John closes with a hyperbole which tells us that there is a lot more about Jesus than we can ever know. The implication is, however, that there is nothing else that is essential to know. What is written is sufficient to bring us into the relationship God has designed for us.

In a moral sense, this statement of John’s is quite literal. The world could not contain any more of the gospel than what it has. The word translated as “contain” or “have room” here is the same word translated as “place” or “room” in (John 8:37).

John 8:37  I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word.

Morris finishes his fine commentary on this verse by observing that “It is well for us to be appreciative of the knowledge we have and to show a due gratitude to God for what He has revealed. But we should not exaggerate. Our knowledge of the truth is at best partial. The reader who appreciates the significance of these final words is kept humble.” Amen.

John wrote this wonderful account of our Lord so that we who read it may believe in Jesus and trust in His saving grace (John 19:35). It is my prayer that the Gospel of John has done exactly that and has helped you to know our wonderful Lord better than you ever have before. My challenge to you is to keep growing in your relationship with Him by spending time with Him in His Word and in prayer.

John 19:35  The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.

Each has his own role in the Kingdom of God. Peter had his and John had his. The previous verse indicates that John lived to be very old, which allies itself with tradition. His function was to be the witness to Christ. His entire gospel is an affidavit to Who Jesus was, what He said, and what He did. Who better to write a gospel than the disciple closest to Christ? John has faithfully recorded testimony from various sources throughout his book. He has used the word ‘witness’ as a noun 14 times and as a verb 33 times. These words are found a total of 4 and 2 times respectively in the other three gospels thus stressing the role God had for John in writing this gospel. Among those bearing witness to Jesus in the Gospel of John are:

1. the Father (5:37, 8:18)
   John 5:37  And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form,
   
   John 8:18  I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
2. the Spirit (15:26, 16:14)
   John 15:26  “When the Counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.
   
   John 16:14  He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
3. Jesus Himself (8:14, 18, 3:11, 32, 8:37)
   John 8:14  Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.
   
   John 8:18  I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
   
   John 3:11  I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
   
   John 3:32  He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no-one accepts his testimony.
   
   John 8:37  I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word.
4. the works of Christ (5:36, 10:25, 14:11, 15:24)
   John 5:36  “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.
   
   John 10:25  Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me,
   
   John 14:11  Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
   
   John 15:24  If I had not done among them what no-one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.
5. scripture (5:39, 5:45-47)
   John 5:39  You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,
   
   John 5:45-47  “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.  If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.  But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
6. John the Baptist (1:6-8)
   John 1:6-8  There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.   He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
7. the disciples (15:27)
   John 15:27  And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
8. the Samaritan woman (4:39)
   John 4:39  Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”
9. the multitude (12:17)
   John 12:17  Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.
10. and John himself in this verse and in (19:35).
    John 19:35  The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.

Your individual goal in serving Jesus should be to find what role or roles He has for you and then do them in total dependence upon Him and His abilities and not upon your own (Php 4:13).

Philippians 4:13  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

It is easy to see how the early church could have misunderstood the words of Jesus and come up with the conclusion that John would not die until Christ came back, but they had misconstrued Christ’s words and intentions and John was determined to set the record straight. Notice that even though John has the habit of slight variation when statements are repeated, here he quotes the statement of Jesus exactly as in the previous verse.

This error of the early church would have been one they would have welcomed quite readily which made it all too easy to believe. We are the same as they and often believe what we want to be true. They must have thought that although Jesus was gone into heaven, at least His beloved disciple would be here until His return to bless and lead the church. We are the ones, however, who rely too much on men and programs and methods. God is quite capable of carrying on a work even if the leader is removed or the methods changed. Our trust needs to be in Him and not in men or the way things have always been done.

Jesus strongly told Peter that it is none of his business. He followed with a repetition of the command in verse (21:19) except there is a slight change in the wording and now there is emphasis on the word “You.” The difference between the two commands is as the difference in “Follow Me!” and “You follow Me!” These are things outside of what Peter should be concerned about and he must quit being distracted by them and concentrate on doing what he should be doing (Rom 14:4). Our directive from Jesus is to follow Him and not worry about what His plans are for others.

John 21:19  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Romans 14:4  Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Peter’s question was probably for John’s benefit, as a close friend (Acts 3:1) and in repayment for the favor John did for him at the supper (John 13:24). But Peter’s motives may have been less pure. He may have been shocked by Jesus’ prediction of suffering in his life and wanted to have some company in that misery, or plain old curiosity may have inspired the question. Whatever the case, the reply of Jesus seems to indicate that there was something wrong with Peter even asking such a thing.

Acts 3:1  One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.

John 13:24  Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”

Peter was in the company of Jesus, Who had invited him to take a personal walk with Him. But Peter’s attention was not completely upon Christ, because he turned around to see John following them. Peter had the undivided attention of his Master and yet could so easily be distracted from so wondrous a company. How often have you been distracted under similar circumstances?

