Knowing The Word: The Conclusion of the Epilogue, John 21:15-25

Why is John, the Beloved Disciple, more special than Peter? John spent a day with Jesus at the beginning of his ministry before Peter ever saw Jesus (1:40-42). John, like his running to the empty tomb, was first. The fact that John is present at the cross makes him superior to Peter not simply as a disciple, but precisely as the only male disciple who witnessed the key salvific event of the whole Gospel story. At the end of the gospel we read that John will live longer than Peter because John is destined to bear witness through his gospel.

The testimony of John, therefore, precedes and continues after that of Peter. Jesus does not want Peter, however, to focus on this but to live into his own ministry that will be very different from John’s and of equal, if not of greater, importance for the life of the Church.

The ministries of Peter and John represent two different kinds of church-building discipleship: active witness and perceptive witness. While one may think that John’s Gospel disparages Peter, it actually portrays him as the disciple, who through failure and subsequent grace, is enabled by Jesus to become the chief pastor of the Church. This is not John’s primary role, and that is why John is irrelevant to Peter’s own call to discipleship (21:20-22). John, in contrast, is portrayed as a perceptive witness with spiritual insight into the meaning of the events of the Gospel story. Jesus, the eternal Word before the beginning, knew John would write the most profound of all the gospels from an intimate, insider’s perspective. Jesus knew that John, created in the image of God, would communicate the mind of God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to bear witness to the Son of God because Jesus had chosen him, like God chose Abraham, to be a blessing to succeeding generations of believers.

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

Father God, thank you for the witness of John, for his words of the Word, your Son who is very God of very God, begotten not made, and who is our salvation.