Theology 25 Multiple Choice-THE Gospel OF JOHN
(13:31-21:25)
14. Farewell Discourse: Part One (13:31-14:31)
John 13:31-16:33 is known as the Farewell Discourse, the departing words of Jesus to his disciples before he leaves them and goes to the Father. The central concern of these chapters is the disciples’ life after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.
The Evangelist has composed this material according to the literary genre known as a “testament”. This is the farewell address of a teacher or father figure to those whom he leaves behind. Jesus’ testament has many standard features: announcement of departure (13:33), words of consolation (14:1, 27), final instructions (13:34; 15:13, 17), warnings about hardships to come (15:18, 21; 16:1-4), securing the group’s future needs (14:16, 23, 26; 15:26; 16:7, 13).
14.1 Glory revealed in love (13:31-38)
With the departure of Judas, the sequence of events leading to Jesus’ four bas begun. The focus shifts to Jesus and his faithful disciples, and the Farewell Discourse proper begins.
Several important theological themes in the Gospel come together in the statement: Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. The language of “glory” recalls the scriptural background in which the Lord’s glory is a sensible manifestation of his awesome presence. This motif of revelation connects with John’s use of the title Son of Man, which designates Jesus as the one who came down from heaven to reveal the Father (3:12-13) and is lifted up on the cross for the world’s salvation (3:14-15; 8:28; 12:32-34). The cross is the moment of glorification because in the cross God is definitively revealed as self-giving love (1 John 4:8-10). The Father loves the Son and gives him for the world’s salvation (John 3:16-17), and the Son in turn makes of his life a perfect gift of love and obedience to the Father (10:17-18). Since the love between the Father and the Son is revealed in the cross, God is glorified in Jesus’ loving obedience, and the Father will further glorify Jesus, reveal Jesus’ deity, in his resurrected, glorified humanity (8:28; 20:28).
As he did with the festival crowd and Pharisees (7:33-34; 8:21; 12:35), Jesus now tells the disciples that he will be leaving them in a little while, and they cannot come, at least not yet. Thus Jesus will now give his disciples instructions for the time when he will be physically absent.
First and foremost is Jesus’ new commandment to love one another (see 15:12, 17; 1 John 4:7, 11). Jesus’ love is the gift of himself in obedience to the Father’s will for the salvation of the world. He has already shown this love symbolically in the footwashing, and he will enact it on the cross. Just as the disciples are to “wash another’s feet” (13:14) as Jesus washed their feet, so also are they to love one another as Jesus has loved them. This is the “law of love” (Romans 13:8-10; James 2:8), which summarizes the Father’s will and must guide the Church.
Jesus designates this radical self-giving love as the defining characteristic of his disciples. This kind of loving practice is revelatory. Jesus as Jesus’ works reveal the Father and himself as the Son (5:36), so will the disciples’ love for one another make known to all that they belong to Jesus. Similarly, Jesus says in Matthew 5:1, “Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”
The love of Jesus on the cross is not only the example but also the indispensable source for the disciples’ love. The Catechism states, “It is impossible to keep the Lord’s commandment by imitating the divine model from the outside; there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the heart, in the holiness and the mercy and the love of our God” (CCC, 2842). Through their loving actions, animated by Jesus’ own love for them, the disciples become living testimony to the Father’s love, revealed in the cross of Jesus and active in them.
Running throughout John 13-14 is a pattern in which a disciple questions Jesus and Jesus responds with clarification and further teaching (13:25, 36; 14:5, 8, 22). The Beloved Disciple asked Jesus about the betrayer (13:25), and now Peter asks Jesus, Where are you going?, not knowing that Jesus is going to the Father. Jesus responds that Peter cannot follow him now but adds that Peter will follow later (compare 13:7). Jesus must go to the Father first to enable others to go to the Father through him.
In the Synoptics, Peter insists that he will not fail Jesus like the other disciples (Mark 14:27-31; Luke 22:31-34). Here, Peter, who does not even known where Jesus is going, insists that he will follow Jesus now. He even professes his willingness to lay down his life for Jesus (Matthew 26:35; Mark 14:31), using language that recalls the good shepherd (John 10:15, 17-18).
Jesus’ rhetorical question casts doubts on Peter’s well-intentioned but naïve overconfidence: Will you lay down your life for me? Rather, Jesus solemnly declares, The cock will not crow before you deny me three times. Peter cannot follow Jesus now, and before the next morning, he will explicitly refuse to do so.
14.2 Going to the Father (14:1-7)
Jesus has announced his imminent departure (13:33), but he reassures his disciples: Do not let your hearts be troubled. In John, the Greek verb behind “troubled” connotes the distress experienced from the proximity of death (11:33; 12:27; 13:21). Instead, Jesus tells the disciples, to have faith, to trust in God the Father and in him. As the Father’s Son and perfect envoy, Jesus is absolutely reliable and trustworthy, and a faith response to him is a faith response to the Father who sent him (12:44).
Jesus refers to his destination as my Father’s house in which there are many dwelling places. Jesus goes to the Father to prepare a place for his disciples with the Father in heavenly glory. Having already promised that his disciples will follow him later (13:36), Jesus now promises to come back again and take them to be with him in the Father’s glory (see 12:26).
Biblical texts often present God’s heavenly dwelling as a temple (e.g., Psalm 11:4; Revelation 7:15). The earthly sanctuary, a replica of the heavenly one (Exodus 25:8-9), was regarded as God’s dwelling place among his people. Jesus referred to the Jerusalem temple as “my Father’s house” and spoke of its destruction, three days after which a new temple would be built (John 2:16, 19). John reveals that his new temple was to be Jesus’ own resurrected body (2:21). The glorified humanity of Jesus is the point where all humanity comes to dwell with the Father. Heaven, “the Father’s house,” is not so much a place as the divine communion of life and love in which we share through the glorified humanity of Jesus. As we shall see, the disciples’ sharing in this heavenly communion with the Father through Jesus begins in this life through faith and the indwelling Holy Spirit (14:17, 23).
