John 21:20-23
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
Of course the story can’t end without some return to the relationship between Peter and the beloved disciple. J This has been a minor theme, likely occasioned, as I’ve suggested before, by the devotion of John and his community for the disciple who, though probably not one of “the twelve,” was perhaps the founder of this community. And so this scene draws things to a close.
Peter has been reinstated by Jesus, confessing his faith three times and being commissioned to feed and lead Jesus’ church. And with that matter resolved – perhaps explaining to John’s community why Peter seems to loom so large in the narrative when he’s not, after all, their beloved founder – it’s time to draw the story of the beloved disciple to a close and bring this part of the gospel full circle.
And what an interesting closing! Peter asks about the fate of this other disciple and Jesus more or less says, “Mind your own business.” Then he goes on to reiterate that the fate of the beloved disciple is Jesus’ concern, not Peter’s, and if Jesus wants him to remain close to him until Jesus’ return, so be it.
Then the narrator, apparently dealing with a rumor in (or hope of?) the beloved disciple’s immortality, sets the record straight that, indeed, Jesus wasn’t promising him unending mortal life but speaking hyperbolically to make a point.
So, on the one level we might receive this as just a peculiar little incident that perhaps doesn’t contribute much to the larger narrative or to our devotional life. But…on another level…I think it’s rather delightful that we get these little windows into the wrinkles and complexities of this early Christian community. It reminds us that the Gospels were likely not written with the imagination that Christians would be reading them for the next two thousand years or so. Rather, they were written to be, indeed, good news, but also particular good news for a particular people with particular questions, concerns, and issues.
These books, that is, were written for real people – people who had problems and questions just like we do. And, thankfully, they were written with such faith, creativity, and passion that they have spoken to others for nigh on two millennia.
Prayer: Dear God, we give thanks for the Christians who went before us and for their living testimony of faith that continues to strengthen our own. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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