All The Way To The End Series

Saturday of 7th Week in Easter 2023

Today’s readings from the NT close out both the book of Acts and the Gospel of John. The apostle John was almost certainly the disciple who lay against Christ’s breast at the Last Supper, and here, right at the last paragraph of his Gospel, he repeats what can only be called “Biblical gossip” about himself and St. Peter.

We should recall that I yesterday’s Gospel excerpt, Jesus told Peter that he would be led out to execution, bearing witness to the truth of the Resurrection all the way to his death. So Peter asks about John, and, as usual, Jesus answers obliquely. Frankly, what Christ is saying is that the “end” for John is not any of Peter’s business. So the rumor spread, especially I suppose after Peter was crucified upside-down by Nero, that John would live on until Christ’s return. And that rumor fit right in with the expectation that Jesus would return before the end of what we call the first century. John then affirms that such speculation does nothing to spread the Gospel, and then adds that his own Gospel, which covers sacramental life in great detail not covered in the other Gospels, isn’t a complete accounting, either. Although divine public revelation ceased when John died, we know that the awesome doctrines of the Church, centered on faith in Jesus and right worship, have continued to develop over two thousand years. And for this we give thanks.

St. Paul’s story, condensed here from the last chapter of Acts, sees him finally moored in Rome for two years. On his arrival, he offers to share his story, and the whole Gospel, with the Jewish community of Rome, which had reconstituted recently after being sent into exile by emperor Claudius. So they came in great numbers and listened. Some believed; others did not. Paul had not become more diplomatic on his last voyage, so when he saw the number that were leaving without faith, he threw one more Isaiah quote at them as a kind of parting shot, and told them, as usual, that he was going to focus on the Gentile mission. In fact, Church Tradition teaches us that the guard he was chained to during house arrest had to listen to him preach and dictate letters to the other churches, and many of them did believe in Christ and become followers of the Way. Paul was probably not martyred during this stay in Rome, and may have gone to preach in Iberia as he intended initially, but he came back under guard once more and gave up his life in defense of the Resurrection, about the same time as Peter did. So the two men are considered founders of the Roman church.

May we all, by the grace of God, be given the wisdom and other virtues needed to keep up our own discipleship, learning, and witness, all the way to the end of our lives.