So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die; but 'If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?' — John addresses a misreading of Jesus' saying that circulated in the community. The beloved disciple's death must have occurred; this note corrects eschatological expectation that his survival paralleled the church's continuation until parousia. The distinction (he said not 'he will not die' but conditional 'if I will he remain') separates Jesus' words from interpretive distortion.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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