Jesus answers Peter, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" The statement soon became the basis of a mistaken report among other believers.
Jesus in Context
If I Will That He Tarry Till I Come
Jesus uses a conditional statement about the beloved disciple remaining until his coming; he does not predict that this disciple actually will remain alive until then.
Introduction
Historical and Cultural Context
The key grammatical feature is the conditional "if." Jesus presents a hypothetical possibility in order to make Peter's future independent of whatever Jesus might choose for the beloved disciple. The phrase "till I come" naturally raised questions about Jesus' future coming, but the sentence itself does not assert that the beloved disciple will live until that event.
John's subsequent correction shows that the distinction between a conditional statement and a prediction mattered to the early community.
Why It Matters
The passage is an unusually clear biblical example of why exact wording matters. A statement about what could happen if Jesus willed it was transformed into a claim that Jesus had promised it would happen.