should concern ourselves about our Christian colleague, and in what sense we should avoid so doing: 1. As to his spiritual welfare, but not as to the external form thereof; 2. as to the will of God concerning his way, not as to a human regulation of his way; 3. in divine sympathy, not in human comparison or in human rivalry.—Christ’s conference with Peter in regard to the destiny of John: 1. The question of Peter; 2. the answer of Christ; 3. the proud interpretation of the disciples; 4. the modest correction of John.—The remaining of John until Christ’s coming again: 1. In its historical sense; 2. in its symbolical import.
Starke: Lange: It becomes evident from this, that when Christ said to Peter, Follow Me, He advanced a few paces from him, desiring, in a prophetic manner, in conformity to which a secret matter was sometimes presented in outward gestures, to lead Peter, while claiming from him a bodily following for a short distance only, to a spiritual following, and, in particular, to a following to the death of the cross.—Zeisius: We all have, alas, an innate propensity to concern ourselves unnecessarily about others, rather than about ourselves. Therefore flee curiosity, Sir_3:22. It is one of the infirmities of believers to discover a kind of jealousy when they perceive others to possess gifts of grace, either physical or spiritual, in a greater degree than themselves, Jon_4:1 f.—Bibl. Wirt.: Let every man wait on his vocation, not troubling himself as to what God will do or decree with others.—Lampe: Moreover, we perceive from these words 1. The humility of John, in not being willing to have so great honor ascribed to him; 2. his solicitude for the brethren, whom he sought to free from error.
Geriach: John worked inward in the Church rather than outward.—Braune: Inscrutable and mysterious are the ways by which God leads us, until we are come to the end of them. Therefore abide by the testimony of Scripture, and attend every man to his own affairs.—Gossner: Why is it only to me that such things are said? That man gets off more easily. Before one can turn round, people are ready with questions like this: What shall this one and that one do?
Johannes Mueller, Lebensgeschichte 1806, p. 34, writes: “The opinion now starting up again that the disciple whom Jesus loved, did not die, is found, if I mistake not, in Sulpitius Severus, also Hist. S., Lib. II. I have frequently met with it in Greek legends, monologues, and chronicles, with this addition, viz., that the dust upon his grave is moved by the breath of his mouth.” P. John 106: “In a work of the Patriarch Ephraim, of Antioch (p. 545, Photius, num. 229, p. 418 of the Augsburg Edition 1604) it is positively affirmed that John is still living; that he has vanished, and that in his grave nought was found but a delicious odor and a precious spring of healing balm. George of Alexandria informs us (Photius num. 96, p. 139) that to the monk Hesychius, a Syrian, there appeared St. Peter and St. John, and that the latter delivered a book to the young monk, who was afterwards called Chrysostom. Of the tradition’s having come into our parts also, thou wilt find a proof in Hübner’s Salzburg, Part. I., p. 317.”—He who has promised to follow the Saviour can do nothing else than await His orders, composing himself to rest and be active as His Lord wills, and more than once to labor till he is weary.
Heubner: The question as to ourselves should concern us so entirely to the exclusion of all else, as to keep us quiet when hundreds are threatening to get precedence of us. We, perhaps, think ourselves ripe (to go home), but there are reasons why God decrees otherwise with us.
Joh_21:23 : It results from this verse that the apostles could not have been of the decided opinion that they would live to see the coming of Christ; otherwise they could not have ascribed such a destiny to John as a special prerogative.—The spirit of John shall never perish; it shall ever renew itself—never shall there be wanting loving and beloved Johannean souls.
[Craven: From Augustine: Joh_21:22. Let action be perfected by following the example of My Passion, but let contemplation wait inchoate till at My coming it be completed.—From Chrysostom: Joh_21:22. Attend to the work committed to thee, and do it: if I will that he abide here, what is that to thee?
[From Burkitt: Joh_21:20-22. There are two great vanities in man with reference to knowledge,—the one a neglect to know what it is our duty to know; the other, a curiosity to know what it doth not belong to us to know.
Joh_21:23. How much the wisdom of God ought to be admired, in giving us a written word, and tying us to it, when we see erroneous traditions so soon on foot in the world, and our Saviour’s own speeches so much mistaken, and that by wise and holy men themselves in the purest times.—How great is the vanity and uncertainty of oral tradition!
[From M. Henry: Joh_21:21. Peter seems more concerned for another than for himself: so apt are we to be busy in other men’s matters, but negligent in the concerns of our own souls.—He seems more concerned about event than about duty.
Joh_21:22. Though Christ calls out some of His disciples to resist unto blood, yet not all. Though the crown of martyrdom is bright and glorious, yet the beloved disciple comes short of it.—It is the will of Christ, that His disciples should mind their own present duty, and not be curious in their inquiries about future events, concerning either themselves or others.—If we will closely attend to the duty of following Christ, we shall find neither heart nor time to meddle with that which does not belong to us.
Joh_21:23. Hence learn, The aptness of men to misinterpret the sayings of Christ. The grossest errors have sometimes shrouded themselves under the umbrage of incontestable truths; and the Scriptures themselves have been wrested by the unlearned and unstable.
[From Scott: Joh_21:22 : Follow thou Me; If we attend to this voice, even “death itself will be gain to us,” and we shall be ready for His coming.—[From Keble: Joh_21:21-22.
“Lord, and what shall this man do?
Ask’st thou, Christian, for thy friend?
