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Email: josleminhthong@gmail.com
June 30, 2014.
Contents
I. Text of
Jn 21:20-25
II. Context
and structure of Jn 21
III.
Analysis
1. The disciple whom Jesus loved
2. The will of Jesus for the disciple whom
He loved
3. Writings and testimony of the disciple
whom Jesus loved
IV.
Conclusion
I. Text of Jn 21:20-25
The text of
Jn 21:20-25 below is taken from Revised
Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition (RSV-SCE).
20 Peter
turned and saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, who had lain close
to his breast at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going
to betray you?" 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what
about this man?" 22 Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he
remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" 23 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?"
24 This is
the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these
things; and we know that his testimony is true. 25 But there are also many
other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose
that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
II. Context and structure of Jn 21
The ch. 21
of John’s Gospel is supposed as an addition by the redactor of the Gospel. He
added the second conclusion 21:24-25. The first conclusion of John’s Gospel is
20:30-31. Jn 21 describes the relationship between Jesus and the two greatest
figures of the Johannine community: Simon Peter and the disciple whom Jesus
loved. This chapter is structured in four units:
(1)
21:1-14. Jesus appears to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. The principal
characters of the story are Simon Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved. They
will be presented in the following units.
(2)
21:15-19. Thrice, Jesus asks Simon Peter to acknowledge his love to Him
and also, thrice, Jesus tasks Peter to take care of his sheep (21:15-17). Then
Jesus foretells that Peter’s death is to glorify God (21:18-19). But
at that time, the mission of Peter is to follow Jesus (21:19; cf. 21:22).
(3)
21:20-23. Jesus expresses his will for the destiny of the disciple whom He
loved. Jesus says to Peter in 21:22a: “If it is my will that he remain until I
come, what is that to you?” This saying is repeated twice (21:22.23b) to
emphasize his mystery. Like Peter, this disciple is also a Jesus’ follower
(21:20).
(4)
21:24-25. The redactor writes the second conclusion which is based on the
writings and testimony of the disciple whom Jesus loved.
III. Analysis
We will
analyze the character whom Jesus loved in the two last units (21:20-23 and
21:24-25) through three points: (1) The disciple whom Jesus loved. (2) The will
of Jesus for this disciple. (3) Writings and testimony of the disciple whom
Jesus loved.
1.
The disciple whom Jesus loved
The verb
“follow” (akoloutheô) links the destiny of Peter with the destiny of the
disciple whom Jesus loved. At the end of the second unit (21:15-19), Jesus says
to Peter: “Follow me” (21:19b). And in the beginning of the third unit
(21:20-23), the disciple whom Jesus loved is also in the role as a follower.
The narrator relates in 21:20a: “Peter turned and saw following them the
disciple whom Jesus loved.” In 21:22b, Jesus asks Peter again: “follow me”. By
insisting on the idea “following Jesus”, the story wants to show that, “to
follow Jesus” is a characteristic of a true disciple whatever he is the chief
of the disciples (Peter), or close to Jesus (the disciple whom Jesus loved).
Every disciple of Jesus is invited to follow him in all circumstances: being
persecuted (Peter), or bearing testimony to Jesus (the disciple whom Jesus
loved).
The
disciple whom Jesus loved in 21:20-23 is identified by referring to other story
in 13:21-31: “Announcement of Judas’s Betrayal”. In 21:20 the narrator recalls
of two details: (1) The first one is the privileged place, close position of
this disciple next to Jesus: he had lain close to Jesus’ breast at the supper
(21:20b) // 13:23. (2) The second detail is his question to Jesus: “Lord, who
is it that is going to betray you?” (21:20c) // 13,24b. In the story of
13:21-31, the narrator relates these two details in 13:22-26: “23 One of his
disciples, whom Jesus loved, was lying close to the breast of Jesus; 24 so
Simon Peter beckoned to him and said, ‘Tell us who it is of whom he speaks.’ 25
So lying thus, close to the breast of Jesus, he said to him, ‘Lord, who is it?’
26 Jesus answered, ‘It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have
dipped it.’ So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of
Simon Iscariot.”
These two
details about the disciple whom Jesus loved in 21:20 reveal the important role
of this disciple among the group of disciples and in the Johannine community.
This disciple is close to Jesus in the supper (13:23); he stands under the
cross of Jesus (19:25); he is the first one who “saw and believed” (20:8) in
front of the empty tomb; he is the first one who recognizes the Lord when He
appears at the Sea of Tiberias (21:7). Obviously, the quality of the
relationship between Jesus and the disciple whom Jesus loved is better than
Peter’s. But this disciple is not in competition with Peter. Each of them keeps
his place and his specific role in the community of disciples.
In
21:15-19, Jesus solemnly establishes Simon Peter as a disciple and a pastor.
