The argument most confidently put forth today for the post-resurrectional activity of Jesus is the behavior of the apostles, who before the resurrection were by all accounts unready not only to preach but even to hear “the things of the kingdom,” and yet presently went forth into the world fully laden.26 But is it not remarkable that nothing has come down to us from that wonderful time when the church is supposed to have received all its knowledge and training? Why have we only the opening words of the Lord’s discourse, declaring how badly the disciples needed the instruction that followed (Luke 24:25 [Luke 14:3]—27), of which nothing is preserved in the canon (v. 45)? Those early apocryphal writings which purport to tell the rest of the story may not be ignored by the serious student. These writings take a position of conscious resistance to the rising tide of skepticism regarding the reality of the resurrection. 27 Luke had made it perfectly clear at the outset of his history that he was dealing with solid reality; like his other prologue, the story of Zacharias, this one is a forthright factual account that leaves no margin for speculation. Unlike the related themes of the resurrection and ascension, the 40 days has had no appeal to artists and orators, for it offers the imagination nothing to play with—it is not a subject for discussion but an end of discussion, not something to be proven but the proof itself, the unshakable cornerstone of the edifice Luke is about to construct.28 In this spirit the bulk of the early apocryphal writings make of the 40 days the foundation of their own teachings, and when Ignatius wants an unanswerable argument for the resurrection of the flesh, he appeals not only to the 40 days but to a non-canonical witness for them.
By the Sea of Galilee: Feed My Sheep
They go back to the boats, and he is standing on the shore. Over a charcoal fire he asks Peter three times the only question that matters, gives him a flock instead of a rebuke, and tells him plainly how he will die, then declines to answer the question Peter asks about somebody else.
Note. The Joseph Smith Translation leaves this chapter entirely alone.
? How to read this edition
The reading is the Joseph Smith Translation, in the text of the Covenant Christian Edition, carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
1After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias; and in this way he showed himself: 2There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3Simon Peter says unto them, I go fishing. They say unto him, We also go with you. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing.
4But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. 5Then Jesus says unto them, Children, do you have any food? They answered him, No. 6And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship and you shall find. They cast, therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. 7Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved says unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girded his fisher’s coat unto him (for he was naked) and did cast himself into the sea. 8And the other disciples came in a little ship (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits) dragging the net with fishes.
9As soon then as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. 10Jesus says unto them, Bring of the fish which you have now caught. 11Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, a hundred fifty-three. And for all there were, so many, yet was not the net broken.
12Jesus says unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples dared ask him, Who are you? — knowing that it was the Lord. 13Jesus then comes and takes bread and gives them, and fish likewise. 14This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he had risen from the dead.
15So when they had dined, Jesus says to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jona, do you love me more than these? He says unto him, Yea, Lord, you know that I love you. He says unto him, Feed my lambs. 16He says to him again the second time, Simon son of Jona, do you love me? He says unto him, Yea, Lord, you know that I love you. He says unto him, Feed my sheep. 17He says unto him the third time, Simon son of Jona, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Do you love me? And he said unto him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus says unto him, Feed my sheep.
18Truly, truly I say unto you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you desired. But when you shall be old, you shall stretch forth your hands and another shall gird you and carry you where you desire not. 19This he spoke, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he says unto him, Follow me.
20Then Peter, turning about, sees the disciple whom Jesus loved, following — who also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrays you? 21Peter, seeing him, says to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? 22Jesus says unto him, If I desire that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me. 23Then 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 desire that he remain until I come, what is that to you?
24This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things. And we know that his testimony is true.
25And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
The Record of John, the Flock, and the Bodies That Tarry
The Record of John: Translated from Parchment
D&C 7 (CCE JS History 13:18–19) · April 1829 · scriptures.info ↗Verse 22 leaves a question hanging that the twenty-third verse explicitly refuses to settle, and the church has argued about it ever since. In April 1829, translating in Harmony, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery disagreed about it and put the question directly: “whether John, the beloved disciple, tarried on earth.” The answer they received is not commentary on the verse; it is the missing half of the conversation, given as John himself had written and hidden it up.
And the Lord said unto me, John, my beloved, what do you desire? For if you shall ask what you will, it shall be granted unto you. And I said unto him, Lord, give unto me power over death, that I may live and bring souls unto you. And the Lord said unto me, Verily, verily I say unto you, because you desired this, you shall tarry until I come in my glory, and shall prophesy before nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.
And for this cause the Lord said unto Peter, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to you? For he desired of me that he might bring souls unto me, but you desired that you might speedily come unto me in my kingdom. I say unto you, Peter, this was a good desire, but my beloved has desired that he might do more, or a greater work yet among men, than what he has before done; yea, he has undertaken a greater work. Therefore, I will make him as flaming fire and a ministering angel. He shall minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation who dwell on the earth, and I will make you to minister for him and for your brother James. And unto you three I will give this power and the keys of this ministry until I come. Verily I say unto you, you shall both have according to your desires, for you both joy in that which you have desired.
Feed the Sheep, and Not Destroy Them
Speaking to the Female Relief Society, Joseph Smith took the three questions to Peter as the pattern for how the charge of a flock is actually exercised: with long-suffering, and against the instinct to correct.
Discourse to the Female Relief Society, 9 June 1842, Nauvoo · recorded by Eliza R. Snow, Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 240–241) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗Also recorded in the minutes as taken at the time; the Relief Society minute book.
How mild the Savior dealt with Peter, saying, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” At another time, He said to him, “Lovest thou me?” and having received Peter’s reply, He said, “Feed my sheep.” If the sisters loved the Lord, let them feed the sheep, and not destroy them.
How oft have wise men and women sought to dictate Brother Joseph by saying, “O, if I were Brother Joseph I would do this and that;” but if they were in Brother Joseph’s shoes they would find that men or women could not be compelled into the kingdom of God, but must be dealt with in long-suffering, and at last we shall save them. The way to keep all the Saints together, and keep the work rolling, is to wait with all long-suffering, till God shall bring such characters to justice. There should be no license for sin, but mercy should go hand in hand with reproof.
Translated Bodies Are Designed for Future Missions
At the October 1841 conference Joseph Smith distinguished an angel from a ministering spirit and, in passing, said the two things the record of John most needs said about it: what a translated body is for, and what still awaits it.
Discourse, 3 October 1841, Nauvoo · published in the conference minutes, Times and Seasons, 15 October 1841 (2:577–578); reported by Willard Richards (Words of Joseph Smith, 76–79) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗He explained a difference between an angel and a ministering spirit; the one a resurrected or translated body, with its spirit, ministering to embodied spirits—the other a disembodied spirit, visiting and ministering to disembodied spirits. Jesus Christ became a minestering spirit, while his body laying in the sepulchre, to the spirits in prison; to fulfil an important part of his mission, without which he could not have perfected his work or entered into his rest. After his resurrection, he appeared as an angel to his disciples &c.
Translated bodies cannot enter into rest until they have undergone a change equivalent to death. Translated bodies are designed for future missions. The angel that appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos was a translated or resurrected body.— Jesus Christ went in body, after his resurrection, to minister to translated and resurrected bodies. There has been a chain of authority and power from Adam down to the present time.
What Was Taught and Did Not Come Down to Us
This is the third appearance: one of the forty days that Acts 1:3 makes the root of the whole Christian faith and about which the canon preserves almost nothing. Nibley’s question is why, and his answer is that the teaching of that interval was deliberately guarded and belonged to the temple.
Nobody would willingly invent such a depressing message or accept it without the highest credentials. The picture, though full of familiar elements from the earlier Jewish apocalypses, is not derived from them. The actors are not prophets and kings of other ages but the very men sitting before the Master; the predictions are not for distant ages but limited to a scope of two generations; 46 and what is described is not the fate of the world or even of Israel, nor titanic upheavals of nature, but the undoing of the Christian society by perverters and corrupters in its midst.47 The more grandiose imagery is not missing, but it is kept distinct from the story of the church, which is concrete, specific, and utterly gloomy.
All the 40-day teaching is described as very secret, delivered to a closed cult group.49 There is no desire to intrigue and mystify, however, as with the Gnostics, but rather the clearly stated policy that knowledge should be given always but only to those who ask for it,50 with the corollary that the higher and holier a teaching the more carefully it should be guarded. 51 As “the last and highest revelation,” the teaching of the 40 days was top secret, and has not come down to us.52 Since Irenaeus, churchmen have strenuously denied that there ever was a secret teaching or that anything really important has ever been lost.53 To profess otherwise would be perilously close to an admission of bankruptcy; yet Christian scholars do concede that the Apostles had information that we do not have,54 allow the existence of an unwritten Apostolic tradition in the church,55 and grant that there was a policy of secrecy in the early church—though insisting that it began with the catechetical schools.56 The catechists, however, appeal to a much earlier tradition of secrecy,57 and when the Fathers attempt to reproduce the unwritten tradition which they claim for the church they have nothing to offer but the commonplaces of the schools.58 Plainly things have been lost.
What gives substance to this peculiar doctrinal structure is the imposing body of rites and ordinances that goes with it.77 Ritual and doctrinal elements are inextricably interwoven in a complex in which everything is oddly literal and all fit solidly together: The kerygma, whether above or below, is real and must have a “seal,” which is baptism, though the word is also used to designate rites of washing and anointing that go with it;78 after such rites the initiate receives a symbolic but real and tangible garment, 79 and then sits down to a sacral meal, a real repast celebrating the perfect unity of the participants with each other and with the Lord, who is present in spirit.
Recent findings indicate unusual emphasis placed on a perfect unity of the sexes in marriage ordinances which were real enough and secret enough to excite the scandalized speculations of outsiders and the fantastic imitation of the Gnostics.82 After all allowances have been made, there remains a definite residue of early Christian ritual that goes far beyond anything known to later Christianity, which admittedly got its liturgy from the synagogue and the Hellenistic world, while the rites just mentioned all look to the temple and belong to the instructions of the 40 days.
While the schools have their methods for dealing with unwelcome doctrines and traditions, the populace also has ways of absorbing and adapting teachings it does not understand, and the 40-day tradition left a bold imprint on vulgar Christianity. The fact that the Christian liturgy has always allowed a 40-day interval, and an important one, between the Resurrection and the Ascension is not to be lightly explained away,84 but it is the popular literature of the pseudo-Acts of the Apostles and the legends of the martyrs that most clearly indicate what was paramount in the teachings embraced by the newly converted masses of the age of Constantine.85 Here we have the monotonous repetition as one standard miracle, the raising of the dead, performed to demonstrate to a skeptical world the reality of the resurrection of Jesus.86 As the saint performs this miracle, or has it performed on him, Jesus himself stands by, now in his own person, now in that of the apostle, who is but his double or understudy.
Nibley is describing the early apocrypha, not John 21. The juxtaposition is the editor’s: the third entry names washing, anointing, a garment and a sacral meal as the forty-day pattern.
The High Priest Who Passed Through the Curtain
Barker’s work on the apocalypses argues that passing the curtain of the temple meant passing outside space and time, and that the earliest Christian writers said exactly this of Jesus.
Something similar was said of Jesus by the early Christian writers Ignatius of Antioch, Clement of Alexandria and Origen: that he was the high priest who had passed through the curtain and revealed the secrets of the past, the present and the future.
History seen in the sanctuary, whether this was described as a tower or as Sinai, was history seen outside the limitations of space and time… Those who passed through the veil also passed into the first day of creation as the building of the tabernacle was said to correspond to the days of creation.
Offered as background, not as commentary on John 21, which Barker does not treat.