If his love for Christ be true,
Christ hath told thee of his end:
This is he whom God approves,
This is he whom Jesus loves.
Ask not of him more than this,
Leave it in his Saviour’s breast,
Whether, early called to bliss,
He in youth shall find his rest,
Or armed in his station wait
Till his Lord be at the gate.”
[From A Plain Commentary (Oxford): Joh_21:22. Our Lord’s words to Peter are made up of rebuke and counsel. What is that to thee?—which of us has not deserved the rebuke? Follow thou Me! which of us does not require the counsel? The heart and eye are thus called away from the problem which perplexes, the prospect which discourages, the thoughts which distract and paralyze; and a plain duty is proposed instead. Not speculation, is enjoined, but practice; not knowledge, but goodness; not another man’s matters, but our own.—“This was a transient stumbling in one who, but lately recovered of a great disease, did not walk firmly. But it is the common track of most, to wear out their days with impertinent inquiries. There is a natural desire in men to know the things of others, and to neglect their own; and to be more concerned about things to come, than about things present.” (Leighton.)
[From Barnes: Joh_21:22. Hence we learn that 1. Our main business is to follow, and imitate the Lord Jesus Christ; 2. There are many subjects of religion on which a vain and impertinent curiosity is exercised; 3. Jesus will take care of all His beloved disciples, and we should not be unduly solicitous about them; 4. We should go forward to whatever He calls us, not envying the lot of any other man, and anxious only to do the will of God.
[From Jacobus: Joh_21:22. The intimation was that “John was to wait patiently, to linger on year after year in loneliness and weariness of spirit, to abide persecution, oppression and wrong (Rev_1:9), to endure the enmity of the wicked (1Jn_3:13), and the sight of heresies abounding in the Church (1Jn_2:18-26), as if to exemplify in himself all classes of the faithful, and the various modes of drinking the cup of Christ.”—Thou (emphatic); “They, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” 2Co_10:12.—Each must do his own duty, which is not another’s, and whether another shall do his own duty or not.—Christian liberality is cramped with many by the constant asking of this question, “What shall this man do?” when the question should be, “What shall I do?”
Joh_21:23. Let us fall back upon God’s word—study its precise terms—and bring out its very language more and more to the public understanding: and thus will many an error be stripped of its disguises, many a perversion of God’s will be exposed, and the Church shall “grow up in all things unto Him who is the Head.”
[From Owen: Joh_21:23. “John was earlier than the other disciples prepared for the death of martyrdom, as the most perfect sacrifice of obedience to God, and of love to God and man; but that was the very reason why he was not to taste the martyr’s death. John consummated in his life and natural death what the martyrs sealed in their final sacrifice, namely, the victorious manifestation of the love of God and man.” (Stier.)]
Footnotes:
[20]Joh_21:20.—[The text. rec. inserts δἐ after ἐπιστραφεὶς, with א. D., so also Lange; but A. B. C. Vulg. omit it, so also Lachm., Tischond., Alf., Westc—P. S.]
[21]Joh_21:21.—[The text. rec. omits οὑν after τοῦτον, which is well supported by Orig., א B. C. D. Vulg. Syr., and adopted by the critical edd.—P. S.]
[22]Joh_21:22.—[Noyes: “If it be my will (θέλω) that he remain till I come, what is it to thee?”]
[23]Joh_21:22.—[Alford, to bring out the emphatic position of σύ and μοι more fully, translates: “Do thou follow Me.”—P. S.]
[24][So also Alford, who sees in this description of the beloved disciple a strong token of John’s hand having written this chapter. See chap, Joh_13:23.—P. S.]
[25][Lange: Was soil aber dieser?]
[26][Next to this might be ranked the unfounded view or Hengstenberg: the time of the decisive struggle between Christ and Rome, which commenced under Domitian.—P. S.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv20–22 Peter, turning about--showing that he followed immediately as directed.
Peter, turning about--showing that he followed immediately as directed.
seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on Jesus' breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?--The Evangelist makes these allusions to the peculiar familiarity to which he had been admitted on the most memorable of all occasions, perhaps lovingly to account for Peter's somewhat forward question about him to Jesus; which is the rather probable, as it was at Peter's suggestion that he put the question about the traitor which he here recalls (Joh 13:24-25).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv20, 22 20. Peter, turning about—His face is towards the Lord,…
20. Peter, turning about—His face is towards the Lord, as in the act of following his footsteps. But John’s movement, in following also, attracted Peter’s eyes. As his own tragic destiny had been sketched by Jesus, an interest arises to know also the future fate of the Lord’s own beloved John. But the question is abruptly put in the Greek, But this man, what?
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv20–22 20–23. The Misunderstood Saying respecting the Evangelist
20–23. The Misunderstood Saying respecting the Evangelist
20. Peter, turning about, seeth] Omit ‘then.’ The graphic details are those of an eyewitness.
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leaned] Better, leaned back. The allusion is to the momentary change of posture (Joh_13:25) in order to ask who was the traitor, not to the position which he occupied next our Lord throughout the meal (Joh_13:23).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv20–22 (20) Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus…
(20) Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following.—We must suppose that St. Peter had retired with our Lord, and that St. John seeing this had followed at a distance. He had been the companion and friend of St. Peter (comp. Introduction, p. 371). More than any other—and this is made prominent here—he had entered into close communion with the Lord Himself. He was called the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (comp. Joh_20:2, and Introduction, p. 375); he had leaned on His breast at supper, and, at a sign from Peter, had asked who was the traitor; he may well think that for him too there was some glimpse into the future, some declaration of what his path should be; or in that mingling of act and thought, of sign and thing signified, which run all through these verses, his following may indicate that he too, though he had never dared to say so, was ready to follow wherever the Master went.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv20–21 Vers. 20-23. (3) The revelations made to patient waiting…
Vers. 20-23. (3) The revelations made to patient waiting for the coming of the Lord, with correction of a misunderstanding touching the disciple whom Jesus loved.
