Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 21:20
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?
20 23. The Misunderstood Saying respecting the Evangelist
20. Peter, turning about, seeth ] Omit ‘then.’ The graphic details are those of an eyewitness.
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).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Which also leaned … – See Joh 13:24-25.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 21:20
The disciple whom Jesus loved
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 naivet 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.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
That is, he saw John, whom we have often before heard so described.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20, 21. Peter, turning aboutshowingthat he followed immediately as directed.
seeth the disciple whom Jesusloved following; which also leaned on Jesus’ breast at supper, andsaid, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?The Evangelistmakes these allusions to the peculiar familiarity to which he hadbeen admitted on the most memorable of all occasions, perhapslovingly to account for Peter’s somewhat forward question about himto Jesus; which is the rather probable, as it was at Peter’ssuggestion that he put the question about the traitor which he hererecalls (Joh 13:24; Joh 13:25).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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:
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Christ’s Conference with Peter; Conclusion of John’s Gospel. |
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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? 21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? 22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. 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? 24 This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. 25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
In these verses, we have,
I. The conference Christ had with Peter concerning John, the beloved disciple, in which we have,
1. The eye Peter cast upon him (v. 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 (ch. xiii. 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, Cant. i. 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 (v. 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 (v. 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. xxii. 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. xiv. 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, (Ps. xxxvii. 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, v. 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. viii. 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. viii. 20. Scripture language is the safest and most proper vehicle of scripture truth: the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth, 1 Cor. ii. 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 (v. 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 (ch. xix. 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 1 John i. 1, That which we have seen; and 2 Pet. i. 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, v. 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. xi. 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 (Acts xx. 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, Eccl. xii. 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, choresai. It is the word that is used, ch. viii. 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.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Turning about (). Second aorist passive participle of , old verb, here a sudden turning round (ingressive aorist). For the simplex verb see John 20:14; John 20:16.
Following (). Following both Jesus and Peter, perhaps having heard the graphic dialogue above.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Leaned [] . Rev., leaned back. See on 13 25. The reference is to the special act of John, leaning back to whisper to Jesus, and not to his position at table.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
PETER’S CONCERN OVER JOHN’S SERVICE, OUT OF PLACE
V. 20-25
1) “Then Peter, turning about,” (epitrapheis ho Petros) “Peter upon turning around,” to follow, or walk aside after Jesus, perhaps for a little privacy.
2) “Seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following;” (blepei ton matheten hon agapa ho lesous akolouthounta) “Saw the particular disciple Jesus loved with an holy love of a devout nature following;” It was the apostle John who wrote this Gospel, Joh 21:24. He is the only writer who told of this event.
3) “Which also leaned on his breast at supper,” (hos kai anepesen en to deipno epi to stethos suton) “Who also leaned upon his breast at the supper,” Joh 13:23.
4) “And said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?” (kai eipen kurie tis estin ho paradidous se) “And who said, Lord who is the one betraying you?” delivering you over to your enemies, treacherously, Joh 13:24-25.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
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, (Gal 6:5.)
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.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(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 otherand this is made prominent herehe 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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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?
‘Peter, turning round, sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following, he who also leaned back on his breast at the Supper and said ‘Lord, who is it who betrays you?’
John here makes clear that ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’ was a real person who did real things, and refers to only one identifiable person. How could he have made it more clear? And that person was a favoured one who was next to Jesus at the table. And he is there with Peter and the rest, one of the seven. It is quite clear that he is an Apostle, and a favoured one at that. Everything points to John even if we had no evidence outside the Gospel.
John’s Future Is Not to Be Revealed ( Joh 21:20-23 ).
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?
v. 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.
Joh 21:20. Then Peter, turning about, “There is a spirit and tenderness in this plain passage, which I can never read (says Dr. Doddridge,) without the most sensible emotion. 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 too; but he says not one word of his love and his zeal; he chose that the action should speak that; and, when he records this circumstance, he tells us not what that action meant, but with great simplicity relates the fact only. If here and there a generous heart, glowing, like his own, with love to Christ, sees and emulates it, be it so; but he is not solicitous that men should admire it: it was addressed to his Master, and it was enough that he understood it. And can any man be base or absurd enough to imagine, that such a man could spend his life in promoting a notorious falsehood, and, at last, in his old age, when his relish for everything but goodness and immortality was gone, would so solemnly attestit as he does in the conclusion of his gospel?May God deliver every one that reads this from a head so fatally beclouded by the corruptions of the heart!”
