August 4

"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?" John 21:23.

WHAT did he mean by his coming to John? It may be understood three ways.

Of his coming to him by a natural death; and he was the only apostle who did not suffer a violent end.

Of his coming to destroy Jerusalem; and he survived that event.

Of his coming at the last day; in which case he answers Peter by the supposition of a miracle. "What if I choose that he should continue on earth till I come to judge the world?" In this sense it was taken.

But observe how it was misreported. Jesus only supposed a case, and it was turned into an assertion. He only said, What if I will that he tarry till I come? and it was circulated that he should so tarry, and the saying went abroad among the brethren that he should not die. Who has not heard the absurd story of the wandering Jew? Whether any now believe such a delusion, we know not; but we see what influence the notion had in the early ages. Beza mentions an impostor in his time, at Paris, who gave out that he was the deathless John, and was burnt at Toulouse.