Having turned himself round, instead of keeping every glance for his Lord, Peter seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following (akolouyounta), obeying the command without offering one suggestion. The writer adds, by way of further identification, he who also leaned back at the supper, upon his breast, and said, Who is he that betrayeth thee? (see notes on Joh_13:23). The note is here introduced to show the close connection of Peter and the beloved disciple. It was Simon Peter who had beckoned at the supper to the beloved disciple to ask this very question.
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Vers. 20-23. The mystery of John"s future.
The Apostle Peter began to follow Jesus as he went forth, and, turning round, saw John following. He is anxious to know the future destiny of his fellow-disciple.
I PETER"S QUESTION CONCERNING JOHN. "Lord, and what shall this man do?" or, literally, "Lord, and this man! what?
1. Consider the motive of this question.
(1) It was not prompted by mere curiosity;
(2) nor, as some unworthily suppose, by a feeling of rising jealousy, as if the Lord had reserved for John a happier destiny and a more peaceful end than that predicted for Peter himself.
(3) It was prompted by the purest love to a disciple from whom Peter did not desire to be separated in life or in death.
(a) They were two apostles most intimately linked together in the associations of our Lord"s ministry. They were two of the three honored with the more intimate confidence of our Lord apart with him
(i) in the house of Jairus;
(ii) in the Mount of Transfiguration;
(iii) in the garden of Gethsemane.
(b) Their very variety of gifts and temperament tended to cement the relationship more closely together. The one was the man of reflection; the other, of action.
2. Consider the meaning of this question. "Lord, and what shall this man do?" Is he destined to suffer and die like me? Or is he destined to a still longer life and a more peaceful and natural death?
II OUR LORD"S ANSWER TO THE QUESTION. "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
1. The answer assumes a certain tone of rebuke, as if Peter"s question lay somewhat outside the sphere of his own direct concernment and duty.
2. It implies that the Lord exercises a Divine sovereignty over the lives and over the deaths of his servants. The Lord can make his servants "tarry" in the world as long as it pleases him.
3. It implies that his servants ought to tarry till the Lord comes. The words, therefore; rebuke
(1) the madness of the wretched suicide who is in haste to fling away his life;
(2) and the eager longing for death, sometimes manifested even by God"s saints, who are weary of the troubles of life and anxious for the rest of heaven. They ought, rather, to work on till the Lord comes, and to accept either death or life, after Paul"s manner, as either may seem best to the Lord himself or best for the good of the Church. (Php_1:24)
4. The answer of our Lord implies that each disciple has a distinct position in the world. "What is that to thee? follow thou me.
(1) It asserts each man"s individuality. Each man has
(a) his more separate sphere of responsibility;
(b) his separate cares;
(c) his separate destiny.
(2) Therefore each man must look primarily to himself and his own duty.
(a) Our Lord does not censure the regard of social relations;
(b) but the neglect of individual concern, the disposition to interest one"s self unduly in other people"s concerns.
5. The answer of our Lord implies that we are bound to follow him through all the mystery that surrounds our path. "Follow thou me." Peter is to follow Christ whether he knows or not the future destiny of his beloved fellow-disciple.
(1) Men are sometimes loath to follow Christ because of the pressure of intellectual, or moral, or personal difficulties. This is a ruinous as well as foolish policy.
(2) Our duty is to follow Christ in the hope either
(a) that he will solve our difficulties,
(b) or that he will give us peace in presence of difficulties, in the hope of their future solution. Let us deal with the duty of the hour, and leave the future to God.
6. The answer of our Lord implies that John would tarry till his coming.
"If I will that he tarry till I come." The words are dark enough in their meaning, yet history seems to interpret them.
(1) The brethren of that day imagined that John would never die. John himself corrects this misapprehension, without, however, giving any interpretation of our Lord"s mysterious words.
(2) The tradition existed long in the Church even in the third and fourth centuries that John was even then alive, awaiting the Lord"s coming.
(3) The Lord meant to say that John would survive till his coming at the destruction of Jerusalem. This event was not more than a generation distant at the time.
(a) Scripture speaks of the Lord"s coming in connection with that event, which, by sweeping away the Jewish commonwealth, would leave the ground clear for the establishment of the kingdom of God.
(b) John did, as a matter of fact, long survive this event.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv20–21 The disciple whom Jesus loved
Joh_21:20
The disciple whom Jesus loved
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The beloved disciple
Our Lord loved all His disciples: I have called you friends.
