John 21:20

John 21:20. Peter turning about seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned back on his breast at the supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee. It is impossible to think that the Evangelist intends us to confine our attention to the literal details given in this verse. The long description by which he indicates himself would be entirely out of place were he brought before us as simply taking a few steps after Jesus and Peter. Besides this, the verb ‘to follow,' which, as we have seen, was used metaphorically as well as literally in John 21:19, must certainly be understood in the same sense here. John is here not simply the individual: he is the apostle following Peter in apostolic work, and like him, representative (though in a different aspect) of all Christian labourers and witnesses. What the difference of aspect is, is shown by the special manner in which he describes himself. He is not only the ‘disciple whom Jesus loved;' he is the apostle who ‘leaned back on the breast of Jesus at the supper and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth Thee?' (chap. John 13:12; John 13:25). In other words, he is the apostle whose mind was nearest to the mind of Jesus, and whom Jesus found most fitted to receive the deeper revelations of His will. John, then, represents an entirely different aspect of Christian witnessing from that represented by Peter. The latter represents the struggle, and the death at the end of it, by which God is glorified. The other represents patient waiting for the glorious revelation of Jesus at His Second Coming.