The disciples do not understand what Jesus is telling them. Thomas confesses that the disciples do not know where you are going, much less the way to get there. Jesus responds with the sixth “I am + predicate” title in the Gospel: I am the way and the truth and the life. Jesus is the way because it is only through him that humanity has access to the Father (see 10:7, 9). Humanity can have access to the Father though Jesus because he is the truth, the incarnate Word, “who has come down from heaven (3:13) to reveal the Father, accomplish his saving work, and draw people to share in the divine communion. By following Jesus as the way, disciples come to know the truth, that is, his revelation of the Father: If you know me, then you will also know my Father. Jesus is the life because only he has come down from heaven and only he can lift humanity up to share in the divine communion, which he as the Son has enjoyed from all eternity. Jesus thus declares, No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus is the “narrow gate” (Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 13:24), the “one mediator between God and the human race” (1 Timothy 2:5), and “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12).
14.3 Seeing the Father (14:8-14)
Philip does not understand Jesus’ words about knowing and seeing the Father in Jesus. He might be looking for a grand theophany, because his request of Jesus, Show us the Father, recalls Moses’ request of the Lord at Mount Sinai: “Let me see you glory!” (Exodus 33:18).
Philip was among the first disciples called (1:43), and Jesus laments his lack of understanding: You still do not know me, Philip? To know Jesus is to know that he reveals the Father. All the words that Jesus speaks are given him by the Father (8:38, 40), and all the works he does are performed by the Father who dwells in him. The Father is not to be seen anywhere apart from the Son who “has revealed him” (1:18). Thus Jesus declares, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. All of Jesus’ words and works serve to lead the people to believe and see the relationship between the Father and the Son revealed in them.
After speaking about the Father’s works performed in Jesus’ humanity, Jesus then declares, Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these. These words recall Jesus’ earlier teaching in 5:20, where he spoke of the divine actions of God now being performed in the humanity of the incarnate Son as “greater works.” They are “greater” because they are properly divine works now being performed through Jesus’ human nature. Enabling the performance of these works is the spiritual union between the Father and Jesus (14:11). With respect to 14:12, a key to Jesus’ promise is his explanation, because I am going to the Father. When Jesus goes to the Father, his humanity will be glorified and become “greater.” The glorified Jesus will send the Holy Spirit to dwell in his disciples (14:16-17) and draw them into spiritual union with himself. Then the properly divine works of God, performed in Jesus’ humanity, will be performed by the disciples in communion with the risen Jesus. Thus it is in this respect, as the works of God will be performed by the disciples spiritually united to the risen Jesus, that the disciples’ works will be “greater.” Their works will reveal who Jesus is and thus be revealing of the Father.
Related to these “greater works” and the disciples’ communion with Jesus is the petitionary prayer that Jesus invites his disciples to make: Whatever you ask in my name, I will do (see 15:7, 16). In the Bible, a person’s name expressed their identity or role (see 15:7, 16). The name of Jesus similarly expresses the reality of his person, which is complete love and obedience to the Father. Prayers offered in Jesus’ name – that is, in union with him – are offered in perfect obedience to the Father’s will, for Jesus is perfectly obedient to the Father. Such prayer resembles the petition in the Our Father: “Your will be done, / on earth as in heaven” (Matthew 6:10; see 26:39).
Since Jesus is going to the Father and the divine glory will transform his humanity, Jesus will be in the position to hear and answer prayers. Like these “greater works,” the granting of these petitions asked by the disciples in communion with Jesus reveals the glorified humanity of the Son existing with the Father, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14.4 God will dwell in the disciples (14:15-24)
Jesus introduces an important teaching in the Farewell Discourse: If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Love and obedience go together. The disciples’ personal love for Jesus leads them to obey his commandments, and his most basic commandment – to love- arises from the love he shows them: “as I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (13:34).
The disciples’ relationship to Jesus mirrors Jesus’ own relationship with the Father (15:10). Just as the Son loves the Father and obeys his will, so too must the disciples love Jesus and obey his will, which is the same as the Father’s will. Through lives of love and obedience to Jesus, the disciples are conformed to the Father, and the divine love will shine forth radiantly through them.
Jesus promises that once he has entered into heavenly glory, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always. This is the first of five promises about the Holy Spirit – the Advocate or Paraclete – made by Jesus in the Farewell Discourse. The Spirit is another Advocatebecause Jesus is also “an Advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1). The Paraclete is the Spirit of truth because he is the Spirit of Jesus, who is “the truth” (14:6), the revelation of God. While distinct from Jesus, the Spirit does not operate independently of him (16:13-15). Since the world does not receive Jesus, the world cannot accept or receive the Spirit, who abides with Jesus (1:33). The world neither sees nor knows the Spirit because the world does not see or know the truth about Jesus by faith. The disciples, however, have some openness to Jesus in faith, which in turn disposes them to the Spirit. Jesus promises that the Spirit remains with and will be in his disciples. Through the Spirit, God comes to dwell in the hearts of Jesus’ disciples, much as the Father dwells in Jesus and Jesus dwells in the Father (14:11).
Jesus goes to the Father, but he promises to come back to the disciples. After Jesus leaves the world in death, the world will no longer see him. But the disciples will see Jesus again after the resurrection. The risen Jesus lives forever (I live), and he will enable his disciples to share in his eternal resurrected life (You will live). The day of the resurrection will be a great moment of revelation, when the disciples will both realize who Jesus is and be incorporated into the divine communion. The relationship between the Father and the Son – I am in my Father – will be revealed to the disciples in the glorified humanity of Jesus. Moreover, a new relationship of communion and indwelling will be created between the risen Jesus and the disciples: You are in me and I in you.
These divine realities will be revealed to the disciples, who love and obey Jesus. As Jesus already said in 14:15, the disciples’ love for him is manifested in obedience to his commandments. Obedience is the lifestyle of loving God. The disciples’ response of love and obedience to Jesus leads into a deeper intimacy with the Father: Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father. By loving and obeying Jesus, disciples are given to know more deeply his reality as the risen Lord and the divine love given to him: I will love him and reveal myself to him.