Peter is presented as a leader of the group of disciples, but in the Johannine
community, there are many questions about the mysterious figure of the disciple
whom Jesus loved. The question of Peter when addressing Jesus: “Lord, what
about this man?” (21:21b) is also the question of the Johannine community.
Nevertheless the answer of Jesus to Peter is surprising and mysterious: “If it
is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me”
(21:22).
2.
The will of Jesus for the disciple whom Jesus loved
The will of
Jesus is expressed by himself in 21:22 and repeated by the narrator in 21:23.
Jesus’ saying in 21:22a: “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is
that to you?” is misunderstood that this disciple was not to die before Jesus’
return. This “saying spread abroad among the brethren” (21:23a) needs a correction.
In fact, Jesus did not say that this disciple was not to die, but the exact
words of Jesus were: “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is
that to you?” (21:23b).
The destiny
of Peter is evidently announced to him in 21:18-19, but the destiny of the
disciple whom Jesus loved is not clear, it depends on Jesus’ will: “If it is my
will that…” (21:22a), not on the community’s will. The brethren of the
Johannine community want the disciple whom Jesus loved to live with them as
long as possible, because he is a great figure of the community. This
community’s will was based on a faulty understanding of Jesus’ saying (21:22).
Readers can
get a better understanding with the clarification of F. J. Moloney: “The
Beloved Disciple is no longer alive, and the community should not wonder at his
death. Whatever has happened to the Beloved Disciple is but the fulfillment of
the will of Jesus for him. Both Peter (cf. vv. 18-19) and the Beloved Disciple
(vv. 22-23) have died.” (F. J. MOLONEY, The Gospel of John, (SPS 4),
Collegeville (MN), The
Liturgical Press, 1998, p. 557). These two important figures of the community maintain different
roles: Peter is established as a pastor. The disciple whom Jesus loved has
written his true testimony to Jesus.
3.
Writings and testimony of the disciple whom Jesus loved
By the
words of Jesus on the cross (19:26-27), the disciple whom Jesus loved is
regarded as a founder of the community. The narrator relates the sequence at
Golgotha in 19:26-27: “26 When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he
loved standing near, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ 27 Then
he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple
took her to his own home.” For the Johannine community, the disciple whom Jesus
loved is presented with great respect and as the founding figure of the
community by the quality of his relationship with Jesus and the quality of his
testimony to Jesus. This disciple stands under the cross and bears witness to
it. The narrator relates his testimony in 19:35: “He [the disciple whom Jesus
loved] who saw it has borne witness – his testimony is true, and he knows that
he tells the truth – that you (the reader) also may believe.”
In 21:24,
the redactor talks about his writings and his testimony: “This is the disciple
[the disciple whom Jesus loved] who is bearing witness to these things, and who
has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true” (21:24). The
dual expression “these things” in “bearing witness to these things” (21:24a)
and “has written these things” (21:24b) refers to the fundamental content of
John’s Gospel.
When the
redactor affirms: “We know that…” (21:24b), on behalf of the Johannine school,
he proclaims that the disciple whom Jesus loved “has written these things”.
Today, many scholars accept that the disciple whom Jesus loved did not write
the whole of Jn 1–20 and the first conclusion in 20:30-31. According to actual
composition of John’s Gospel in many stages, we can consider that the base text
of John’s Gospel today belongs to the writings of the disciple whom Jesus loved
(21:24), who is the leader of the Johannine School. Then one or many members of
the Johannine School, called author(s), finished the redaction of the Gospel
with the first conclusion in 20:30-31. Finally, one or many redactors, a part
of the Johannine School, wrote Jn 21, published the book and circulated the
Gospel of John as we have today. Thus, there are three principal stages of the
formation of John’s Gospel: (1) Base writings of the disciple whom Jesus loved;
(2) Author wrote the first conclusion in 20:30-31; (3) Redactor who was
responsible of Jn 21 gave the final text of the Gospel of John that we see
today.
IV. Conclusion
The passage
Jn 21:20-25 talks about the mysterious destiny of the disciple whom Jesus
loved. The redactor explains how the community of disciples could exist without
the physical presence of Jesus (cf. 20:29) and the death of the community’s
leaders. It is because of the time of the redaction of the Gospel, Peter and
the disciple whom Jesus loved were dead. In fact, the community still exists
and develops because the shepherd’s role of Peter continues with his successors
and the disciple whom Jesus loved still remains until Jesus’ return thanks to
his writings and his testimony in John’s Gospel.
The
disciple whom Jesus loved is an influential figure of the community and an
ideal disciple. Readers throughout the ages are invited to follow the model of
this disciple as for his intimate relationship with Jesus, the quality of his
faith and testimony. Hoping that readers will apply this invitation by studying
and meditating the Gospel of John./.
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