It is interesting to note that what Jesus had told Peter to do was already being done by John. Could this insight into John’s nature have any relevance to why he was “the disciple whom Jesus loved”? How do you compare?

John characterizes himself both as the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” which he has used before, and “the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, ‘Lord, who is the one who betrays You?’” This latter designation is a reference to (John 13:23-26) and is similar to the way John described Nicodemus, Judas, and Caiaphas (John 19:39, 6:71, 18:14).

John 13:23-26  One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.  Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”  Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”  Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon.

John 19:39  He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.

John 6:71  (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

John 18:14  Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people.

Peter is going to glorify God by his death, just like Jesus (John 12:23, 15:8). Our admonition is to glorify Jesus, whether in our living or in our dying (Php 1:20).

John 12:23  Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

John 15:8  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Philippians 1:20  I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

Jesus ended His prophecy to Peter with an admonition to follow Him, which could have several meanings. The tense of the verb is present, meaning “Keep on following Me!” Peter had followed Christ in the past, although not always continuously, and Jesus was encouraging him to steadfastly follow Him in the future in all of his ways. This would have been a further confirmation to Peter of his complete restoration by Jesus, for this was the same call made to him under quite similar circumstances years before (Matt 4:18-20). In fact, this is the same call that is made to every disciple of Christ, even today (Matt 16:24).

Matthew 4:18-20  As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”  At once they left their nets and followed him.

Matthew 16:24  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

In another sense, this was a command to Peter to do what Jesus had done (John 15:20). He had given them (and us) an example of how to live and how to die (1 Peter 2:21).

John 15:20  Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

1 Peter 2:21  To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

Jesus may have spoken this command to Peter as He was rising from the table, thus indicating to Peter to follow Him as He walked a short distance away from the others. This would be supported by the next verse where it is mentioned that John was following them.

Finally, this is also the repetition of a promise Jesus had previously made to Peter (John 13:36). Henry comforts us by saying “Those that faithfully follow Christ in grace shall certainly follow him to glory.” Are you following Jesus?

John 13:36  Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

Jesus followed His commission of Peter with a prophecy. Jesus indicated that later in his life, Peter will lose the freedom to dress himself and go where he wishes, thus pointing to imprisonment. The stretching out of his hands may indicate the manner of his death: crucifixion. Peter did indeed die of crucifixion by the order of Nero in Rome at an uncertain date (64 – 67 AD?). The fulfillment of this prophecy began soon after the ascension of Christ (Acts 4:3, 5:18, 12:4).

Acts 4:3  They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.

Acts 5:18  They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

Acts 12:4  After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

This prophecy may have given purpose to Peter’s life and made him more determined to follow Jesus, but it was Jesus who decided to tell Peter these things and not Peter who asked. Jesus, in His wisdom, knows who to tell and how much. We should be careful to not ask for something we may not want to have. How would you have liked to live with this knowledge the rest of your life?

Jesus asked for the third time if Peter loved Him and Peter was grieved because of it. This time the verb is changed to phileo instead of agape, but the reason for Peter’s grief was not a change in meaning (remember that their conversation would have been in Aramaic and not Greek), but because He asked the question three times. There are a couple of good reasons for Peter’s grief. First, since this was the third time, it reminded him of his threefold denial, which was part of Christ’s purpose. And second, by asking three times it would seem that maybe Jesus didn’t believe him the first two. Both would have grieved Peter.

Peter’s response was that Jesus knows all things and thus knew that he loved Him. But Jesus wasn’t asking so that He could gain knowledge for Himself. Peter was correct in his assessment that Jesus knew what was in his heart. It wasn’t Jesus that needed to know, it was Peter and the other disciples who needed to know. That is why Jesus asked the question.

For the third and last time Jesus told Peter to tend His sheep. This whole scene was intended to show Peter, the disciples, and us that Peter was completely restored to his position of leadership. He had denied his Lord 3 times and now he had affirmed his love for Him 3 times and he had been commissioned 3 times to care for the flock of God. The others present could not have helped but understand exactly what Jesus had done. Even the scene was the same: Peter warming himself around a charcoal fire (Mark 14:54) had denied Jesus 3 times and now warming himself around a charcoal fire had affirmed his love for Him. Though Peter had made bad mistakes in the past, He was now restored to a position of trust and Jesus was placing into Simon’s care His most treasured possession, His flock.

Mark 14:54  Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.

Jesus repeated His previous question without adding the “more than these.” Peter’s reply was the same as before and the response of Jesus to Peter’s reply was essentially the same although a verb with a broader meaning (poimaino), which means “to exercise the office of shepherd, or tend a flock” instead of just “feed” (bosko) as in the previous verse. This is probably not significant and is just a variety in words to convey exactly the same meaning.