And yet within that circle of love there was an innermost place in which the beloved John was favoured to dwell. Those who display an extraordinary love to one are all the more capable of great affection to many; and therefore, because Jesus loved John most, I have an enhanced estimate of His love to the other disciples. John was raised, and they were not lowered, but raised with him. Be thankful to be among the brotherhood who can each say, He loved me, and gave Himself for me, but strive to rise to the highest point of love. Why should you not ere long be styled like Daniel, a man greatly beloved? or like John, that disciple whom Jesus loved? Consider
I. THE NAME ITSELF.
1. It is a name which John alone gives to himself. He repeats it five times, and all the early writers recognize him under that title. Do not suspect him, however, of egotism. With a sweet naiveté which makes him quite forget himself, John took the name which he knew most accurately described him. Often there is more pride in not witnessing to what God has done for us than in speaking of it. Everything depends upon the spirit which moves us.
2. It is a name in which John hides himself. He would travel through his own gospel incognito. We find him out, however; he wears His Masters love as a veil, though it turns out to be a veil of light.
3. It is a name in which John felt himself most at home. No other title would so well describe him. Jesus doubtless treasured him, His Jonathan, His John, His God-gift; but John does not so much think of his being of any service to his Lord, as of that which his Lord had been to him.
4. This name was very precious to him, because it evoked the sunniest memories of his life. Those years in which he had been with Jesus must have been looked upon by him in his old age as the crown and glory of his earthly existence.
5. That name was a powerful spring of action to him as long as he lived. How could he be false to Him who had loved him so?
6. It was a name which was never disputed. You do not find any one complaining of John for thus describing himself. The apostles tacitly acknowledged that their Lord was perfectly right in His choice. The truly loved one of God generally receives the love of his brethren, ay, and when a mans ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
II. THE CHARACTER WHICH LAY BELOW IT. Let us look at
1. His personality as an individual.
(1) His was a large and warm heart. Perhaps his main force lies in the intensity of his nature. His whole soul was engaged in His Lords cause, for he was a deep thinker, a silent student, and then a forceful actor.
(2) He was exceedingly vivid in his beliefs. Read his epistle and see how many times he says we know. There are no ifs about him.
(3) Putting all together that we know about his personality, we look upon him as a man who was the reverse of your cold, calculating, slow-moving son of diffidence. He was quite the reverse of those dried, juiceless brethren who have no human nature in them--men who do no wrong for they do nothing at all.
2. His relation to his Lord. Jesus loved him as a disciple.
(1) If we teach we love teachable people: such was John. He was a man quick to learn; not like Thomas, slow, argumentative, cautious.
(2) He was a disciple of very keen eye, seeing into the soul of his Instructors teaching. His emblem in the early Church was the eagle which soars and sees from afar. John saw the spiritual meaning of types and emblems. His first master was the Baptist, and John was so good a follower of the Forerunner that he immediately followed the Lord Himself, to whom the Forerunner introduced him.
(3) He was full of faith to accept what he was taught. He believed it thoroughly. He did not believe as some people do, with the finger-ends of theft understanding, but gripped the truth with both hands. His faith wrought in him a strong and enduring love, for faith worketh by love.
(4) John had great receptiveness. He drank in what he was taught. He was not a great talker. His only recorded utterance, if we except his mothers request, and the Lord, who is it? which Peter put into his mouth, is It is the Lord.
(5) John had intense love for his Teacher; he not only received the truth, but he received the Master Himself. A true heart may as well be seen in its weakness as in its excellence. Johns intolerance with those who cast out devils but followed not Christ, and with the Samaritans only showed his burning love for Jesus. If he gives way to ambition it is an ambition to reign with the despised Galilean. He does not want a throne unless it be at his Leaders side. Moreover, what faith there was in that request of his mothers. It reminds one of the courage of the Roman who when Rome was in the hands of the enemy purchased a house within the walls: John heroically asks for a throne at the side of One who was about to die on the cross, for he feels sure that He will triumph.
3. As an instructed person
(1) He grew to know more and more, and doubtless our Lord loved Him because of the tenderness which was produced by grace out of his natural warmth. How tender he was to Peter after that apostles grievous fall, for early in the morning John goes with him to the sepulchre.
(2) He was a man who under the tutorship of Christ grew to be very spiritual and deep. The words he uses in his Epistles are mostly monosyllables, but what mighty meanings they contain! The other evangelists give us Christs miracles, and certain of His sermons, but His profound discourses, and His matchless prayer, are reserved for that disciple whom Jesus loved.
(3) Of all the disciples John was most Christlike. Jesus loved John for what He saw of Himself in him, created by His grace.
III. THE LIFE WHICH GREW OUT OF THIS EXTRAORDINARY LOVE OF CHRIST. It was a life of
1. Intimate communion. John was wherever Christ was. When all the disciples sit at the table, even Peter is not nearest the Lord, but John leans his head upon His bosom. If you are a man greatly beloved, your fellowship will be with Christ from day to day.
2. Special instruction. He was taught things which no others knew, for they could not bear them. They shall see most who love most.
3. Amazing depth. If he did not say much he was taking it all in for future use. He was a son of thunder, because, as a thunder-cloud is charged with electricity, so had he gathered up the mysterious force of his Lords life, love, and truth. When he did break out there was a voice like the voice of God. What a flash of lightning is the Apocalypse! What awful thunders sleep within the vials and the trumpets!
4. Special usefulness. He was entrusted with choice commissions involving high honour--the care of Christs mother, e.g. When you love Jesus much He will trust His mother to you; I mean His Church and the poorest people in it, such as widows and orphans, and poor ministers.
5. Extraordinary heavenliness. They call him John the Divine, and he was so. His eagle wings bore him aloft into the heavenly places. The Lords Day found him in the Spirit, waiting for Him that cometh with clouds--so waiting that He who is the Alpha and Omega hastened to reveal Himself to him. He had lovingly followed the Lamb of God, and therefore he was made meet to see Him as the Lamb in the midst of the throne.