Since Jesus had said that he will reveal himself to the disciples, another disciple, Judas, wants to know what has changed in Jesus’ plans: What happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world? His question recalls the demand of Jesus’ “brothers” that he reveal himself in a grand public display to the whole world (see 7:3-5).
Jesus answers by repeating what he has said in 14:15, 21. If the disciples want to know Jesus, they must love him and keep his word. After the resurrection, the Father and the Son will dwell in these disciples through the Holy Spirit, and through him, they will come to know and participate in the divine communion (14:17, 20). In this way, Jesus’ commands and his interior prompting through the Holy Spirit lead believers to an inner place where Jesus can reveal himself. This is his promise.
Ezekiel foretold a time when God would dwell with the redeemed people of the new covenant community: “My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Ezekiel 37:27). This promise of divine indwelling is fulfilled in the gift of the Holy Spirit by which God dwells in Jesus’ disciples. God’s dwelling in the disciples makes them into a temple (see 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16). The word for dwelling (mone) also appears in 14:2 for the many “dwelling places” in the Father’s house. God’s dwelling in Jesus’ disciples after the resurrection is a genuine, present sharing in heavenly life that is the Father’s house.
Jesus then expresses the relationship between love, obedience, and divine indwelling in negative terms. Disobedience to him is a sign of lack of love for him. Consequently, it is a lack of love for the Father, for Jesus’ word is not his but that of the Father. Love and obedience toward Jesus opens the door for God to dwell in the disciples (see Revelation 3:20-21).
14.5 Knowing Jesus’ Love for the Father (14:25-31)
Throughout the Farewell Discourse, Jesus announces beforehand many things that will happen to the disciples (13:19; 14:29; 16:1, 4). Jesus has just toldthe disciples about the realities to be revealed at his resurrection, and he includes the future teaching activity of the Holy Spirit. As the Father has sent Jesus, upon whom the Spirit descended (1:32-33), the Father will also send the Spirit in Jesus’ name and at his request (14:16). The Holy Spirit, who will dwell in Jesus’ disciples, will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you. There are several instances in the Gospel where disciples are said to remember episodes in Jesus’ ministry after his glorification (2:17, 22; 12:16). As this verse suggests, their remembering of Jesus’ ministry will be caused by the Spirit. It is not a simple recollection of the past but also a deeper understanding of Jesus and his work given by the Spirit – a spiritual understanding. The Spirit leads disciples into a greater understanding of the mystery of Jesus and makes it come alive for us.
Among his promises (14:18-24), Jesus includes the promise of his peace. Behind this mention of “peace” is the biblical promise of shalom (peace, well-being, everything is right), a blessing of reconciliation that God promised to bestow upon his people in his eschatological act of salvation (Isaiah 52:7; 54:10-13; Jeremiah 33:6-9; Zechariah 9:10). Jesus’ peace is a fruit of his relationship with the Father, into which he will bring his disciples. It is a supernatural peace that arises from a total love for the Father and therefore is unlike the peace of the world, which rejects God. Repeating his words of reassurance (14:1), Jesus calls the disciples to a confident, trusting faith and promises them the peace that comes from obeying the Father and knowing his love. We shall see this promise fulfilled in the Gospel account of Easter Sunday evening, when the risen Jesus gives the disciples his peace, which drives out their fear (20:19; see 20:26; 1 John 4:18). Paul similarly exhorts his readers, “Let the peace of Christ control your hearts” (Colossians 3:15).
Jesus continues to console his distressed disciples with the promise I will come back to you. He will return to them not only after his resurrection, not only at the Parousia, but also during the present time through the Holy Spirit. While it may be very hard for them to grasp, the disciples should rejoice that Jesus is going to the Father. The Father is greater than Jesus in his mortal humanity, but at his resurrection and ascension, Jesus’ humanity will be glorified by the Father and become “greater” (see 14:2). Jesus’ entrance into heavenly glory opens up salvation and life with the Father, salvation and life for humanity (see Acts 2:33). Jesus has prophesied these things ahead of time, so that when they happen, the disciples may believe in him, believe that he is present to the Father and “has revealed him” (1:18).
Little time remains for Jesus to be with his disciples in an earthly way, because the ruler of the world, the devil, is coming. Satan has taken possession of Judas, who has gone out into the darkness (13:30) and will next appear leading a band representing all of sinful humanity against Jesus. But Satan, being a creature, has no power over Jesus, the incarnate Word through whom all creation came to be (1:3), who is sinless (8:46), and who has sovereign control over his passion (13:1-3).
With his passion at hand, Jesus declares, The world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me. The cross reveals the depths of Jesus’ love for the Father, which is so intense that he willingly embraces the horrible death of the cross to accomplish the Father’s work of salvation. Just as the disciples’ love for Jesus reveals itself in their obedience to his commands (14:15, 21), so also Jesus’ love for the Father reveals itself in his laying down his life for the world’s salvation in obedience to the Father’s command (10:17-18). Therefore Jesus bids his disciples, Get up, let us go – that is, let us go to the cross, where Jesus’ love will be on display for the whole world to see.
15. Farewell Discourse: Part Two (15:1-16:4)
The second part of the Farewell Discourse concerns the Church. Jesus continues teaching about the disciples’ communion with himself and with the Father, their present sharing in heavenly life. This participation in the divine communion constitutes the Church’s inner, spiritual reality. Jesus communicates this teaching through the image of a vine, which provides a constant source of life for the branches (15:1-7). If the disciples are to enter into the divine communion of love between the Father and Son, they must obey Jesus and love one another with God’s radical, self-giving love (15:8-17). But the Church must also confront “the world”, the sum total of all that deliberately rejects God and persecutes Jesus and his disciples (15:18-16:11). Although the Church will be hated and persecuted by the world, Jesus commissions the disciples to go and bear witness to the love of God. To help them in this mission, Jesus promises them the divine help of the Holy Spirit.
15.1 The Vine and the Branches (15:1-8)
With his seventh “I am + predicate” title, I am the true vine, Jesus reveals the communion between himself and the disciples to be the inner reality of the Church. The vine is a biblical image for Israel as the people of God: “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,/the people of Judah, his cherished plant” (Isaiah 5:7; see Psalm 80:9). As the true vine, Jesus is the perfect realization of Israel’s vocation to be God’s obedient people, for he is completely obedient to the Father’s will. The disciple who lives in communion with Jesus is a branch united to the vine (15:5) and is summoned to practice the same obedience (15:10).
