Home	Our Hope
Bible Study		May 23, 2026
Is John Still Alive?

Introduction

I'm surprised to hear that there are Christians who believe that John the Apostle is still alive today. That says something very bad about the state of Christianity and the people who call themselves Christians.

Nonetheless, it seems necessary to deal with this question.

The Verses

Jesus has arisen and is meeting with his disciples. He has just restored Peter to him and is still speaking to Peter, when he says:

“Amen, amen, I tell you, that when you were young, you yourself were girding your loins and you were walking where you wanted, but when you are old, you shall reach out your hands and others shall gird your loins for you and shall escort you to where you do not want.”
¹⁹ But he said this to show by what death he was going to glorify God. And after he had said these things, he said to him, “Come after me.”
²⁰ And Shimeon Kaypha turned around and saw that disciple whom Yeshua had loved, who had come after him, who had lain at supper on the breast of Yeshua and had said, “My Lord, who is he that shall betray you?" ²¹ When Kaypha saw this one, he said to Yeshua, “And what of this man, my Lord?”
²² Yeshua said to him, “If I want this one to remain until I come to you, what is it to you? You come after me.”
²³ And this saying went forth among the brethren that this disciple would not die. But Yeshua had not said that he would not die, but, “If I want this one to remain until I come to you, what is it to you?" (John 21:18-23)

The highlights mark something that happens at the context level that explains part of what is going on in the discussion. Twice Jesus says to Peter, "Come after me." Jesus also throws in a "what is that to you," which means "mind your own business," a bit of a slap, actually 2 slaps, but who's counting. Because our context comes immediately after Jesus restores Peter, we must consider that this restoration may also be part of our context.

In that restoration, the conversation goes like this:

In rejecting Jesus 3 times while Jesus was on trial, Peter had committed a mortal sin. These 3 "I love you's" restore him from that condition.

But why had Peter rejected Jesus like that? When we look carefully at what happened, we see that Peter was afraid of what people would think of him, say about him, and do to him.

With that in mind, we see Jesus' words of restoration make sense. He is telling Peter to shepherd the sheep; don't let the sheep shepherd you, don't let your concerns cause you to lose focus.

This also makes sense with what Jesus says in our context, "come after me." He is telling Peter not to be concerned about whether his destiny is worse than another disciple's destiny. Stay focused on me.

Now that we understand the big picture of the discussion, we can start to break it down.

Old Then Executed

“Amen, amen, I tell you, that when you were young, you yourself were girding your loins and you were walking where you wanted, but when you are old, you shall reach out your hands and others shall gird your loins for you and shall escort you to where you do not want.” ¹⁹ But he said this to show by what death he was going to glorify God. (John 21:18-19)

It's a good thing that John explains what this means, or we would miss it. The "amen, amen" is translated as "verily, verily" in the KJV and a few others, but that doesn't help us understand. The "amen, amen" means "I am telling you an eternal truth." This part is the eternal truth.

when you were young, you yourself were girding your loins and you were walking where you wanted,
but when you are old, you shall reach out your hands and others shall gird your loins for you and shall escort you to where you do not want.

These words must have been a saying of that time about youth and old age and the differences between them. But Jesus has made a change to it. Because his disciples knew the eternal truth already, they would have recognized the change he made and understood its meaning. We do not. It's possible the saying was normally:

when you were young, you yourself were girding your loins and you were walking where you wanted,
but when you are old, you shall reach out your hands and others shall gird your loins for you and shall escort you to where they want.

Along with that, it's possible that they referred to the execution chamber as "the place you do not want to go," and Jesus was mixing the two sayings together.

As I said, it's a good thing the Spirit had John explain that this meant old age and then execution.

The Catholic Church says Peter's execution was to be crucifixion, and he asked to be hung on the cross upside down. This is not likely for multiple reasons. It is much more likely that he was beheaded. Crucifixion was reserved for people whom the Romans wanted to show off as an example. It was a lot less trouble to chop off a head. Jesus was only crucified because the Jews demanded it, because they wanted to show him as an example.

Come After Me 1

[…] And after he had said these things, he said to him, “Come after me.” (John 21:19)

This is the wrap-up of the restoration conversation. The words "said these things" can't only refer to the death revelation. That would be one thing, not many things. This plural confirms that the restoration of Peter is in scope here.

What About John?

Peter plainly understood what Jesus meant by the old-age "where you do not want to go" words.

And Shimeon Kaypha turned around and saw that disciple whom Yeshua had loved, who had come after him, who had lain at supper on the breast of Yeshua and had said, “My Lord, who is he that shall betray you?" ²¹ When Kaypha saw this one, he said to Yeshua, “And what of this man, my Lord?” (John 21:20-21)

The words "that disciple" are John's way of referring to himself.

Peter has just been told that he will die by execution. No one could be happy after hearing such news, but Peter immediately turns around and says, "What about him?". Why is Peter asking about John? The verse tells us.

• that disciple whom Yeshua had loved,
• who had come after him,
• who had lain at supper on the breast of Yeshua and
• had said, “My Lord, who is he that shall betray you?"

Peter is concerned that life is treating him unfairly. He knows that Jesus had a special bond with John. He wants to hear that John will meet a similar fate.

That is the same problem that Peter had at Jesus' trial that caused him to deny Jesus - too concerned about his treatment by the world.

Come After Me 2

Yeshua said to him, “If I want this one to remain until I come to you, what is it to you? You come after me.” (John 21:22)

Jesus repeats his earlier instruction to focus on him and not be so worried about the world and worldly things.

Jesus could have used examples other than "remain until I return," such as "remain until age 120" or "remain until the emperor dies." It's unfortunate that he chose this one because people have latched onto it. I guess extreme longevity attracts attention.

The real message is "Don't be worried about your treatment. Just follow me."

John Clarifies

And this saying went forth among the brethren that this disciple would not die. But Yeshua had not said that he would not die, but, “If I want this one to remain until I come to you, what is it to you?" (John 21:23)

Not only do people of our time misunderstand Jesus, but also people of John's time. Here is John saying, "That isn't what Jesus meant," in the same context as Jesus' words, and there are still people saying John is still alive.

Conclusion

Understanding scripture is a serious problem in the church. The church should be listening to the Holy Spirit showing them these things. This seems to say that there is a serious deficit within the church of listening to the Holy Spirit, and too much listening to people who are not listening to the Holy Spirit.

This passage emphasizes the importance of not being concerned about what people will think about us, say about us, or do to us. This concern can make us unproductive or even cause us to reject Jesus, as it did for Peter. All we need to be concerned about is doing what God wants us to do.