John 21:22

ἐὰν αὐ. θ. μέν. Christ died and rose again that He might become the Lord and Master both of the dead and the living (Romans 13:9). He speaks here in full consciousness of this sovereignty. For the use of θέλω by Christ comp. John 17:24; Matthew 8:3 (and parallels), Matthew 26:39. While θέλω asserts the Divine authority, ἐάν keeps the decision secret. Μένειν should be rendered that he abide; it is S. John’s favourite word which we have had so often, and this important link with the rest of the Gospel must not be lost [25]: see on John 1:33. S. Peter’s lot was to suffer, S. John’s to wait. For ‘abide’ in the sense of remain in life comp. John 12:34; Philippians 1:26; 1 Corinthians 15:6. Ἕως ἔρχομαι is literally while I am coming. The words express rather the interval of waiting than the end of it. Comp. John 9:4; Mark 6:45; 1 Timothy 4:13. This at once seems to shew that it is unnecessary to enquire whether Pentecost, or the destruction of Jerusalem, or the apocalyptic visions recorded in the Revelation, or a natural death, or the Second Advent, is meant by Christ’s ‘coming’ in this verse. He is not giving an answer but refusing one. The reply is purposely hypothetical and perhaps purposely indefinite. But inasmuch as the longer the interval covered by the words, the greater the indefiniteness, the Second Advent is to be preferred as an interpretation, if a distinct meaning is given to the ‘coming.’ This agrees with τί πρός σε; which is evidently a rebuke. There is a sense in which ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ is a safeguard against curiosity and presumption rather than a shirking of responsibility. Σύ and αὐτόν are emphatic and opposed: ‘whatever I may will respecting him, thou must follow Me. This is what concerns thee.’