The Apostle Who Remained
By Jim Gunter
In the Gospel of John, chapter
21, Vv 18-23, the apostle gives us a brief autobiographic moment with the risen
Savior and Peter. Here, he (John) is following them as Jesus has just
signified to Peter by what kind of death he (Peter) would glorify God (vv 18,19). As Jesus then directs Peter to, "Follow me,"
Peter turns around, sees John following them, and then asks Jesus, "And
what about this man?" (vv 20,21) The Lord gives
Peter a most interesting answer to his question: He says in vs. 22, "If I
want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow Me!" Now let
me say to you that there was a time in the past when I understood this account
as a sort of light-hearted moment, and that maybe Jesus was, in effect, telling
Peter to mind his own business and to just be quiet! So, just what are we to
think about this incident? Well, according to vs. 23, the saying went out among
the followers of Jesus that He was telling Peter
that John would not die, but John quickly dispels that rumor; John simply
repeats to his readers that The Lord told Peter ONLY that if He wanted John to
REMAIN UNTIL HE COMES, what is that to him.
Now folks, I don't know just how you understand this account, but I must
confess to you that, in light of many other passages, my thinking has indeed
undergone some changes. After laying out just how I understand this passage
today, you may disagree, and that's fine; and you may find my understanding to
be strange; well, that's fine too! What I understand to be in view here in this
passage, is exactly what Jesus expressed to Peter, and that is that John would
indeed REMAIN UNTIL HE RETURNED! Now, this is not to say that I believe that we
have a 2,000 year old apostle walking around on Planet Earth today, but rather,
it just means that my understanding of the time of Jesus' "return"
has changed. Of course, we are speaking of His "Parousia" (Greek for
presence, coming, or arrival). I had always viewed His Parousia to still be in
"our" future, but upon the consideration of many passages which speak
of His "Parousia," I now see it as NOT in "our" future, but
in the "near" future of those in the 1st century. As I go through the
Scriptures, I become increasingly aware of the imminent coming of The Lord in
those "last days" of The Old Covenant Age! And because of such, I am
inclined to believe that this great event has already occurred. Of course, from
a careful study of the Word, one would also have to conclude that if His
"coming or presence" has already occurred, then it would have been accompanied
by "The Resurrection and The Judgment," seeing that all of these
events all are inextricably linked together. The following are just a very few
of the passages that, when all considered, are so persuasive to me that John
did indeed "remain till the coming or Parousia of Jesus":
(1) The sending of John The
Baptist before the "great day" (Mal.3:1,2,5)
"Behold, I am going to
send My messenger (John The Baptist, emph. mine J.G.), and he will clear the way before Me. And the
Lord, whom you seek, WILL SUDDENLY COME TO HIS TEMPLE; and the messenger of the
covenant, in whom you delight, behold, HE IS COMING says the Lord of hosts. But
who can endure THE DAY OF HIS COMING? And who can stand WHEN HE APPEARS? For He
is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap...Then I will draw near to you
FOR JUDGMENT; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers......"
(2) The judgment of
"For behold, THE DAY
IS COMING, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will
be chaff; and THE DAY THAT IS COMING will set them ablaze, says the Lord of
hosts, so that it will leave them NEITHER ROOT NOR BRANCH...Behold, I am going
to send you Elijah the prophet (John The Baptist, ephn. mine J.G) before THE
COMING OF THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD...And he will restore the
hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to
their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse."
(3) During the "last
days of The Old Covenant Age, Peter's quoting of Joel
"And it shall come to
pass IN THE LAST DAYS, God says, that I will pour forth of My Spirit...And I
will grant wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath, blood and
fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon
into blood, before THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. And it
shall be, that everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved."
(4) John
The Baptist to
the Jewish rulers: Mat.3:7,
"You brood of vipers,
who warned you to flee from the wrath about to come (Young's Literal Trans.)
(5) Jesus to the apostles
sent out to preach the Gospel of The Kingdom. (Mat. 10:23),
"But whenever they
persecute you in this city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you shall
not finish going through the cities of
(6) Jesus to HIs apostles
(Mat.16:27,28)
"For the Son of Man IS
ABOUT TO COME (Young's Lit. Trans) in the glory of His Father with His angels;
and will then recompense every man according to his deeds. Truly I say to you,
there are SOME OF THOSE WHO ARE STANDING HERE, who
shall not taste of death UNTIL THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN HIS
KINGDOM."
(7) (Mat.23:29-39) Jesus to the Jewish rulers for the murdering of the
prophets:
"Truly I say to you,
all these things shall come upon THIS GENERATION."
(8) (Mat.24:34) Jesus to His apostles as to the coming judgment on
"Truly I say to you,
THIS GENERATION WILL NOT PASS AWAY until all these things take place."
(9) (Ax.17:31) Paul to the Athenians in the Areopagus:
"...because He (God)
has fixed a day in which He IS ABOUT TO (Young's Lit. Trans.) judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has
appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the
dead."
(10) (Ax.24:15,25) Paul before the governor, Felix:
"...having a
hope in God which these men cherish themselves that there IS ABOUT TO BE
(Young's Lit. Trans.) a resurrection of both the
righteous and the wicked...And as he was discussing righteousness, self-control
and the Judgment ABOUT TO BE (Young's Lit. Trans.), Felix became frightened and
said, 'Go away for the present, and when I find time, I will summon you'"
Just a logical question here: Would Felix have become so frightened if this
Judgment was to be 2,000 years down the way?
(11) (Rom.8:18) Paul to the disciples at
"For I consider that
the sufferings of THIS PRESENT TIME are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that IS ABOUT TO BE (Young's Lit. Trans.) revealed
in us."