IV. LESSONS:
1. You who are young begin soon. John was converted when quite a young man. Youthful piety has the most profitable opportunity of becoming eminent piety.
2. Let us give our hearts best thoughts to spiritual things. The Lord takes no delight in broad phylacteries and superstitious observances. The Father seeketh those to worship Him who worship Him in spirit and in truth. Be spiritual, and you are among those who are likely to be men greatly beloved.
3. Cherish a holy warmth. Do not repress your emotions and freeze your souls. Some brethren are gifted with refrigerating power. When you shake hands with them, you would think that you had hold of a fish. These chilly mortals have never traversed the sunny regions of heavenly love. Pray for earnest, eager, intense affection.
4. Let your nature be tender and kind. The man who is habitually cross and frequently angry cannot walk with God. A pitiful, compassionate, unselfish, generous heart is that which our Lord approves.
5. Rise to heavenliness. Do not be miserable money-grubbers, or sordid earth-worms; do not be pleasure hunters and novelty seekers. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On v22 22. If I will that he tarry till I…
22. If I will that he tarry till I come. This is spoken of John, and the words have caused much discussion. They surely convey the idea that John would remain on the earth, after the other apostles depart, until the Lord came once more. He did linger long after all the other apostles were gone. It is the testimony of church history that he did not die until about the close of the first century, many years after the other apostles were at rest. He tarried; did the Lord come to him? At least sixty years after the Lord spoke these words John was an exile on the isle of Patmos. There on the Lord's day he writes: “I heard a great voice,” and “I saw one like the Son of man,” blazing in such glory that, filled with awe, he “fell at his feet as dead.” Then follow these words of the Savior, the seven letters, and the visions of Revelation. Here was a visible coming and John tarried until that coming. He alone of the Twelve saw the Lord, after his ascension, once more on the earth.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v20 Section 7. (Joh 21:20-25.)
Section 7. (Joh 21:20-25.)
John completing the interval till the coming of Christ.
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We come now to the Lord’s words as to John, which have for us a deeper concern. Peter, turning about, sees John following; and with a natural, but perhaps too merely human interest, asks, "Lord, and what as to this man?" He answers, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me." This saying, we learn, though put only in the form of a question, was taken by the disciples as intimating that that disciple therefore would not die; but that this was not really what the Lord had said. The apostle who writes this, and of whom it is written, knew apparently no more than the rest: he simply guards against what might be a misconception. That is impossible now; but it leaves the question for us still, what then did the Lord mean? Was it only a rebuke to Peter? Either it is that, or there must be, one would say, some way by which John could live on, other than personally, and which may explain the mysterious words.
It is simple enough to say that John lives on in his writings. But then it might be urged, that is only what all the inspired writers will; still it cannot but come to mind that, in fact, John’s writings not only predict circumstantially the Lord’s return, but stretch over all the intervening time till then. While he does not take us up into heaven, as Paul does, and show us our place in the glorified Man up there, yet all the more he seems to abide with the people of God on earth until dhrist’s return, as a human presence watching and caring for them. John may be thus truly said to be waiting with those on earth for his absent Lord in a way in which we could not speak of any other inspired writer.
Even his epistles declare the last time to be here, and while watching over the development of the life (which is, as we know, his great subject) in babes, young men, and fathers, gives them instruction as to Antichrist. His doctrine, in the Gospel and epistles, is a connecting link between Paul on the one hand, and those who treat of the practical walk, as do the writers of the other General Epistles. But he fills this, as no other, with the personal glory of Christ, the Only-begotten Son in the bosom of the Father.
He is thus really a conservative presence: binding Scripture and the brotherhood of Christians also into a unity that is power to "abide," -a favorite word of his, and which the Lord uses as to himself. We need not wonder to read upon his golden belt the words which most of all are fundamental to a unity of life, a living unity, —Light, and Love!
The apostle closes his Gospel with another reminder of the inadequacy of all human words to tell out His glory, of whom he has been speaking. If it were attempted to tell out all, the world would be unable to contain the books that would be written. It would be an impracticable load to lift, rather than a help to clearer apprehension. How thankful we may be for the moderation that has compressed what would be really blessing to us into such a moderate compass! which yet, as we all must know, develops into whatever largeness we may have capacity for. Our Bibles are thus the same, and quite manageable by any. On the other hand, are we burning to know more? we may go on without any limit, except that which our little faith or heart may impose. May God awaken our hearts to test for themselves the expansive power of Scripture, and whether we can find a limit anywhere! Like the inconceivable immensity of the heavens, ever increasing as the power of vision is lengthened, we go on to find that the further we go only the more does the thought of infinity rise upon us; but this infinity is filled with an Infinite Presence; in every leaf-blade, in every atom, yet transcending all His works; and "to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him."
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v21 Joh 21:21 - Joh 21:22.
John
‘THEY ALSO SERVE WHO ONLY STAND AND WAIT’
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Joh 21:21 - Joh 21:22.
We have seen in a former sermon that the charge of the risen Christ to Peter, which immediately precedes these verses, allotted to him service and suffering. The closing words of that charge ‘Follow Me!’ had a deep significance, as uniting both parts of his task in the one supreme command of imitation of his Master.
But the same words had also a simpler meaning, as inviting the Apostle to come apart with Christ at the moment, for some further token of His love or indication of His will. Peter follows; but in following, naturally turns to see what the little group, sitting silent there by the coal fire on the beach, may be doing, and he notices John coming towards them, with intent to join them.
What emboldened John to thrust himself, uncalled for, into so secret an interview? The words in which he is described in the context answer the question. ‘He was the disciple whom Jesus loved, which also leaned on His breast at Supper, and said, Lord! which is he that betrayeth Thee?’ He was also bound by close ties to Peter. So with the familiarity of ‘perfect love which casteth out fear,’ he felt that the Master could have no secrets from him, and no charge to give to his friend which he might not share.
Peter’s swift question, ‘Lord! and what shall this man do?’ though it has been often blamed, does not seem very blameworthy. There was perhaps a little touch of his old vivacity in it, indicating that he had not been sufficiently subdued and sobered by the prospect which Christ had held out to him; but far more than that there was a natural interest in his friend’s fate, and something of a wish to have his company on the path which he was to tread. Christ’s answer, ‘If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me!’ gently rebukes any leaven of evil that there may have been in the question; warns him against trying to force other people into his groove; with solemn emphasis reiterates his own duty; and, in effect, bids him let his brother alone, and see that he himself discharges the ministry which he has received of the Lord.
The enigmatical words of Christ, and the long life of the Apostle, which seemed to explain them, naturally bred an interpretation of them in the Early Church which is recorded here, as I believe, by the Evangelist himself, to the effect that John, like another Enoch at the beginning of a new world, was to escape the common lot. And very beautiful is the quiet way in which the Evangelist put that error on one side, by the simple repetition of his Master’s words, emphasising their hypothetical form and their enigmatical character: ‘Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?’
Now all this, I think, is full of lessons. Let me try to draw one or two of them briefly now.
I. First, then, we have in that majestic ‘If I will!’ the revelation of the risen Christ as the Lord of life and death.
In His charge to Peter, Christ had asserted His right absolutely to control His servant’s conduct and fix his place in the world, and His power to foresee and forecast his destiny and his end. But in these words He goes a step further. ‘I will that he tarry’; to communicate life and to sustain life is a divine prerogative; to act by the bare utterance of His will upon physical nature is a divine prerogative. Jesus Christ here claims that His will goes out with sovereign power amongst the perplexities of human history and into the depths of that mystery of life; and that He, the Son of Man, ‘quickens whom He will,’ and has power ‘to kill and to make alive.’ The words would be absurd, if not something worse, upon any but divine lips, that opened with conscious authority, and whose Utterer knew that His hand was laid upon the innermost springs of being.
So, in this entirely incidental fashion, you have one of the strongest and plainest instances of the quiet, unostentatious and habitual manner in which Jesus Christ claimed for Himself properly divine prerogatives.
Remember that He who thus spoke was standing before these seven men there, in the morning light, on the beach, fresh from the grave. His resurrection had proved Him to be the Lord of death. He had bound it to His chariot-wheels as a Conqueror. He had risen and He stood there before them with no more mark of the corruption of the grave upon Him than there are traces of the foul water in which a sea bird may have floated, on its white wing that flashes in the sunshine as it soars. And surely as these men looked to Christ, ‘declared to be the Son of God with power, by His resurrection from the dead, ‘they may have begun, however ‘foolish and slow of heart’ they were ‘to believe,’ to understand that ‘to this end Christ both died and rose and revived, that He might be the Lord both of the dead and of the living,’ both of death and of life.
These two Apostles’ later history was full of proofs that Christ’s claim was valid. Peter is shut up in prison and delivered once, at the very last moment, when hope was almost dead, in order that he might understand that when he was put into another prison and not delivered, the blow of martyrdom fell upon him, not because of the strength of his persecutors, but because of the will of his Lord. And John had to see his brother James, to whom he had been so closely knit, with whom he had pledged himself to drink the cup that Christ drank of, whom he had desired to have associated with himself in the special honours in the Messianic Kingdom-he had to see him slain, first of the Apostles, while he himself lingered here long after all his early associates were gone. He had, no doubt, many a longing to depart. Solitary, surrounded by a new world, pressed by many cares, he must often have felt that the cross which he had to carry was no lighter than that laid on those who had passed to their rest by martyrdom. To him it would often be martyrdom to live. His personal longing is heard for a moment in the last words of the Apocalypse, ‘Amen! even so, come, Lord Jesus!’-but undoubtedly for the most part he stayed his heart on his Lord’s will, and waited in meek patience till he heard the welcome announcement, ‘The Master is come and calleth for thee.’
And, dear friends! that same belief that the risen Christ is the Lord of life and death, is the only one that can stay our hearts, or make us bow with submission to His divine will. He who has conquered death by undergoing it is death’s Lord as well as ours, and when He wills to bring His friends home to Himself, saith to that black-robed servant, ‘Go, and he goeth; do this and he doeth it.’ The vision which John saw long after this on another shore, washed by a stormier sea, spoke the same truth as does this majestic ‘I will’-’He that liveth and became dead and is alive for evermore,’ is by virtue of His divine eternal life, and has become in His humanity by virtue of His death and resurrection the Lord of life and death. The hands that were nailed to the Cross turn the keys of death and Hades. ‘He openeth and no man shutteth; He shutteth and no man openeth.’
