The mystery of John's future.
The Apostle Peter began to follow Jesus as he went forth, and, turning round, saw John following. He is anxious to know the future destiny of his fellow-disciple.
I. PETER'S QUESTION CONCERNING JOHN. "Lord, and what shall this man do?" or, literally, "Lord, and this man! what?"
1. Consider the motive of this question.
(a) They were two apostles most intimately linked together in the associations of our Lord's ministry. They were two of the three honored with the more intimate confidence of our Lord—apart with him
( α) in the house of Jairus;
( β) in the Mount of Transfiguration;
( γ) in the garden of Gethsemane.
(b) Their very variety of gifts and temperament tended to cement the relationship more closely together. The one was the man of reflection; the other, of action.
2. Consider the meaning of this question. "Lord, and what shall this man do?" Is he destined to suffer and die like me? Or is he destined to a still longer life and a more peaceful and natural death?
II. OUR LORD'S ANSWER TO THE QUESTION. "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?"
1. The answer assumes a certain tone of rebuke, as if Peter's question lay somewhat outside the sphere of his own direct concernment and duty.
2. It implies that the Lord exercises a Divine sovereignty over the lives and over the deaths of his servants. The Lord can make his servants "tarry" in the world as long as it pleases him.
3. It implies that his servants ought to tarry till the Lord comes. The words, therefore; rebuke
4. The answer of our Lord implies that each disciple has a distinct position in the world. "What is that to thee? follow thou me."
(a) his more separate sphere of responsibility;
(b) his separate cares;
(c) his separate destiny.
(a) Our Lord does not censure the regard of social relations;
(b) but the neglect of individual concern, the disposition to interest one's self unduly in other people's concerns.
5. The answer of our Lord implies that we are bound to follow him through all the mystery that surrounds our path. "Follow thou me." Peter is to follow Christ whether he knows or not the future destiny of his beloved fellow-disciple.
(a) that he will solve our difficulties,
(b) or that he will give us peace in presence of difficulties, in the hope of their future solution. Let us deal with the duty of the hour, and leave the future to God.
6. The answer of our Lord implies that John would tarry till his coming. "If I will that he tarry till I come." The words are dark enough in their meaning, yet history seems to interpret them.
(a) Scripture speaks of the Lord's coming in connection with that event, which, by sweeping away the Jewish commonwealth, would leave the ground clear for the establishment of the kingdom of God.
(b) John did, as a matter of fact, long survive this event.
Conclusion of the appendix to the Gospel.
These last words are added, not by the apostle, but by some other hand.
I. A TESTIMONY TO THE AUTHORSHIP AND TRUTH OF THIS GOSPEL. "This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true." This language implies:
1. That John was still alive.
2. That he was an eye-witness and an ear-witness of all recorded in this Gospel.
3. That the narratives were written by his hand in a spirit of truth, free from all exaggeration or falsehood.
II. A COMPLETE LIFE OF CHRIST WOULD BE PRACTICALLY OF INFINITE DIMENSIONS. "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."
1. A book of limited extent could never describe the acts of an infinite Being.
2. Thee emphatic place given to our Lord's works, including his miracles, shows the stress that is to be laid, evidentially, upon miracles as an argument for Christianity.
3. The passage implies a vast activity of Christ. After all, we have but few miracles of his life recorded. He verily" went about every day doing good." What an amount of beneficial work he compressed into the three years of his public ministry!
4. It is satisfactory for faith to know that nothing is omitted in the record of Scripture essential to salvation.
5. It was a sign of Divine consideration to the wants of men that the Scriptures should be suitable, in respect of their extent as well as their contents. The Bible is large enough, but not too large for human use.
6. Let us prize it as the exhibition of a Divine life revealed for the salvation of the world.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON