Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me.” 23 So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus had not told him that he would not die, just “What if I want him to remain until I come? [What concern is it of yours?]”
24 It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.
Peter and the Beloved Disciple, John, were following Jesus. They were two of Jesus’ closest friends. Peter had just renewed his love and devotion to Jesus (Jn. 21:17), but John’s love and devotion had always been constant. Jesus told Peter to focus on his mission (Jn. 21:18-19). Tradition in the nascent Church held that Jesus’ question to Peter about John meant that the Beloved Disciple would not die; “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me (v. 23).” There was also a tradition in the early Church that the Glorified Christ would return before all the disciples who were with him had died; “Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come in power (Mk. 9:1).” John’s future was determined by the will of the Risen Christ. He did not die a martyr’s death. He was exiled to the island of Patmos during the Roman persecution (Rev. 1:9) and died around 100 AD.
John was an eyewitness to the events narrated in the Gospel (Jn. 19:35) as well as to some of the oral traditions to whose veracity he attests (v. 24). The concluding verse 25 may have been added by another author probably to justify material not found in the synoptic Gospels but found in the Gospel of John.
Almighty God, fill our hearts with the joy of Easter and let us never forget the sacrifices that have been made to lead us to your truth. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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