II. We have here before us, in this incident, the service of patient waiting.
‘If I will that he tarry, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me.’ Peter is the man of action, not great at reflection; full of impulse, restless until his hands can do something to express his thoughts and his emotions. On the very Mount of Transfiguration he wanted to set to work and build ‘three tabernacles,’ instead of listening awed to the divine colloquy. In Galilee he cannot wait quietly for his Master to come, but must propose to his friends to ‘go a fishing.’ In the fishing-boat, as soon as he sees the Lord he must struggle through the sea to get at Him; whilst John sits quiet in the boat, blessed in the consciousness of his Master’s presence and in silently gazing at Him verily there. All through the first part of the Acts of the Apostles his bold energy goes flashing and flaming. It is always his voice that rings out in the front, whether preaching on the Pentecost Day, bringing healing to the sick, or fronting the Sanhedrim. His element is in the shock of conflict and the strain of work.
John, on the other hand, seldom appears in the narrative. When he does so he stands a silent figure by the side of Peter, and disappears from it altogether before very long. We do not hear that he did anything. He seems to have had no part in the missionary work of the Church.
He ‘tarried,’ that was all. The word is the same-’abide’-which is so often upon his lips in his Gospel and in his Epistles, as expressive of the innermost experience of the Christian soul, the condition of all fruitfulness, blessedness, knowledge and Christ-likeness. Christ’s charge to John to ‘tarry’ did not only, as his brethren misinterpreted it, mean that his life was to be continued, but it prescribed the manner of his life. It was to be patient contemplation, a ‘dwelling in the house of the Lord,’ a keeping of his heart still, like some little tarn up amongst the silent hills, for heaven with all its blue to mirror itself in.
And that quiet life of contemplation bore its fruit. In his meditation the deeds and words of his Master slowly grew ever more and more luminous to him. Deeper meanings came out, revealing new constellations, as he gazed into that opening heaven of memory. He reaped ‘the harvest of a quiet eye’ and garnered the sheaves of it in his Gospel, the holy of holies of the New Testament; and in his Epistles, in which he proclaims the first and last word of revelation, ‘God is love’-the pure diamond that hangs at the end of the golden chain let down from Heaven. Often, no doubt, his brethren thought him ‘but an idler in the land,’ but at last his ‘tarrying’ was vindicated.
Now, dear brethren! in all times of the world’s history that form of Christian service needs to be pressed upon busy people. And there never was a time in the world’s history, or in the Church’s history, when it more needed to be pressed upon the ordinary Christian man than at this day. The good and the bad of our present Christianity, and of our present social life, conspire to make people think that those who are not at work in some external form of Christian service for the good of their fellows are necessarily idlers. Many of them are so, but by no means all, and there is always the danger that the external work which good, earnest people do shall become greater than can be wholesomely and safely done by them without their constant recourse to this solitary meditation, and to tarrying before God.
The stress and bustle of our everyday life; the feverish desire for immediate results; the awakened conviction that Christianity is nothing if not practical; the new sense of responsibility for the condition of our fellows; the large increase of all sorts of domestic, evangelistic, and missionary work among all churches in this day-things to be profoundly thankful for, like all other good things have their possible dangers; and it is laid on my heart to warn you of these now. For the sake of our own personal hold on Jesus Christ, for the sake of our progress in the knowledge of His truth, and for the sake of the very work which some of us count so precious, there is need that we shall betake ourselves to that still communion. The stream that is to water half a continent must rise high in the lonely hills, and be fed by many a mountain rill in the solitude, and the men who are to keep the freshness of their Christian zeal, and of the consecration which they will ever feel is being worn away by the attrition even of faithful service, can only renew and refresh it by resorting again to the Master, and imitating Him who prepared Himself for a day of teaching in the Temple by a night of communion on the Mount of Olives.
Further, there is here a lesson of tolerance for us all. Practical men are always disposed, as I said, to force everybody else into their groove. Martha is always disposed to think that Mary is idle when she is ‘sitting at Christ’s feet,’ and wants to have her come into the kitchen and help her there. The eye which sees must not say to the hand which toils, nor the hand to the eye, ‘I have no need of thee.’ There are men who cannot think much; there are men who cannot work much. There are men whom God has chosen for diligent external service; there are men whom God has chosen for solitary retired musing; and we cannot dispense with either the one or the other. Did not John Bunyan do more for the world when he was shut up in Bedford Gaol and dreamed his dream than by all his tramping about Bedfordshire, preaching to a handful of cottagers? And has not the Christian literature of the prison, which includes three at least of Paul’s Epistles, proved of the greatest service and most precious value to the Church?
We need all to listen to the voice which says, ‘Come ye apart by yourselves into a solitary place, and rest awhile.’ Work is good, but the foundation of work is better. Activity is good, but the life which is the basis of activity is even more. There is plenty of so-called Christian work to-day which I fear me is not life but mechanism; has slipped off its original foundations, and is, therefore, powerless. Let us tolerate the forms of service least like our own, not seek to force other men into our paths nor seek to imitate them. Let Peter flame in the van, and beard high priests, and stir and fight; and let John sit in his quiet horns, caring for his Lord’s mother, and holding fellowship with his Lord’s Spirit.
III. Lastly, we have here the lesson of patient acquiescence in Christ’s undisclosed will.
The error into which the brethren of the Apostle fell as to the meaning of the Lord’s words was a very natural one, especially when taken with the commentary which John’s unusually protracted life seemed to append to it. We know that that belief lingered long after the death of the Apostle; and that legends, like the stories that are found in many nations of heroes that have disappeared, but are sleeping in some mountain recess, clustered round John’s grave; over which the earth was for many a century believed to heave and fall with his gentle breathing.
John did not know exactly what his Master meant. He would not venture upon a counter-interpretation. Perhaps his brethren were right, he does not know; perhaps they were wrong, he does not know. One thing he is quite sure of, that what his Master said was: ‘If I will that he tarry.’ And he acquiesces quietly in the certainty that it shall be as his Master wills; and, in the uncertainty what that will is, he says in effect: ‘I do not know, and it does not much matter. If I am to go to find Him, well! If He is to come to find me, well again! Whichever way it be, I know that the patient tarrying here will lead to a closer communion hereafter, and so I leave it all in His hands.’
Dear brethren! that is a blessed state that you and I may come to; a state of quiet submission, not of indifference but of acquiescence in the undisclosed will of our loving Christ about all matters, and about this alternative of life or death amongst the rest. The soul that has had communion with Jesus Christ amidst the imperfections here will be able to refer all the mysteries and problems of its future to Him with unshaken confidence. For union with Him carries with it the assurance of its own perpetuity, and ‘in its sweetness yieldeth proof that it was born for immortality.’ The Psalmist learned to say, ‘Thou shalt afterward receive me to glory,’ because he could say, ‘I am continually with Thee.’ And in like manner we may all rise from the experience of the present to confidence in that immortal future. Death with his ‘abhorred shears’ cuts other close ties, but their edge turns on the knot that binds the soul to its Saviour. He who has felt the power of communion with the ever-living Christ cannot but feel that such union must be for ever, and that because Christ lives, and as long as Christ lives, he will live also.
Therefore, to the soul thus abiding in Christ that alternative of life or death which looms so large to us when we have not Christ with us, will dwindle down into very small dimensions. If I live there will be work for me to do here, and His love to possess; if I die there will be work for me to do there too, and His love to possess in still more abundant measure. So it will not be difficult for such a soul to leave the decision of this as of all other things with the Lord of life and death, and to lie acquiescent in His gracious hands. That calm acceptance of His will and patience with Christ’s ‘If’ is the reward of tarrying in silent communion with Him.
My dear friend! has death to you dwindled to a very little thing? Can you say that you are quite sure that it will not touch your truest self? Are you able to leave the alternative in His hands, content with His decision and content with the uncertainty that wraps His decision? Can you say,
‘Lord! It belongs not to my care,
Whether I die or live’?
The answer to these questions is involved in the answer to the other:-Have you trusted your sinful soul for salvation to Jesus Christ, and are you drawing from Him a life which bears fruit in glad service and in patient communion? Then it will not much matter whether you are in heaven or on earth, for in both places and states the essence of your life will be the same, your Companion one, and your work identical. If it be ‘Christ’ for me to live it will be ‘gain’ for me to die.
END OF VOL. III.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v20 The reference to John:
The reference to John:
v. 20. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on His breast at supper and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth Thee?
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v. 21. Peter, seeing him, Saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
v. 22. Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me.
v. 23. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple should not die; yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
Peter was not yet altogether healed of his impetuousness. As he was walking along with Jesus, he could not refrain from turning back, and thus noticed that John, who here describes himself very exactly, was also coming their way. Peter at once asked: Lord, but this man, what of him? The Lord rebuked this lack of undivided attention on the part of Peter, telling him that it was entirely a matter for Him to decide whether John should remain until He would return. As soon as a person spends his time in musing upon what other people will do, he neglects some opportunities for service. The great Shepherd, Jesus Christ, has charge of His Church and will manage its affairs in such a way as to have them all redound to the salvation of them that are His and to the glory of God. Any interference with His government is foolish and sinful. Whether Jesus referred to His coming at the end of the world or to that coming which began in the judgment of Jerusalem, Mat 16:28, is immaterial. But the saying of Jesus was understood falsely. Some of the disciples believed that John would never die. This notion, however, he himself corrects by emphasizing the words: If I will that he tarry. All things are in the power, under the government of Jesus, the Lord and King of the Kingdom of Grace. A simple trust in the wisdom of His guidance should always characterize the attitude of all believers. We must be sure that the risen Christ has the fortunes of those that are His in His hand and will always guide them in the way which is to their value and benefit.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv20, 22 the disciple whom Jesus loved
the disciple whom Jesus loved
John refers to himself in this way throughout the book, rather than mentioning his name.
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loved
This is the kind of love that comes from God and always desires the good of others, even when it does not benefit oneself. This kind of love cares for others, no matter what they do.
at the dinner
This is a reference to the Last Supper. (See: John Chapter 13)
Peter saw him
Here "him" refers to "the disciple whom Jesus loved."
Lord, what will this man do?
Peter wants to know what will happen to John. AT: "Lord, what will happen to this man?" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
disciple
love
betray
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v20 21:20-22 “What about him, Lord?” Peter asked Jesus about…
21:20-22 “What about him, Lord?” Peter asked Jesus about the fate of John, wondering if he, too, would experience martyrdom. Jesus’ answer was abrupt: It was not Peter’s business to know how or when John would die. Peter’s only task was to follow Jesus, which John was already doing. This episode forms the core of John’s concept of discipleship: What matters most for the disciple of Jesus is to follow him and do his will, come what may.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.