2 full of great fishes, a hundred1 and fifty and three and for all 12 there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask Him, Who art Thou? knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and 14 fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus showed Himself to His disciples, after that He was risen from the dead. 15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith 16 unto him, Feed My lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith 17 unto him, Feed My sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, Lovest thou Me? And he said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed My 18 sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou 5 1 The count was suggested no doubt because the haul was so unprecedentedly large. It was sufficient not only for supplying their immediate wants, but their wants during the period of their waiting, and to enable them to show hospitality to other disciples who were gathering and were strangers in Galilee. Our Lord never performed miracles merely for the display of the power by which He performed them. He performed these miracles that He might be identified by His disciples in the very highest regions of proof, and for the beneficent purpose of supplying the wants of His followers on this great occasion of their gathering in Galilee by His own command. 2 This was the third time He had appeared to the apostles in their distinctive character, or collected together. 8 It is worthy of special notice that the word rendered love in Peter's answer, A σe, is one of lower significancy than the one thus translated in our Lord's question, ἀγαπᾷς με ; He does not claim that he is more devoted to Christ than John, or James, or Nathanael; but he does profess to love Him, notwithstanding the past, as a poor sinner may love, although far below the standard such a Friend deserved. 4"Lambs and sheep include the whole flock, and are here employed to show that the pastoral care of Peter and all Christ's ministers is to be exercised over all the members of the flock, young and old, strong and infirm, rich and poor, high and low, without distinction of age or condition." (Dr. J. J. Owen's Commentary, in loco.) As sheep and lambs embrace the entire flock, so it has also been remarked that the two verbs employed (ßóσкe, feed, and woíuawe, shepherdise, or guide as a shepherd) include every provision for the spiritual wants of the flock, and every kind of supervision and care required. ♪ Peter was no longer young; he was probably several years the senior of the wouldest; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither 19 thou wouldest not. This spake He, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He 20 saith unto him, Follow Me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on His breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he 21 that betrayeth Thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, 22 and what 2 shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou Me. 23 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 24 thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. 25 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. Lord. In the conclusion of this address He seems to describe the infirmities of old age, and the death of one who comes to the grave through these infirmities. If Peter was nearly forty years old when he was thus addressed, and laboured for nearly forty years after the ascension, then we may understand by what death he was to glorify God. Others suppose that our Lord's words to him are to be taken simply as a figurative prophetic designation of the binding of the hands of one about to be led to execution, and that in the stretching out of the hands there is a distinct allusion to crucifixion as the mode of his death. 1 Probably towards that mountain where He had appointed to meet His assembled followers. 2 Shall and do are in italics. The question in the Greek is, ouros de Ti; And what this man? i.e. What shall he suffer? or, How with him? The question was prompted by the close intimacy that existed between the two disciples and the loving regard of Jesus for St. John. With childlike simplicity John records the answer, and corrects the saying that had gone abroad, that Christ had foretold he should never die. He will not allow that interpretation of the words, "If I will that he tarry till I come," most glorious to himself. All that the Saviour foretold in regard to John was that he should live until His advent at the overthrow of Jerusalem. That event was passed, and John was standing, waiting for that other advent when he should go into the presence of that Saviour by whom he was so tenderly loved. 3 The simple idea seems to be that if everything should be put down in detail it would be too cumbrous and voluminous for the world or the mass of men to receive and profit by. There is as much wisdom in the reticence of Scripture, or in its precise limitation, as in what it actually contains. CHAPTER XIV. LAST DAYS AND CONCLUDING WRITINGS OF THE APOSTLE. ST. JOHN FAR ADVANCED IN YEARS.-EPISTLES WRITTEN LATER THAN THE GOSPEL.-BREVITY OF THE SECOND AND THIRD PERHAPS INDICATIVE OF AGE. GENUINENESS OF EPISTLES MOST EVIDENT.-SUBLIME THOUGHT AT FOUNDATION OF THE FIRST.-FIVE GREAT TOPICS.-THE SECOND EPISTLE ADDRESSED TO A CHRISTIAN WOMAN AND HER CHILDREN.-THE THIRD ADDRESSED TO GAIUS.-IT ADMIRABLY SKETCHES THREE DISTINCT PORTRAITS.-ST. JOHN VERY AGED, PROBABLY PAST NINETY. THESE WRITINGS BREATHE SPIRIT OF HEAVEN.-BECOMING TOO WEAK TO WALK INTO THE ASSEMBLY, HE IS BORNE THITHER.-LIVED TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND CENTURY.-NOT LESS THAN ONE HUNDRED AT DEATH. -BURIED PROBABLY AMONG THE SEPULCHRES OF MOUNT PRION.PERSECUTED UNDER DOMITIAN, NERVA, TRAJAN.-TRADITIONS, APOCRY PHAL THE AND GENUINE.-BOILING OIL.-LEGENDS OF THE SHIPWRECK, PARTRIDGE, DRUSIANA, THE POISONED CUP, ETC.-CERINTHUS AT THE BATH.-TRADITION THAT HE DID NOT DIE.-LEGENDARY INTERPRETATION OF JOHN XXI. 22.-LONGFELLOW ON THE FESSOR PLUMPTRE QUOTED. LEGEND.-PRO IF the Gospel according to St. John was written some fifty years after the events to which it relates, the Epistles that bear the name of this apostle were evidently written considerably later, about the year 90; the Second and Third probably when he had begun to feel some of the infirmities of age. He was far advanced in years, and drawing near to the end of his earthly career. The pen of inspiration is held by the hand of one trembling with age, yet ripe in wisdom and Christian experience. That the apostle St. John was the author of these three letters there is no room to doubt. In regard to the First, we find Polycarp, who suffered martyrdom A.D. 168, and who was St. John's disciple, freely quoting (in his Epistle to the Philippians, chap. vii.) 1 John iv. 3. Eusebius distinctly refers to the use Papias made of this Epistle, rŷs προτέρας Ιωάννου ἐπιστολῆς.1 The Muratorian fragment, written probably A.D. 170, and the Peschito version, which belongs to the same age, together bear witness to the genuineness of this Epistle. When we 1 Euseb., Hist. Eccl., iii. 39. 2 Ewald, Introduc. to Comm., pp. 14-16. |