Personal Note + "Jesus And The Beloved Apostle"
Today we come to the end of the Gospel of John, and I think it’s the most beautiful and perfect ending possible. We have been studying John since January 1, and I’m going to miss it.
I believe John’s Gospel is one of the greatest works of art that world has ever known, as is fitting because John is writing, in his old age, about the most important thing that has ever happened: the Incarnation.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ”
We’ve been studying John’s Gospel for six months, but of course it really needs to be studied over the course of a lifetime. It took John a lifetime to write it, so to speak, and so it shouldn’t surprise us that this beautiful Gospel rewards those who pore over it for decades.
I have loved studying John’s Gospel with you all, and I hope that these past six months of study have helped you become more alive, which, after all, was John’s goal in writing to begin with:
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
A Chapter in My Life Comes to a Close
As we read the final verses of this Gospel, verses that are some of my favorite in the entire scripture, we will see that John draws the entire account to a close in the most perfect way possible.
Today, in a way, I am also drawing to a close three years of teaching ministry at Asbury. I began my ministry at Asbury on August 1, 2022, and we started right off by studying Genesis. Since that time, I have written daily commentary for almost every weekday of the last three years (with some summer months being an exception). If I can be honest, looking back over the scripture reading guides that I’ve published, the sermons that I have preached, and the Bible studies that I have taught, I have a sense of pride and accomplishment. If you were willing to dig into what we have been providing these past three years, you will have grown tremendously in both your knowledge of the Bible and—most importantly—your love for God’s word.
That said, these scripture reading guides and daily commentaries are extremely draining to write. The reason this stuff is so hard is because I don’t know anything! So, I have to read and read and read to come to understand how this verse, this passage, this chapter, fits into the larger whole from which it is a part. Then, I have to strip everything away to write something that will help ordinary people like you and me both learn something from that day’s passage and then see how it matters to our lives, with the goal of helping us love and trust the Lord more each day. The amount of work it takes to do that well is many times greater than you’d think. And, on top of that, there is always another deadline looming.
All this is to say, despite my pride in the work that I have created, I’m also really tired. So, for the first time since the pandemic, I am going to be taking time off this summer without the intention of creating something while I am away. In previous summers, I’ve had a deadline to meet, and so I’ve worked even when away. But these days I’m sensing that I just can’t keep this relentless pace up any more. So, I won’t.
This fall, we have some really fun things planned, but the daily Bible readings will look a bit different. Stay tuned.
In the mean time, I personally am going to continue my practice—a practice I started in April 2020, during the pandemic—of reading one psalm a day, every day. I’m not going to be writing or providing commentary on these daily psalms (though if you search my blog you’ll find a lot there already), but I would like you to read along with me.
Today, Friday, June 13, I’m reading Psalm 46, one of my FAVORITES. Tomorrow will be Psalm 47, Sunday will be Psalm 48, etc.
To help you stay current, I’m attaching here a file that provides my current psalm schedule.
Daily Psalm Reading Plan - Summer 2025
I am really looking forward to being away, but I’m also looking forward to being back with you all when I return. Among other things, my new book is coming out in October! (Pre-order it here.)
Keep pressing on. The best still lies ahead.
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Every breath is proof:
God’s not done yet.
With love,
AF
John 21:20-25
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
After hearing from Jesus a prediction of how he would die, Peter then gestures to the beloved disciple and asks, “What will happen to him?”
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” [John 21:20–21].
Jesus’s reply is perfect. He says, “His fate is his fate—all you need to worry about is being faithful to what I have put in front of you.”
22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” [John 21:22].
Now, as a result of Jesus’s words—“What if I told you he would never die, Peter?”—and presumably because of the amazing longevity of the beloved disciple, there were rumors in the early church that the beloved disciple was not going to die. (According to church tradition, John outlived all the other apostles.)
John is anonymous in the Gospel, but his identity was clearly known in the church community to which he belonged. So, after we get the fascinating detail about how the rumor grew that John wouldn’t die before the Second Coming, we get a subtle correction:
23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” [John 21:23].
That is, Jesus didn’t say that the beloved disciple wouldn’t die—He just said to Peter, “If I said he wouldn’t die, how would that matter to you, Peter?”
And then, finally, we learn that all along we have been reading the testimony of the beloved disciple!
24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these thing s, and we know that his testimony is true [ John 21:24].
What v. 24 tells us is that the reason the Gospel was treasured was because it came from an eyewitness that everyone knew and trusted. And then, this time for real, the Gospel draws to a close with a perfectly sweet little final verse:
25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written [John 21:25].
The end.