Joh 21:20-21 . From which here, as belonging to the narrative , is, as a matter of course, not to be taken in the significant sense of the belonging to the language of Jesus, Joh 21:19 it results that Jesus, during the preceding conversation with Peter (not now first, in accordance with , Joh 21:19 , as Luthardt assumes; for this . is to be left purely in its higher sense), has gone away with him a little distance from the disciples. Peter, engaged in walking with Jesus, turns round ( , comp. Mat 9:22 ) and sees that John is following them .
] Not to be connected with . (“he knew that Jesus loved his company,” Ewald, loc. cit .), but comp. Joh 13:23 .
, . . .] Retrospect of the special circumstance, Joh 13:25 ; hence, however, not: who also lay at table , etc. (Hengstenberg and others), but: who also laid himself down (with the head) at the well-known Supper ( ) on the breast of Jesus . . is not to be placed within a parenthesis , since with Joh 21:21 a new sentence begins. The subjoining of this observation is not intended to state the reason for John, as the confidant of Jesus, following Him (Bengel, Luthardt, Lange, Godet); but to prepare the way for the following question of petty jealousy, in which the point of the further narrative lies, while it indicates the consideration which determines Peter to put this question, whether possibly a destiny of suffering might not in like manner be contemplated for the disciple so pre-eminently beloved and distinguished by Jesus, this of the Lord. According to Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Euth. Zigabenus (similarly Olshausen), the intention is to make the reader sensible of how far bolder than at the Last Supper Peter has now become after his restoration. But the subsequent question neither presupposes any special boldness (comp. on Joh 21:22 ), nor, considering the peculiar situation of the Last Supper, was a want of boldness the reason why Peter did not himself put the question, Joh 13:25 . The after expresses the relation corresponding to ; Baeumlein, Partik . p. 152.
] sc . . See Buttmann, Neut. Gr . p. 338 [E. T. p. 394]. Nonnus: ; but what will become of this man if the result is to be such for me? Will the issue be otherwise with him? ; ; Euth. Zigabenus. The rendering: but what shall this man? Shall he then now be with us (Paulus and several others), a part of the false explanation of , Joh 21:19 . On the neut. , comp. Act 12:18 ; Xen. Hell. ii. 3. 17 : ; Stallbaum, ad Plat. Rep . p. 332 E.
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
Joh 21:20-23
(Joh 21:20-24, pericope for the third day after Christmas or for St. John the Evangelists 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? ] ? 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, ]: 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) [].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 [ ].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 Peters 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 Peters 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! Joh 21:21. But how will it be with this (man)? 25 ; [sc.]
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). Motive of the question:
1. Special love for John (Chrysostom, Erasmus, Luthardt). 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 in the next verse imply a gentle rebuke (Bengel: hoc Petri curiositatem in ordinem redigit), and remind Peter of the distinctness of each mans 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 [ , ;]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 remaintarry, the opposite of which was to be accomplished through martyrdom; therefore: to be preserved alive. Comp. Php 1:25; 1Co 15:6. Meyer.
Till I come [ ].
1. To lead him out of Galilee to apostolic activity (Theophyl). 3. Reference to the near Parousia of Christ (Lcke, [De Wette], Meyer). 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 Peters 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 is wanting. Nevertheless this interpretation alone forms a real antithesis; if here mean: to follow the home-returning Jesus through the medium of martyrdom, and , 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 Johns 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 [ ].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 Christs word.
Yet Jesus said not unto him [ ].This defense of Christs 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 Christs 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 Johns life-time. If written by another person after Johns death, we should certainly, in the refutation of this error, have read, , , as in Act 2:29. This notion of Johns not having died, was prevalent in the ancient Church,so that Augustine himself seems almost to credit the story of the earth of Johns 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, inwardsubjective,intuitive Christians, in accordance with the characteristic of John, representative of the innermost presence of Christ in the Church. (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 Schaffs History of the Apostolic Church.
