John 21:20-25 - What about him?

21:20,21

It is not clear why John makes such a song and dance here about who he was. Following on from my comments on 21:7 he is just stressing how he comes to have such an intimate knowledge of Jesus. Whatever the case, Peter wants to know what is going to happen to John, especially as Peter himself seems to have such a tough end.

21:22,23

In essence, Jesus’ reply is “it is none of your business”. If He wants John to remain alive until He returns, what is that to Peter? Now John makes it clear that this was only a hypothetical statement on Jesus’ part. He was not saying this would happen, He was just using it as a hypothetical example. God has a unique plan for each one of us. We should focus on God’s plan for our life. His plan for someone else’s life will often look better or easier, but that judgement is made with eyes that have very limited vision. We can trust God in all things.

21:24,25

John identifies himself as the writer of this gospel and the witness to all the events contained therein. His testimony is true, it is reliable and we can depend upon it. John never intended to record everything that Jesus did. He was selecting incidents to give a complete picture of Jesus.