The identification of the Father as the vine grower likewise recalls Scripture. Both the Psalms and Isaiah depict the Lord as the vine’ owner, who plants it and cares for it (Psalm 80:9-12; Isaiah 5:1-7). But when the vine produces the opposite of what the Lord desires and expects – sour grapes instead of edible – he allows his vineyard to be overrun (Isaiah 5:2-7). The Father wants to cultivate a fruitful vine, which produces love (see 15:16-17). The disciples who do not bear fruit, who do not perform works of love, the Father will cut off from the vine. The disciples who do produce works of love, the Father prunes so that they can produce even more fruit. The verb for “prune” (kathairo) also means “cleanse,” and the Father has already been at work in Jesus’ disciples, purifying them through his word, which they have embraced and to which they continually yield (8:31). But for branches to bear fruit, they must stay attached to the vine. If the disciples are to produce works of love, they must remain in communion with Jesus: Remain in me, as I remain in you.
Jesus clarifies the relationship: I am the vine, you are the branches. Like Paul’s teaching on the Church as the body of Christ (Romans 13:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27), John’s teaching on the vine and the branches signifies that Jesus and his disciples are united to each other in a vital union, the Church. Paul emphasizes the unity of the Church as a body with a diversity of members and roles. John emphasizes the flow of life and power from Jesus, the vine, to his disciples, the branches. Jesus is the indispensable source of life and empowerment for his disciples, the one upon whom they must constantly and radically depend: Without me you can do nothing. The disciples’ communion with Christ opens them up to the Father’s work of pruning, through which they will bear much fruit. However, branches that are cut off from the vine, their life-source, can only wither. Disciples who do not remain in communion with Jesus are cut off from the source of spiritual life. All that remains for such spiritually dead branches is to be cast into a fire.
The communion between Jesus and his disciples (If you remain in me and my words remain in you) enables them to petition the Father with confidence that their request will be done. As discussed previously (14:13-14), to pray in communion with the risen Jesus means to be in communion with his total love and obedience to the Father. It is to pray that the Father’s will be accomplished in the world and in our lives. Such prayer is anticipated by the people Israel at Mount Sinai, who profess three times, “Everything the Lord has said, we will do” (Exodus 19:8; see 24:3, 7). It is the prayer of the Virgin Mary, who completely consents to God’s will for her, “May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). It is the prayer that Jesus himself offers to the Father in Gethsemane, “Not what I will but what you will” (Mark 14:36t), and teaches his disciples to pray, “Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10).
The Father brings people into communion with himself through his Son (6:44), and through this communion he enables them to produce the fruit of love (15:2). Through these divinely assisted acts of love, the disciples manifest and deepen their communion with Jesus and the Father. The Father is glorified, revealed, and praised by the lives of Jesus’ disciples, who manifest the Father’s transforming love at work in them through their relationship with Jesus.
15.2 Bearing Fruit through Divine Love (15:9-17)
In the Shepherd Discourse, Jesus taught that his relationship with his disciples involved an intimate, mutual knowing, similar to that between the Father and the Son (10:14-15).
15.3 Confrontation with the World (15:18-16:4)
After teaching his disciples that they must love, Jesus tells them that they are going to be hated and persecuted by the world. Here “the world” signifies human beings and their world as they are in hostile rebellion against God. Out of love, the Father sent his Son to save the fallen world (3:16-17), and Jesus will send his disciples to the world as an extension of his own mission (20:21). But the world will treat the disciples in the same way that it treated Jesus: If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
The hostile, unbelieving world hates the disciples because they do not belong to the world; that is, the disciples do not give their allegiance to the world’s values and live by its ways. Jesus has chosen his disciples out of the world, for they have received him and are in relationship with the Father through him. As the Gospel articulates it, one is ultimately on either the world’s side or God’s side. Friendship with Jesus (15:15) means incurring the world’s hatred. Conversely, as James writes, “Whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (4:4).
After the footwashing, Jesus used the expression, No slave is greater than his master, to teach his disciples that they, as his subordinates, must follow his example of humble, self-giving love (13:16; see Matthew 10:24-25).
16. Farewell Discourse: Part Three (16:4-33)
This last section of the Farewell Discourse centers on two topics. First, Jesus continues to teach about the Holy Spirit, who will reveal the divine mystery of Jesus and his accomplishments to the disciples (16:4b-15). Second, Jesus goes on to speak of a change in affairs that will take place because of the events of his hour (16:16-33). While the disciples will mourn when Jesus leaves them in death, they will be filled with joy when they see him again after his resurrection. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus will put the disciples in a new relationship with the Father, whose love they will come to know in a new, intimate way.
16.1 Conviction from the Spirit (16:4b-11)
16.2 The Spirit of the Living God (16:12-15)
16.3 Sadness Will Give Way to Joy (16:16-24)
16.4 Things to Come (16:25-33)
17. Jesus’ High-Priestly Prayer (17:1-26)
John 17 is a prayer Jesus offered to the Father for his disciples. It is sometimes called Jesus’ “High-Priestly Prayer” because he appears in the priest’s role of intercessor and mediator. The prayer divides into three basic sections: Jesus prays for the mutual glorification of Father and Son to be revealed in him (17:1-8); he prays for his present disciples, especially in their mission to the hostile world (17:9-19); he prays that all his disciples, present and future, will be united with one another and God (17:20-26).
The language of this prayer contains some curious details pertaining to time. On the one hand, the prayer looks forward to the events of Jesus’ hour of glory on the cross (17:5, 11). On the other hand, the prayer sometimes hints that the events of Jesus’ hour have already been accomplished and that Jesus is speaking to the Father in heavenly glory (17:4, 22, 24). The fusion of times in this prayer show it to be offered by Jesus in connection with his self-gift to the Father on the cross and continuing forever in his heavenly glory, where he makes constant intercession to the Father on his disciples’ behalf (1 John 2:1-2; Hebrews 7:25). Through this prayer for glory and unity, Jesus provides a glimpse into the communion of Father and Son into which he invites all humanity to enter.