5. Johns free joining in the following which Christ commanded Peter is likewise a characteristic of the Johannean essence. It is the involuntary drawing of loves impulse and friendships 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 nailsah no! with Christian or Judo-Christian; and, insomuch as this is true, with silver nails. 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 Johns 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.Christs 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: Christs 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.Christs 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 Christs 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 traditions having come into our parts also, thou wilt find a proof in Hbners 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 itselfnever 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 Saviours 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 mens 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? Till his Lord be at the gate. [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 anothers, 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 Gods wordstudy its precise termsand 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 Gods 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 martyrs 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 after , with . D., so also Lange; but A. B. C. Vulg. omit it, so also Lachm., Tischond., Alf., WestcP. S.]
[21]Joh 21:21.[The text. rec. omits after , which is well supported by Orig., B. C. D. Vulg. Syr., and adopted by the critical edd.P. S.]
[22]Joh 21:22.[Noyes: If it be my will () that he remain till I come, what is it to thee?]
[23]Joh 21:22.[Alford, to bring out the emphatic position of and 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 Johns 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.]
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.
a Quisque aliquid fatuitatis habet adiunctum. Melanct.
20. ] The details necessary to complete the narrative are obscure, and only hinted at in the background. It seems that Peter either was at the time of the foregoing conversation walking with Jesus, and turned round and saw John following, or that he moved towards Him on the termination of it (but certainly not from a misunderstanding of the words . , see Joh 21:21 ). I can hardly conceive Him moving away on uttering these words, and summoning Peter away in private. It seems in the highest degree unnatural.
The description of the disciple whom Jesus loved is evidently inserted to justify his following, and is a strong token of John’s hand having written this chapter: see ch. Joh 13:23 .
Joh 21:20 . . Peter had already followed Jesus some distance, but hearing steps behind him he turns and sees John following. The elaborate description of John in this verse is, perhaps almost unconsciously, introduced to justify his following without invitation. On the word , see Origen, in Joan. , ii. 191 (Brooke’s edition).
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh 21:20-23
20Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” 21So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” 22Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” 23Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”
Joh 21:20 “the disciple whom Jesus loved” This refers to the account found in Joh 13:25. Why he is designated in this cryptic manner is uncertain (cf. Joh 13:23; Joh 19:26; Joh 20:2; Joh 21:7; Joh 21:20). Possible theories are
1. traditional Jewish writings of the first century did not mention the author by name
2. John was so young when he became a follower of Jesus
3. John was the only Apostle who stayed with Jesus during the trials and crucifixion
Joh 21:22 “Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you'” This is a third class conditional sentence. We must remember that we are to deal with our own gifts and ministries and not be concerned with what God has planned for others! A possible reason for adding chapter 21 was to answer the misunderstanding over this very issue. Apparently there was an early rumor (possibly Gnostic) that John was to live until the Second Coming (John does speak of the Parousia, cf. 1Jn 3:2).
“follow Me” This almost summarizes the personal invitation of John’s Gospel (cf. Joh 1:43; Joh 10:27; Joh 12:26; Joh 21:19; Joh 21:22). This emphasizes the personal aspect of the gospel, while “believe that” emphasizes the content aspect of the gospel.
Then. All the texts omit.
turning about = having turned round.
also leaned = leaned also.
on. Greek. epi. App-104.
at. Greek. en. App-104.
which = who. betrayeth. See on Joh 19:30, “gave up”.
20.] The details necessary to complete the narrative are obscure, and only hinted at in the background. It seems that Peter either was at the time of the foregoing conversation walking with Jesus, and turned round and saw John following,-or that he moved towards Him on the termination of it (but certainly not from a misunderstanding of the words . , see Joh 21:21). I can hardly conceive Him moving away on uttering these words, and summoning Peter away in private. It seems in the highest degree unnatural.
The description of the disciple whom Jesus loved is evidently inserted to justify his following, and is a strong token of Johns hand having written this chapter: see ch. Joh 13:23.
