2025/03/10
186. The Apostle John's Witness
In the final scene of the Gospel of John, where the risen Jesus appears to the seven disciples who are fishing, John the Evangelist explains the words of Jesus in response to the question asked by the Apostle Peter as follows: "The saying spread abroad among the brethren 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?'" (John 21:23). "This disciple" is "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (21:20), that is, the Apostle John. The reason why "The saying spread abroad among the brethren that this disciple was not to die" was because Jesus had said while he was alive, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power" (Mark 9:1).
The meaningful phrase that follows, "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?'" suggests the Book of Revelation with the words "until I come" as a clue. The Book of Revelation was written in a scroll by the author John to send to the seven churches in Asia, describing what he had seen (cf. Rev. 1:11). The central theme of the letters to the six churches other than the church in Smyrna, is the phrase "I come".
Paying attention to how the phrase "I come" is expressed in each letter, we will see that the wording changes over time. In the letter to the church in Ephesus, we read, "If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent" (Rev. 2:5). In the letter to the church in Pergamum, we read, "Repent then. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth" (2:16). To the church in Thyatira, it says, "[O]nly hold fast what you have, until I come" (2:25). And to the church in Sardis, "If you will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you" (3:3). Up to this point, the theme of "I come" is a notice for the future.
To the church in Philadelphia, however, it becomes the near future, with the words "I am coming soon" (3:11). Finally, to the church in Laodicea, it becomes the present, with the words "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (3:20). It then says, "[I]f any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." The person who "hears my voice and opens the door" is a sheep who can hear the voice of the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep (cf. John 10:11-14), i.e., the disciples of Jesus. The phrase "opens the door" means establishing the New Testament. The scene of the Last Supper where Jesus instituted the Eucharist is in it. Then, Revelation continues as follows.
"He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne" (3:21).
The words "until I come" in the last words of the risen Jesus in the Gospel of John, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?" were meant to be "until the New Testament was established". And John, who interpreted those words, already had a premonition of the Book of Revelation.
Maria K. M.
