Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?” (John 21:21-23)

The Art Of Listening

The twelve apostles of Jesus were courageous men who dedicated their lives to the gospel of Jesus Christ, with eleven suffering a martyr’s death. Tradition describes how each of the eleven perished, with John, the only apostle who died of natural causes. There was a rumor going around in the early church that John would live a very long life. In fact, John would live so long that he would be alive when the Lord returned a second time. Considering Jesus has not returned in two thousand years, that would make John the oldest person who has ever lived. The only question is, where is John today?

After the resurrection of Jesus, the Lord spent forty days with His disciples, preparing them for the coming kingdom. On the night of His arrest, Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed. That night, Peter denied Jesus three times. When Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, He asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep and told Peter how he would die. His death would glorify God. As Jesus talked about how Peter would die, Peter looked around and saw John sitting nearby and asked the Lord how the beloved apostle would die.

Jesus could have told all the apostles how they would die. His answer to Peter was for Peter to mind his own business. Jesus replied that it was no concern for anyone and that if it was the Lord’s will for John to live until the second coming, that was God’s business. It was a simple answer. If it was the will of God that John lived until His return, it was of no concern to Peter. What Jesus wanted the disciples to focus on was following Him. From this answer by Jesus on the death of John, the early church spread rumors that John would not die. The saying of Jesus was turned around by the brethren, who believed that John had been given a passage of life much like Enoch and Elijah. Nothing was further from the truth.

The art of listening is the ability to listen. There was nothing ambiguous about what Jesus said. Peter learned how he would die and asked the Lord how John would die. The news of how Peter would die should have been the object of the discussion, but in the impulsive fashion of Peter’s scattered-brained approach to listening, a story went out among the brethren that John would not die. This false rumor had been spread in the church for almost fifty years when John wrote his gospel.

Listening is what is heard in the ear and what is accepted in the mind. Many religious people today read the Bible and deny what it says. Peter told the people at Pentecost to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. The apostle would later write that baptism saves. Many people deny baptism has any merit to salvation and that it does not save. The Bible clearly teaches that it does. Many in the world deny there is eternal punishment for the ungodly, and yet Jesus taught frequently on the subject. It is sad when the Bible clearly states a matter, and the heart denies what it hears.

A lie can be told long enough that it is accepted as truth. It will never be truth because lies will always lie. For many years, the brethren circulated the story that John would never die. John died after a long life of service to Jesus Christ. What was accepted as truth was false. Many teachings are accepted as truths not found in the Bible but believed to be true. The art of listening to the word of God is the responsibility to accept without question the word of the Lord as truth. Men will lie, but God cannot. Listen. Listen. And then listen again.