Joh 21:20. , turning about) He had therefore begun to follow. No prediction is given to James, who was about to die before Peter and John; from which very fact he might have inferred his speedy consummation.- , who also) As before, at the last supper, so now also he was seeking the same place, and was leaning on Jesus breast almost with more familiarity than Peter liked.- , had leaned on the breast) An abbreviated phrase for, He had lain in the bosom of Jesus, and then in this position had turned towards His breast, ch. Joh 13:23; Joh 13:25.- , at the supper) that memorable supper on the day before the passover supper.
Joh 21:20
Joh 21:20
Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; who also leaned back on his breast at the supper, and said, Lord, who is he that betrayeth thee?-Jesus did not conceal his love for John. John leaned on his breast at the supper. This did not seem to excite envy or animosity of the other disciples, but brought John into prominence among them.
the Testimony of a Beloved Follower
Joh 21:20-25
Having cautioned Peter, our Lord seems to have moved away, bidding Peter follow-a mandate intended to convey a deeper meaning. John followed some steps in the rear. Hearing footsteps, Peter turned and was seized with curiosity to see how far the future experiences of John and himself would agree. At once, without gratifying his curiosity, our Lord explained that the life-plan of His servants is determined by His will-If I will. It is equally certain that His arrangements for us are carefully adjusted to our nature, our special characteristics, and the service which we are best able to render. Peter was to be the Apostle of the tried and suffering. John was to behold and declare the apocalyptic vision of the Living Church. The one, contrary to his native disposition, wrote the Epistle of patient waiting; the other pictured the triumphant advent of the Son of God.
For Review Questions, see the e-Sword Book Comments.
seeth: Joh 21:7, Joh 21:24, Joh 20:2
which: Joh 13:23-26, Joh 20:2
Reciprocal: Dan 10:11 – a man Dan 10:19 – O man Mat 10:2 – John Mar 3:17 – James Mar 8:34 – follow Luk 6:14 – James Luk 16:22 – Abraham’s Joh 16:23 – ask Joh 19:26 – whom Rev 1:17 – I fell
JOHN THE EVANGELIST
The disciple whom Jesus loved.
Joh 21:20
It is somewhat strange that no reference is made in the early registers of the Festival of John. The Venerable Bede is said to be the first writer in whose works it is mentioned; and the probability is that its first observance was merely local; in the thirteenth century, however, it became universal, and ever since has been celebrated, year after year, on the twenty-seventh day of December, with services of a high and holy character.
I. The man.His form will stand out more distinctly if we but glance at some leading circumstances in his history. He was young, perhaps in his teens, when he entered into public life; and was a Galilan, son of Zebedee and Salome, and junior brother of James the Great, with whom he pursued the vocation of a fisherman. Like all young men of true and powerful temperament, he was capable of vehement anger, which would occasionally burst forth (Luk 9:51-56). Hence he was surnamed a Son of Thunder. When the hour of danger came he never turned his back in the day of battle. Such was John: lowly, yet noble; calm, yet passionate; gentle, yet brave; simple, yet real; in the main, a man to be greatly admired and safely followed.
II. The disciple.He is now generally spoken of as the disciple whom Jesus loved; and this appellation he gave himself on the evening of the betrayal; for neither did Jesus nor the other disciples use it. But it was a true and proper title nevertheless: Jesus loved him unutterably. His heart went out specially to him; and Johns heart was won completely by the heart of Jesus. So closely were they bound together that John companioned with Jesus wherever He went, and when He sat down John leaned upon His Breast. Thus John was absorbed with his Lord, and thus he rested in the calm assurance of His Divine favour. This was Johns heaven on earth.
III. The apostle.After the Ascension of Christ, John associated intimately with Peter, and this brotherly fellowship continued until they returned to Jerusalem from an evangelising tour in Samaria. From this time John seems to have taken little part in any outward movement; but he finally quitted the Holy City and transferred his home to Ephesus. After residing here for a while, he was banished to Patmosa dreary islet in the gean Sea; yet albeit a wretched place, he was favoured here with the glorious visions so eloquently described in the Apocalypse. What he did in his exile, and how long he remained in it, we know not; but toward the end of the first Christian century he returned to his adopted city. He was now an old manthe last survivor of those who had been with Jesus. He calls his converts in Ephesus my little children; and thence, as a centre, he exercised all the holy influence he possessed. His Gospel and Epistlesthe last and richest treasures of sacred literatureshow the ripeness of his experience and the depth of his wisdom. At the age of one hundred and twenty he prepared his soul for the New Jerusalem, and died peacefully at Ephesus, surrounded by his children.
