In all honesty, St. Peter probably wasn't too thrilled about dying a gruesome death. Rather than think about that, he wanted to change the subject. St. John was standing there when he turned around. Maybe St. John was looking joyful; maybe he was making notes for the Gospel we are reading right now. Who knows? St. John says again that he could write more than he has written, and as we think about it, that makes sense. There is nothing about the "signs" of Jesus that seems normal or ordinary. Even as we know that these are ordinary people caught up in the story of Jesus, Jesus and his story are anything but ordinary.
Jesus answers him by saying basically, "Don't you worry about him! You have your own job to do! If I want him to be alive when I come back, what is that to you?" We can see why people might have thought that Jesus meant that St. John wouldn't die. On the one hand, St. John is the only one of the faithful apostles who did not die for his faith in Jesus. On the other hand, he was a revered leader of the Church in his region, and he taught St. Polycarp, who taught St. Ignatius of Antioch. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote seven letters to the churches of his day, and died a martyr in the mouth of a lion in about 107 A.D. In other words, there may be less than 25 years between St. John's writing of this Gospel, in the death of St. Ignatius of Antioch. St. John's love for Jesus, and his love for us, jumps off the page, as if he were sitting here with us. I myself have always felt that, and as you read along with this book, I hope we can share that encouragement together. Everyone needs to know that Jesus loves them personally, so St. John's mission and his Gospel are as relevant as ever. May he pray for us, and lead us to the love of Jesus. Amen.
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