- John 21:21-25
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- John 21:21 (KJB)
- Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man
do?
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- Peter then asks Jesus concerning John. Peter had been the one addressed
in the previous verses so maybe he was asking for John’s sake or had a
concern about him or wanted to make a comparison between him and John.
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- John 21:22 (KJB)
- Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is
that to thee? follow thou me.
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- Here is the essence of true discipleship. Jesus had told Peter three
times to feed His sheep and then to follow Him. Jesus tells Peter, basically
why are you concerned about him? If I want to let him live until I return,
then why would that affect thee? I gave you a command to feed my sheep and
follow me, therefore, do not get distracted or diverted by whatever ministry
I have for someone else. You will have enough to contend with in your own
life. That is a good lesson for us. We must continue following the Lord and
not to concern ourselves with the ministry of others, or the things of the
world. Now when I speak about the ministry of others, I am not saying that
we can never lend a hand to another ministry but we must keep focused on the
primary ministry the Lord has given us.
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- John 21:23 (KJB)
- Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple
should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I
will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
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- Then as usual, as soon as those who misunderstood Jesus and what He said
will tell it wherever they go. Jesus did not say that John would not die, He
stated that if He wills John to stay alive until the second coming, that
should not affect another. The more things change, the more they stay the
same. Rumor mills are as alive today as they were back then. We need to be
careful what we hear and when we hear something to make sure what we heard
was correct and if it really needs to be shouted from the housetops.
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- John 21:24 (KJB)
- This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these
things: and we know that his testimony is true.
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- John ends this book stating that he testifies to these things and that
he is the author of them, of course, under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit. Then he probably gave this book to others who were also witnesses to
the things of Jesus and was given approval by claiming that the testimony of
John was true. The Bible states that at least two or three witnesses are
needed to confirm something.
(Deu 19:15
KJV) One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for
any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at
the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
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- John 21:25 (KJB)
- 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. Amen.
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- Jesus was the central figure in all of humanity. When He taught or
performed any miracle, it would have been written down and then thousands of
commentaries would have been written. The works and words of Jesus Himself
could not be contained by the world. This means there are many things which
Jesus did and said that were not included in the Gospels because it would
have been overwhelming for any human being to comprehend. Even the believers
would be overwhelmed. Look at the tens of thousands of books which are
written about Jesus down through the ages. If we were able to count and
catalog them, I cannot imagine the many giant libraries that would be needed
to house all of them. John is telling us that basically there is so much
that could not be written down but God knew exactly what we needed to
proclaim and to live by so we never need worry about missing something.
Those people who claim to have found lost books of the Bible are just
peddling non-canonical history and sometimes fantasy, which only engenders
confusion. We can totally rely on what God has given us in the Scriptures.
Let me ask a question. Have you been obedient to everything in Scripture?
Have you understood everything in Scripture? If not, then why would you want
more? He who has ears to hear!
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