Lesson 3603

 (Lesson 3603)(11-14-21) John 21:18-25

    Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.”

    Today’s quote is John’s account of the last instructions that Jesus left with His apostles as He prepared to ascend back to the Father.

    It is important to note that John’s account of those final instructions is altogether different from the account’s offered by Matthew, Mark and Luke. 

    This is another lesson that destroys the contention that every word of the bible is to be taken as literal in it’s intent. 

    The New Testament is a narrative of the life, works and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. There were many different authors of that narrative, and, by nature, they all saw and expressed certain things differently. It does NOT take away from the truthfulness of God’s word as a whole.~