December 28, 2023
Leave It All In His Hands
“Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?’”
John 21:22a (NASB)
When we were kids, we used to say things like, “This is an A and B conversation. C your way out of ours.” Or when my little sister used to ask my older sister, “What are you doing?” She would say, “Nun ya.” The little sister would say, “What?” Her reply, “Nun ya business.” We can be so nosey sometimes though can’t we? We always want to know everything that is going on around us, no matter whether it affects us or not. Aren’t we inquisitive beings?
“Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?’” When Jesus responded to Peter’s question, He wasn’t trying to withhold anything from Peter. He knew Peter’s inquisitive mind. This was gentle, but if we are not careful, it can turn into the example above with others. Jesus’ force of this statement was not “This is none of your business, Peter.” It was a kind intimation for Peter to leave John’s future with Jesus. John’s future would be known soon enough as the disciples began to disperse sharing the Gospel message. In this sense, Jesus's usage allowed Jesus to take care of John, and likewise, He would take care of Peter. No matter how bad it might become in the future. So it is true God’s will is best for all. We don’t need to interfere. Because so many interpreters have varied on this statement by Jesus, I think Lenski lends an interesting perspective: “It is the strangeness of the supposition thus introduced that has caused so many different interpretations. ‘Remain until I come’ should be understood as it stands: ‘remain alive until the end of the world, until the Lord returns on judgment day.’ The next verse shows that the brethren living in John’s own day so understood these words. In this they were right; but they failed to note that Jesus had spoken conditionally, ‘Suppose I will.’ They changed the conditional utterance into a categorical statement, or took it that back of the conditional utterance lay the secret decision not to let John die. As far as the Lord’s coming at the last day is concerned, when Jesus spoke, no man knew when this would occur. All they knew was what the church of all later ages knew: it might occur at any time. We, who live now, indeed know that the Lord has delayed his coming these many years and may delay still many more. But we must guard ourselves against reading this knowledge of ours into the minds of the first disciples. When Jesus said in effect, ‘What if I should decide to let John live until I return,’ they could certainly not say that this would be impossible.”[1] And so, the question remains today about “When is Jesus returning?” This is the age-old question no man has been able to answer. Even though they would like to ask the question of Jesus themselves. We must leave it in His hands.
We all need to listen to these words from Jesus today. We are so concerned about what is going to happen, but we fail to trust the One who laid the foundation of the world. In our hearts, this love for wanting to know the future here and now is natural, but the love for wanting to see Jesus is more important. One day, we will all have a chance to see Him. Paul wrote these words to Timothy with this same fervor: “In the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). He looked forward to the day he would see Jesus. He wasn’t concerned about anything else. The Gospel was his mission!
[1] Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). (p. 1436). Augsburg Publishing House.