17.1 Jesus Prays for Glorification of Father and Son (17:1-8)
17.2 Jesus Prays for his Disciples in Their Mission to the World (17:9-19)
17.3 Jesus Prays for the Unity of His Church (17:20-26)
20”I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. 22And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. 24Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25Righteous Father, the world also does not known you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. 26I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.
The participation in the divine communion that Jesus offers is not limited only to that first group of disciples but also extends to include all future disciples in later generations. The description of future disciples as those who will believe in me through their word implies that the disciples’ mission to the world has as its goal bringing people to know Jesus and the Father (see Matt 28:19). Jesus has given the Father’s Word, which is identical to his very self, to the disciples (John 17:14), and this same Word, which remains in the disciples (8:31; 15:7), continues to sound out in the world and encounter people through their witness.
Jesus’ prayer that his disciples, both present and future, may all be one implies that the communion in which his disciples all participate transcends time and place. This is the case because it is the communion of the Father and the Son (as you, Father, are in me and I in you) and his disciples share in it (that they also may be in us). The disciples’ invisible participation in the divine communion is manifested visibly in the bonds of faith and love existing in their historical community, the Church. When the Church is strongly and vibrantly united in faith and love, it becomes a sign and testimony of the unity between Father and Son. The Church’s unity is a prophetic witness to the unbelieving world, inviting them to believe in the truth revealed by Christ.
Through his revelation and incorporation of his disciples into the divine communion, the exchange of glory between the Father and Son, Jesus has givenhis disciples the glory that he himself received from the Father (see 17:1, 4-5). In this way, he provides the basis for the oneness of his disciples: so that they may be one, as we are one. As Raymond Brown writes, “The oneness of the believers flows from [Jesus’] giving to the believers the glory that the Father has given him, and so unity comes down from the Father and the Son to the believers.”
These relations of mutual indwelling between Jesus and his disciples (I in them; see 6:56; 14:20) and between the Father and Jesus (and you in me; see 10:38; 14:10) are the communion in which the disciples are brought to perfection. Humanity’s participation in the divine communion is the goal of the Father’s saving plan, indeed, the goal of the whole of human history: Jesus “takes away the sin of the world” (1:29) and brings human beings to share his own eternal communion with the Father as God’s “children” (1:12). The communion of the Father and Son is an eternal exchange of life and love, and the disciple’ participation in this communion becomes manifest through their love: “No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in use” (1 John 4:12). The visible unity and love of the disciples is testimony to the world of their being loved and transformed by the Father, through Jesus, whom he loved and sent for the world’s salvation (3:16-17).
The longing of Jesus’ heart is for his disciples to be with him forever in the Father’s house (14:2). In this heavenly destination, they will see the eternal glory of the Son, given him by the Father before the foundation of the world, in his own glorified humanity. The disciples’ participation in the divine communion begins now through faith and baptism and will culminate in this heavenly “beatific vision.” As 1 John 3:2 states, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
Only the eternal Son, who became incarnate in Jesus, knows the Father and reveals him (1:18; 6:46). While the world does not know the Father because it rejects the Son, the disciples know that the Father sent Jesus because they have received his revelation in faith. During his earthly ministry, Jesus made known the Father’s name to them, and will continue to make it known through the indwelling Holy Spirit (see 16:13). Through the Holy Spirit, the divine love with which the Father has loved the Son from all eternity becomes a living reality in Jesus’ disciples. As they come to know the Father, whom Jesus has revealed, more deeply through the Holy Spirit, the disciples’ love and participation in the divine communion will increase, until at last they reach the goal of remaining forever in the Father’s house (14:2-3).
18. The Hour Begins (18:1-27)
From the beginning of the Gospel, Jesus’ earthly life has been moving toward his “hour”: the divinely appointed time when he will preeminently reveal the Father’s love and accomplish his work of salvation. Now it has arrived. John’s passion narrative, while in many ways similar to the Synoptic accounts, has several distinct theological emphases.
[1] First, the kingship of Jesus is prominent in John. Jesus is the sovereign Lord, who is in complete control over the events of his passion. Since Jesus possesses divine power (10:30), the events of his passion happen because he allows them to happen.
[2] Second, the emphasis on Jesus’ kingly sovereignty and power underscores the freedom with which he goes to the cross. As Jesus earlier said, “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again” (10:18). By freely going to the cross, Jesus offers his life as a perfect gift of love, given to the Father for the world’s salvation.
[3] Third, by freely laying down his life in obedience to the Father, Jesus reveals the infinite depths of the Father’s love and mercy toward sinners. Perceiving the revelation of divine love in Jesus’ cross requires faith, and John invites us to view the passion with the eyes of faith: on the surface, Jesus’ death on the cross seems to be defeat and humiliation, but in fact it is God’s victory and triumph. Through the Cross, God takes on and overcomes sin and death with his infinitely greater merciful love.
19. The Trial Before Pilate (18:28-19:16a)
Jesus’ trial before Pilate is divided into seven scenes arranged in a concentric literary structure. The focal point is the proclamation of Jesus’ kingship (D):
A Pilate talks to the Jewish authorities outside (18:28-32)
B Pilate talks to Jesus inside (18:33-38a)
C Pilate talks to the Jewish authorities outside (18:38b-40)
D Jesus is hailed as King (19:1-3)
C1 Pilate, Jesus, and the Jewish authorities outside (19:4-8)
B1 Pilate talks to Jesus inside (19:9-12)
A1 Pilate, Jesus, and the Jewish authorities outside (19:13-16a)
Several important features in John’s trial narrative should be noted. First, the account is filled with irony: while one thing seems to be the case, the reality is different, often quite the opposite. For instance, the Roman soldiers put a crown of thorns on Jesus as though he is king. But while they intend it as mockery, their proclamation of Jesus as king is actually true.
Second, this narrative, like the story of the man born blind in John 9, illustrates John’s theological understanding of judgment. Jesus comes into the world, and his presence requires a response from people (3:19-21). Judgment is determined by each one’s response to him. Since Jesus offers the gift of eternal life, the acceptance of him leads to the reception of eternal life. However, since rejecting Jesus means rejection of his gift of eternal life, the negative response leaves a person under condemnation and the power of sin.
Third, John combines irony and judgment in his complex portrayal of Pilate. John’s portrayal of Pilate shows him to be both arrogant and cowardly. Pilate blusters about his power and acts condescendingly toward his Jewish subjects. Yet he waffles and tries to escape making a decision about Jesus, a decision that he cannot avoid no matter how much he tries. Pilate’s indecisiveness is dramatized by his trips back and forth between the Jewish authorities outside the praetorium and Jesus inside. While Pilate is in the position of authority to judge Jesus, ironically, it is Pilate, not Jesus, who is really on trial.
20. No Greater Love (John 19:16b-42)
The mystery of the Cross stands at the heart of Christian faith. The Fourth Gospel uses many scriptural references to reveal its spiritual depths: the cross is the royal victory and enthronement of Jesus, the promised messiah-king (19:19), Jesus is the new Passover Lamb, sacrificed in the new exodus (1:29; 19:36); like the bronze serpent, the crucified Jesus is a source of merciful healing for sinners who look on him in faith (3:14-15); Jesus embodies the suffering of those spoken of in the Psalms (John 19:24) and of the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah; Jesus is the new dwelling of God among humanity, the new temple, from whose opened side flow the life-giving waters of mercy and spiritual life (19:34, 37).
At the center of all of this, John invites us to look upon the crucified Jesus and see the revelation that “God is love” (1 John 4:8-10). The cross reveals that God holds nothing back in order to bring about the salvation of sinners, whom he loves to infinite depths. The Father gives his Son, and the Son, out of love and obedience, willingly lays down his life so that sinners, “might have life and have it more abundantly” (10:10). By making a perfect gift of his life on the cross, Jesus reveals the infinite depths of God’s self-giving love for us. Through the cross, Jesus reveals the meaning of his own words: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (15:13).
20.1 The Crucifixion (19:16b-22)
The Synoptics report that Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus carry his cross (Mark 15:21). In John, Jesus carries the cross by himself, perhaps to emphasize that his passion is a completely free act, a perfect gift of himself, and no one interferes. Jesus went out of Jerusalem, for the Romans conducted crucifixions in very public places, such as along roadsides, and according to the Torah, executions were to take place outside the city (see Leviticus 24:14, 23). The location of Jesus’ crucifixion, the Place of the Skull or Golgotha, had long served as a rock quarry, and perhaps it received its nickname as “Skull Place” from the terrain, along with its being a place of execution. Today the Church of the Holy Sepulchre stands over this location.
As in the Synoptics, the Roman soldiers crucified Jesus with two others, and John specifies that he was in the middle. For John, the crucifixion is Jesus’ royal enthronement. The king occupies the central position, with attendants at his sides (Matthew […]
20.2 Jesus’ Garments (19:23-24)
20.3 The Family of God (19:25-27)
20.4 Loving to the End (19:28-30)
When Jesus went to meet those who came to arrest him, he knew “everything that was going to happen to him” (18:4). After revealing the spiritual relationships that constitute the Church (19:25-27), Jesus was aware that everything was now finished. The “everything” is the Father’s work of salvation. There is wordplay here in Greek. The Greek verb for finished (teleo) is related to the verb for fulfilled (teleioo).
20.5 Blood and Water (19:31-37)
Jesus died on Friday afternoon, the preparation day for the Sabbath, which started at sundown. The Jewish authorities do not want the bodies of the crucified men left on the cross overnight because of Deuteronomy 21:22-23, which requires that they be buried before sundown. They asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken. This would hasten their deaths by making it impossible for them to support their body weight in order to breathe. Pilate obliges, and the Romans broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus.
21. Encountering the Risen Lord (20:1-31)
The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation for Christian life. John 20 depicts the movement of different individuals toward faith in the reality of Jesus’ resurrection in four carefully constructed scenes: 1) The empty tomb (20:1-10); 2) Mary Magdalene’s Movement to Easter Faith (20:11-18); 3) The Disciples’ Movement to Easter Faith (20:19-25); 4) The Movement to Easter Faith of Thomas and Future Believers (20:26-31). John uses different verbs of seeing to describe people’s movement to faith in the risen Jesus. Various individuals may see the empty tomb, the grave clothes, and even the angels in the tomb, and yet may not fully believe in his resurrection. Only a personal encounter with the risen Jesus can bring about Easter faith. When people arrive at this belief, they declare, “I have seen the Lord” (see 20:18, 25, 29), and this statement, understood most of the time as an experience born of faith, is still the foundation of Christian witness. The personal encounter with the risen Lord that leads to faith can come through a resurrection appearance (as it did for Mary Magdalene and the first disciples) or through the testimony of those disciples, handed on in the Gospel and through the Church (20:29-31). John 20 also depicts the risen and glorified Jesus sending the Holy Spirit upon his disciples to empower them for their mission in the world.
21.1 The Empty Tomb (20:1-10)
21.2 Mary Magdalene’s Movement to Easter Faith (20:11-18)
21.3 The Disciples’ Movement to Easter Faith (20:19-25)
21.4 The Movement of Easter Faith of Thomas and Future Believers (20:26-31)
On the Sunday after Easter, Jesus’ disciples were again inside, now with Thomas. As in 20:19, the doors were locked, but John makes no mention of the disciples’ fear. The presence of the Holy Spirit, given by the risen Jesus, has driven their fear away. As before, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and he repeated his gift of Peace.
22. The Church’s Witness to the Risen Lord (21:1-25)
Chapter 21 expresses the mission of the Church and the relationship of disciples with the risen Jesus. The Chapter opens with a richly symbolic story to present the Church’s mission to bring people to Christ, who feeds them with his Eucharistic food. The second part of the chapter shifts to Peter and the Beloved Disciple, who will bear witness to the risen Lord in the life of the Church in different ways. Most scholars regard John 21 as an epilogue to the Gospel, appended later, after the conclusion in 20:30-31. Yet this chapter plays an integral role in the overarching plan of the Gospel, bringing to a conclusion important themes such as testimony and the pairing of Peter and the Beloved Disciple, as well as the Gospel narrative itself.
22.1 The Risen Lord and the Church’s Mission (21:1-14)
John 21:1-14 centers on the self-revelation of the risen Jesus to the disciples. John communicates this point by framing the account with two mentions of the verb revealed, in verses 1 and 14. Two narrative threads serve the theme of revelation: the miraculous catch of fish and the meal that Jesus provides. Both are signs leading to the recognition that the risen Jesus is “the Lord” (21:7, 12).
This resurrection appearance occurs at the Sea of Tiberius in Galilee (see also Matthew 28:16; Mark 16:7). The site recalls the multiplication of loaves and fish, which took place alongside the same lake (6:1-15). Both accounts present Jesus as providing food to those in need.
Assembled in Galilee is a group of seven disciples: Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, Zebedee’s sons (whom we know from the Synoptics as James and John), and two others. The Synoptics attest to several of Jesus’ apostles being Galilean fishermen (Mark 1:16-20), but in John it is mentioned only here. This scene resembles the miraculous catch of fish in Luke 5:1-11. Both episodes are concerned with the apostles’ mission to make disciples, to be “fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). The risen Jesus has commissioned the disciples as his envoys, sending them to the world (John 17:18; 20:21). In this fishing episode, John reveals some spiritual dimensions of the disciples’ mission to the world.
The opening description emphasizes the disciples’ failure and need. They follow Simon Peter out into the boat to go fishing, and they fish throughout the night, a customary time for fishing on the Sea of Galilee. But as we have seen, darkness often symbolizes separation from Jesus as well. Jesus had previously said, “Without me you can do nothing” (15:5), and not surprisingly, the disciples caught nothing. The implication is that they can fulfill their mission only if the risen Jesus is with them.
After the disciples have fished in the dark, the risen Jesus appears on the shore in the bright light of dawn. As with Mary Magdalene (20:14) and the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:16), the risen Jesus prevents the disciples from recognizing him, but they are close enough to shore to hear him ask, Children, have you caught anything to eat? The Greek phrasing of this question expects no for an answer and thus means, “Children, you haven’t caught anything to eat, have you?” As with the multiplication of the loaves, a miracle is introduced with emphasis on the disciples’ present lack (6:5-9), for which Jesus will provide a superabundance.
After the disciples answer in the negative, Jesus gives them a command: Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something. At Cana, the mother of Jesus instructed the attendants who had no wine, “Do whatever he tells you” (2:5), and when they did what Jesus said, he provided a superabundance of wine for the wedding. Now the disciples, who have nothing to eat, follow Jesus’ instructions and make a catch so great that they were not able to pull it in the boat. In both cases, Jesus provides abundantly for those who follow his directions.
Like Jesus’ other miracles in John, the miraculous catch of fish is a sign that reveals something about Jesus and his mission. The Beloved Disciples, whose love accelerates the process of his gaining spiritual insight, recognizes it as a sign and realizes that the Lord is speaking to them from the shore. He tells Peter and Peter’s subsequent actions are almost comical. Waning to be presentable before Jesus, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad. But then he jumped into the sea, even though he was dressed. He is so eager to see Jesus that he swims to shore and does not wait for the others.
The other disciples tow the catch from the boat, and once ashore, they see Jesus has been preparing food for them: a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. The breakfast recalls the miracle in which Jesus multiplied a little bread and fish to feed a great crowd (6:5-13). Similarly here, the disciples did not catch any food while they were fishing at night (21:5). After providing a miraculous catch, the risen Jesus feeds his disciples.
Jesus instructs his disciples to bring the catch to him. Peter obeys Jesus’ command and performs an extraordinary action: single-handedly, he dragged the net ashore, which the disciples previously could not even pull into their boat (21:6). The meaning of the one hundred fifty-three large fish is unclear, but it is generally regarded as a sign of the universality of the disciples’ mission. More important is the detail that Peter’s net was not torn despite the huge number of fish. Various groups have been torn or divided over Jesus (7:43; 9:16; 10:19). Jesus’ disciples, however, are to be “one flock” (10:16) and “brought to perfection as one” (17:23). The untorn tunic (19:23-24), symbolizes the unity of his disciples.
Here the Church’s mission comes to light. The disciples, whom the risen Jesus has sent into the world, are to go and bear witness to him, much as they go out fishing. Without Jesus’ assistance, they will fail in their mission. But if they are obedient to him and cooperate with the Spirit working in them, they will bring others to faith in Jesus: “those who,” as Jesus prays, “will believe in me through their word” (17:20), “those who have not seen and have believed” (20:29). The disciples are to bring all people to Christ, just as they bring the catch to him. Illumined by the Church’s tradition, the scene of Peter hauling the untorn net ashore can be seen as indicating the special role of Peter’s ministry in the apostolic mission of bringing disciples to Christ and preserving their unity.
With the catch on the shore, the risen Jesus invites his disciples to eat. During the Farewell Discourse, when he told them that they would see him again, after the resurrection, he announced, “On that day you will not question me about anything” (16:23). Accordingly, none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” Just as they did with the miraculous catch (21:6-7), the disciples now recognize that the one who feeds them is the risen Lord.
The meal that Jesus provides for his disciples has Eucharistic overtones. John’s description of Jesus’ actions – coming over he took the bread and gave it to them, and in the like manner the fish – recalls both the multiplication of loaves and fish (6:11) and other New Testament texts concerning the Eucharist (Mark 14:22-23). New Testament writings also speak of the Eucharist as a privileged setting in which the risen Jesus is present: for example, the risen Lord revealed himself to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus “in the breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:35). The food that the risen Jesus provides for his disciples and to which they are to draw all believers is the Eucharist, the sacrament of his real presence, for “whoever eats this bread will live forever” (6:58).
John’s identification of this appearance as the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples presumes that the first two appearances are to the disciples without Thomas (20:19) and with Thomas present (20:26). The appearance to Mary Magdalene is not counted, either because John is thinking of appearances to the disciples as a group rather than to individuals or because a woman’s testimony did not have legal standing in Judaism at that time (compare 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
22.2 Peter’s witness to the Risen Lord (21:15-19)
Jesus initiates a very personal dialogue with Simon Peter, which focuses on the way Peter will bear witness to the risen Lord. It takes place after the breakfast, which was prepared on “a charcoal fire” (21:9) – a detail that recalls Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus in Annas’s courtyard, where he stood warming himself by a “charcoal fire” (18:18). Peter denied Jesus three times, thereby rejecting Jesus and his own status as a disciple. Thus Jesus does not address him as “Peter” but as Simon, son of John, his name before becoming Jesus’ disciple and the “rock.” Moreover, when Jesus asks Peter if he loves him more than these, he reminds Peter about his solitary boast to be willing to lay down his life for Jesus and Jesus’ prophecy of Peter’s threefold denial (13:37-38). Jesus now invites Peter to repent and profess his love for him three times and, in doing so, to restore their relationship.
Jesus asks Simon three times, Do you love me, and three times he answers, You know that I love you.[footnoteRef:1] After each profession of love from Peter, Jesus assigns him a responsibility as the shepherd of his sheep: Feed my lambs … Tend my sheep … Feed my sheep. Throughout the Bible, those people appointed by God to lead and govern his people are often spoken of as shepherds (e.g., 2 Samuel 5:2; Ezekiel 34:2; 1 Peter 5:2), and in the Fourth Gospel, this scene recalls the Good Shepherd Discourse (10:1-18). Jesus is the good shepherd, and he gives Peter a unique share in his work of shepherding. As shepherd of Christ; sheep, Peter has a special role as leader and custodian of Jesus’ disciples (see Matthew 16:17-19; Luke 22:32). Modeled on the good shepherd, Peter’s office as shepherd is one of self—sacrificial service and care for the sheep (10:11-15). It is built upon Peter’s own discipleship and personal love for Jesus, for in 21:19, Jesus gives Peter the command that applies to all disciples: “Follow me.” At the heart of both discipleship and leadership in the Church is a personal love for Jesus. [1: There is a subtle variation in the Greek verbs for “love.” Jesus’ first and second questions use the Greek verb agapao, the verb form of agape, which in the New Testament usually refers to God’s love. All three responses from Peter and Jesus’ third question use the Greek verb phileo, the verbal form of philia, which designates the love between friends. While some have tried to distinguish between different forms of love in the questions and answers, we do not think that there is a difference, for John uses both verbs interchangeably and as synonyms throughout the Gospel; thus agapao and phileo are applied to Jesus’ love for Lazarus (11:3, 5), phileo is applied to the Father’s love for the Son (5:20), and both verbs are applied to the Father’s love for Jesus’ disciples (16:27; 17:23). ]
The good shepherd “will lay down [his] life for the sheep” (10:15). Like Jesus, Peter’s role as the shepherd of Jesus’ sheep extends to the laying down of his own life, culminating in his martyrdom. Peter previously professed his willingness to lay down his life for Jesus (13:37), and Jesus said that Peter “will follow later” (13:36). Now Jesus tells Peter, When you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted. But as the shepherd, Peter will have to lay down both his will and his life for Christ: But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. The phrase “stretch out your hands” refers to crucifixion, and Peter was martyred by crucifixion during the persecution of Christians in Rome around A.D. 65. The Evangelist clarifies that Jesus has been talking about Peter’s death by which he would glorify God. Peter, therefore, will bear witness to the Lord by serving as the leader of Christ’s disciples and by laying down his life as a martyr – recall that the term “martyr” is from the Greek word for “witness.”
With the command Follow me, Jesus emphasizes that Peter’s own relationship with him as a disciple lies at the heart of his role as shepherd. When speaking about his own death, Jesus said, “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be” (12:26). For Peter to serve as the shepherd of Jesus’ sheep, he must follow Jesus completely, even to the point of laying down his life (13:37). He must carry out his role as shepherd by imitating Chris the good shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep (10:15) and thus performs the greatest act of love (15:13).
22.3 The Beloved Disciple’s Witness to the Risen Lord (21:20-25)
The focus shifts from Peter to the Beloved Disciple. Every time that Peter and the Beloved Disciple have appeared together in the Gospel thus far, the Beloved Disciples has had a special privilege or insight that Peter did not have at first. But now the Beloved Disciple is following Peter the shepherd, who is himself following Jesus (21:19).
Peter asks Jesus about the Beloved Disciple, and Jesus replies with a cryptic saying: What if I want him to remain until I come? Instead of worrying about the Beloved Disciple, Peter should keep his attention focused on Jesus; hence Jesus repeats the instruction, You follow me.
Jesus’ saying about the Beloved Disciple was interpreted in different ways. One interpretation among the brothers – likely the Christians affiliated with the Beloved Disciple (1 John 3:13; 3 John 3) – was that this disciple would not die. They interpreted Jesus to mean that the Beloved Disciple would live to see the Parousia, the glorious manifestation of the Lord Jesus on the last day (5:28-29; 6:39-40, 54). To clear up this misunderstanding, the author clarifies that Jesus never said anything about the Beloved Disciple not dying, only about his remaining. The need to clear this up may have been prompted by the Beloved Disciple’s death.
The Beloved Disciple remains not by living forever but through the abiding presence of his testimony for subsequent generations. The Beloved Disciple testifies to these things, and his testimony is true. This statement recalls 19:35, which spoke of the Beloved Disciple’s reliable testimony (see 3 John 12). Now we learn that this same disciple, who witnessed the crucifixion, has written his testimony in the Gospel, which we have been reading!
Since the many other things that Jesus did are so profound, the whole world would not contain the books that would be written about them. Whereas Peter bears witness to the risen Lord by his office of shepherd and martyr, the Beloved Disciple bears witness through the testimony of his Gospel. The Beloved Disciple will remain until the Parousia through his Gospel, the written record of his testimony: his “fruit that will remain” (15:16).
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