We have a natural habit of filtering information. When someone speaks, we often don’t hear the raw words; we hear the version that fits our current mood or our favorite theory. This isn’t a new problem. Even the men who walked with Jesus struggled with it.
In John 21, we see a classic example of how quickly a rumor can start just because people heard what they wanted to hear rather than what was actually said.
In John 21, Jesus is finishing up a deep conversation with Peter. He just told Peter that one day he would be taken where he didn’t want to go, a hint at how Peter would eventually die.
Peter, being Peter, looks over at John and asks, “Lord, and what shall this man do?”
Basically, he was saying, “If I have to go through that, what about him?”
John 21:22, “Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.”
Jesus wasn’t making a prophecy. He was giving a hypothetical. He was saying that even if He wanted John to live until the Second Coming, it shouldn’t matter to Peter. Peter’s job was simple: follow Jesus.
But look at how fast the “grapevine” distorted it:
John 21:23, “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?”
The disciples turned a “what if” into a “he will.”
They took a lesson on individual focus and turned it into a legend about John’s and other disciples’ immortality.
The Danger of Convenient Interpretation
We do the exact same thing with the Bible today.
We take a verse that sounds comfortable or convenient, and we stretch it to fit our life.
It’s easy to pull a verse out of context to justify a decision we’ve already made. We want the Bible to be a rubber stamp for our plans rather than a lamp for our feet. When we do that, we aren’t listening to God; we are just listening to the echo of our own desires.
We shouldn’t try to twist the words of Christ to fit a narrative that wasn’t intended. Each of us has a different path. If you spend your time trying to interpret someone else’s path or making the Bible say what you want it to say about your own, you miss the actual command: “Follow thou me.”
We must approach the Bible with humility. If we jump to conclusions based on what we want to be true, we end up with a “saying” that is common among men but has no authority from God.
We have to let the Bible speak for itself, even when it says something that challenges us or makes us uncomfortable.
It’s easy to hear what we want. It’s hard to hear what is actually said.
When you open your Bible, try to leave your “filters” at the door. Don’t look for a verse to back up what you already want to do. Instead, ask God to show you what He is actually saying.
The disciples in John 21 had a rumor; they didn’t have the truth. John eventually died, just like the rest of them. The rumor didn’t change reality. The real power comes when we stop trying to shape the Word and let the Word shape us.