(12) (Rom.13:11,12) Again, Paul to the disciples at
"...IT IS ALREADY THE
HOUR for you to awaken from sleep; for NOW salvation
is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is ALMOST GONE, and the day IS
AT HAND. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor
of light."
(13) (1Cor.1:7,8) Paul to the disciples at
"...so that you are
not lacking in any gift, AWAITING EAGERLY THE REVELATION OF OUR LORD JESUS
CHRIST, who shall also confirm you TO THE END, blameless in the DAY OF OUR LORD
JESUS CHRIST." Please take note that Paul did NOT say that Jesus would
confirm them TILL THEIR DEATH, but rather UNTIL HIS REVELATION!
(14) (Phil.1:6,10) Paul to the disciples at
"For I am confident of
this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it UNTIL THE
DAY OF CHRIST JESUS...so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in
order to be sincere and blameless UNTIL THE DAY OF CHRIST." It's
interesting that,again, Paul speaks here of the good work that God had begun in
them and that Paul was confident that God would continue to do so, NOT until
their "death" but rather until THE DAY OF CHRIST JESUS! Same thing
regarding their "being sincere and blameless"; it would be until the
soon to come, "DAY OF CHRIST JESUS."
(15) (Phil.3:20) Again, Paul to the Philippians:
"For our
citizenship is in heaven, from which also WE EAGERLY WAIT FOR THE SAVIOR, THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST." In this passage, the apostle Paul even thought he
might be among those living at Christ's coming.
(16) (1Thes.1:9,10) Paul to those in Christ of the Thessalonians
: "...and how YOU
turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and TO WAIT FOR HIS
SON FROM HEAVEN, who He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us
from the wrath ABOUT TO COME. (Young's Lit. trans.)"
(17) (1Thes.4:15) Again, Paul to those in Christ of the Thessalonians:
"...that WE who are
alive, and remain UNTIL THE COMING OF THE LORD, shall not precede those who
have fallen asleep." Here, still, Paul considers the possibility that he
might be among those still alive at Christ's coming!
(18) (1Thes.5:23) Again,
Paul to those in Christ of the Thessalonians:
"Now may the God of
peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your SPIRIT and SOUL, and BODY be
preserved complete, without blame AT THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST."
Notice that Paul says that not only their "spirit and soul" be
preserved complete until the Lord's coming, but also their "bodies"
as well!
(19) (1Tim.6:14) Paul to Timothy:
"...that YOU keep the
commandment without stain or reproach UNTIL THE APPEARING OF OUR LORD JESUS
CHRIST." Clearly here, Paul expected Timothy to be alive when Jesus
returned!
(20) (2Tim.4:1) Paul to Timothy:
"I solemnly charge YOU
(Timothy) in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is ABOUT TO JUDGE
(Young's Lit. Trans.) the living and the dead, and BY
HIS APPEARING AND HIS KINGDOM."
(21) (Tit.2:13) Paul to
Titus:
"...looking
for the blessed hope and THE APPEARING OF THE GLORY OF OUR GREAT GOD AND
SAVIOR, CHRIST JESUS."
(22) (Heb.10:27)
"For yet IN A VERY
LITTLE WHILE, He who is coming, will come, and WILL NOT DELAY."
(23) (Jas.5:8,9) James to the dispersed Jewish
disciples scattered abroad who were being greatly persucuted by the Judaizers:
"You too, be patient; strengthen your hearts, for THE COMING OF THE
LORD IS AT HAND. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you
yourselves may not be judged; Behold, The Judge IS STANDING RIGHT AT THE
DOOR."
(24) (1Pet.4:5) Peter also to Jewish disciples scattered over the land:
"...but they shall
give account to Him WHO IS READY to judge the living and the dead."
(25) (1Pet.4:7) Peter
again:
"THE END OF ALL THINGS
IS AT HAND; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober
spirit for the purpose of prayer."
(26) (1Pet.4:17) Peter again:
"For IT IS TIME FOR
'THE' (the definite article "the" IS in the original text) JUDGMENT
TO BEGIN with the household of God (
(27) And then, finally, our beloved apostle John was shown that those things
being revealed to him in The Apocalypse were ALL, things which WOULD SHORTLY
TAKE PLACE (Rev.1:1). John admonished those 1st century disciples to
"heed the things which are written in it; FOR THE TIME IS
NEAR (VS.3).
A. To the church at
"Repent
therefore; or else I AM COMING QUICKLY..." (Rev. 2:16).
B. To the church at Thyatira, John was told to write:
"...Hold fast UNTIL I
COME." (Rev.2:25).
C. To the church at
"Because you have kept
the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from
the hour of testing which is ABOUT TO COME upon the whole world (
D. John wrote that,
"These words are
faithful and true; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent
HIs angel to show to His bond-servants the things WHICH MUST SHORTLY
E. John was warned by the angel,
"Do NOT seal up the
words of the prophecy of this book; FOR THE TIME IS NEAR." (Rev.22:10)
F. John was told to write:
"Behold, I AM COMING
QUICKLY!" (Rev.22:12)
G. And finally, John testified that Jesus said,
"Yes, I AM COMING
QUICKLY." (Rev.22:20)
And so these are some of the passages that are so persuasive in determining in
my own mind as to the "when" regarding the "Parousia" of
our Lord. And when considering all of these Scriptures, I hope that you can see
the reason for my understanding of Jesus' words to Peter with regard to John's
remaining until his Master returned! May the Lord richly bless you with His
grace and peace.
Jim Gunter
Slidell,
jamesgunter0976@msn.com