Act 1:8 (R.V.)
DIVINE ENDUEMENT
Ye shall receive power, when the holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be My witnesses.
Act 1:8 (R.V.)
God the Holy Ghost alone is the Source of power. Why do I believe that this power is a real thing, a real gift?
I. It is clearly promised by God.God, Who never fails His people, has promised power: Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts. When Jesus Christ went away He said, It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. What was He to do when He came? Tarry ye in Jerusalem till ye be clothed with power from on high. When the Holy Ghost is come upon you ye shall receive power. Could the Word of God be more clearly pledged to anything than to this, that the Holy Ghost shall give us power? I look to see whether this promise was fulfilled in the first disciples, and I see a body of men, not only Apostles, but all the early disciplesmen and women just like ourselvesI find them tarrying in Jerusalem, gathered together, weak, irresolute, timid, and perplexed. I hear the sound of rushing, mighty wind; I see tongues of fire come down upon that body. What has happened? They have received the spirit of power; these timid, irresolute fishermen and peasants are turned into the worlds Apostlesquite bold, always knowing the next thing to do, they faced the world. These humble people, unknown, unnamed, go out a little body, full of the Holy Ghost, and they convert the world. This is my first point, without which all else is nothing, that this thing which we are promised from heaven, this power of the Holy Ghost, is a real thing, as real as the wind, though we cannot see it, a real spiritual gift.
II. And that brings me to ask, Do you want it?And the answer to that depends upon the answer to another question. What is the object of your life? What are you aiming at in life? The whole object for which the Holy Ghost was to come upon us was that we should be witnesses to Jesus Christ throughout the world. When we look to-day round the world it is a comforting thing (is it not?) to see how Jesus Christ is winning the world every day. Thousands more every day are being converted to Jesus Christ. See how we prevail nothing. Behold the world has gone after Him. But how has it been done? That is the wonderful thing. Not by great preachers, not by people whose names are known to the world, but by thousands and tens of thousands of witnesses, who, in every part of the world, of every colour and of every race, bear witness to Jesus Christ. If we are not aiming at being witnesses, we do not want spiritual power. If we are aiming at other things, riches and pleasures, there are plenty of things that will do for our needs; but if everyone of usand not the least you young boys and girls who are starting in lifemake this our aim, to be a faithful witness to the death, then we want power. O God, give me power! will be our cry.
III. And so we come to our last question. How are we to receive this power?And of course we turnwe are right to turnto that early Church, that band of early disciples, to see how they received their power.
(a) They waited for it. Tarry in Jerusalem, till ye be clothed with power from on high. They did not force the hand of God; they did not get impatient. They waited upon God. When I find people giving up their prayers because they do not feel anything; when I find them disheartened and depressed, because they say that when they were confirmed they were full of warm aspirations, but that they are now so dry and cold, I know they have missed the first lesson. They are to waitto wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. It is certain to come, whether they feel it or not; it does not depend upon feeling at all.
(b) Then while you tarry, pray. Pray with all your soul; not merely wish vaguely for a little more spiritual powerthat is not the way to get it; but pray with all your mind and soul and being if it is to come at all, for it is the most precious thing in the world. It is violence which takes the Kingdom of Heaven by force; pray, then, with all your soul. Pray in faith, and pray together.
(c) Use the channels of the power. That is what the first disciples did. They were all baptized, every one of them. Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. But they were not only baptized, they were confirmed. The chiefs of the Church were sent downyou will find all this in your Biblethen laid they their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost, for as yet He was fallen upon none of them. So they bowed their heads for the falling of the Holy Ghost in Confirmation. Have all of you here been confirmed? If not, why not? Put yourselves in the way of the power, as the first disciples did. But they were not content even with that. They abode in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers. Keep with the Churchcertainly every Sunday. Those first disciples put themselves in the way of power by the breaking of the bread and the prayers.
Bishop A. F. Winnington-Ingram.
Illustration
My hands were filled with many things
That I did precious hold
As any treasure of a kings,
Silver or gems or gold.
Ths Master came and touched my hands
(The scars were in His own)
And at His feet my treasures sweet
Fell shattered one by one.
I must have empty hands, said He,
Wherewith to work My works through thee.
My hands were strong in fancied strength,
But not in power Divine,
And bold to take up tasks at length
That were not His but mine.
The Master came and touched my hands,
(And might was in His own);
But mine since then have powerless been
Save His are laid thereon.
And it is only thus, said He,
That I can work My works through thee.
0
This entire verse is given to identify the disciple of whom Peter was about to ask his question. That disciple was John according to verse 24.
Joh 21:20. Peter turning about seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned back on his breast at the supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee. It is impossible to think that the Evangelist intends us to confine our attention to the literal details given in this verse. The long description by which he indicates himself would be entirely out of place were he brought before us as simply taking a few steps after Jesus and Peter. Besides this, the verb to follow, which, as we have seen, was used metaphorically as well as literally in Joh 21:19, must certainly be understood in the same sense here. John is here not simply the individual: he is the apostle following Peter in apostolic work, and like him, representative (though in a different aspect) of all Christian labourers and witnesses. What the difference of aspect is, is shown by the special manner in which he describes himself. He is not only the disciple whom Jesus loved; he is the apostle who leaned back on the breast of Jesus at the supper and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth Thee? (chap. Joh 13:12; Joh 13:25). In other words, he is the apostle whose mind was nearest to the mind of Jesus, and whom Jesus found most fitted to receive the deeper revelations of His will. John, then, represents an entirely different aspect of Christian witnessing from that represented by Peter. The latter represents the struggle, and the death at the end of it, by which God is glorified. The other represents patient waiting for the glorious revelation of Jesus at His Second Coming.
Section 7. (Joh 21:20-25.)
John completing the interval till the coming of Christ.
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.”
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.
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.
Verse 20
The disciple whom Jesus loved; John, the author of this Gospel.
21:20 {4} 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?
(4) We must take heed that while we cast our eyes upon others that we do not neglect that which we are commanded to do.
Why did John identify himself as he did in these verses? Perhaps he did so because this description highlights his intimacy with Jesus. That intimacy was evidently a factor in Jesus’ plans for John to which He proceeded to refer (Joh 21:22-24). These plans included his writing this Gospel (Joh 21:24). Therefore by presenting the writer as an intimate of Jesus, John was establishing his credentials as a reliable eyewitness of what he reported. A second reason may be that this description also reminds the reader of John’s intimacy with Peter. This helps us understand Peter’s question about Jesus’ will for John. Peter evidently wanted to know what would happen to his young friend if he himself was going to suffer crucifixion.
Peter was not the only Christian who wanted to know God’s will for another believer’s life. Many Christians since him have wanted the same information but not always for as altruistic reasons as Peter presumably had.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3. It is intended to assign the motive for Johns 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 Christs withdrawal into concealment.
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?
2. A question prompted by curiosity and a certain jealousy (Lcke, Meyer).
3. Disapprobation of a supposed unauthorized accompanying (Paulus and others).
4. Curiosity and interest as to Johns fate. A want of concentration, an excess of natural vivacity, was certainly involved in Peters ability to turn away his eyes so quickly from himself and his own destiny, and fasten them upon another. Tholuck.
2. In the destruction of Jerusalem (Wetstein and others) 26
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.]
(2) In this form, the Christian spiritual life shall remain until Christ returns.
6. Here, then, belongs also the entire import of all Christian mysticism and speculation, in respect of their pure, ideal form.
Askst 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 Saviours breast,
Whether, early called to bliss,
He in youth shall find his rest,
Or armed in his station wait
[From A Plain Commentary (Oxford): Joh 21:22. Our Lords 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 mans 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.)
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)