John ending
The John ending - the true ending of the Gospel of John -- is an issue that is legitimately debated. There are strong reasons to conclude that its authentic ending is at John 20:31-31 as follows:Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
"son of John"?
John 21 uses the bizarre phrase "son of John" four times to describe Peter, but that expression does not appear anywhere else in the entire Bible. None of the other Gospels, the New Testament letters, or the rest of the Gospel of John ever refers to Peter that way.
John was a common name then (and now), and so it would be very odd to refer to someone as "son of John."
Implausible reference to "153"
This ending contains at John 21:11 an implausible reference to the large, specifically precise number of 153, which is found nowhere else in the Gospel of John, as instead it refers to approximate round numbers as most authors would.
In addition, there was no reason or time for counting the fish, which were far too many for the group to eat. Jesus had called the fishermen-disciples to breakfast, and it is implausible that they would have kept Jesus waiting while needlessly counting a large number of fish in near darkness.
Peter alone hauled the immense catch of fish onshore?
Seven disciples were in the fishing board, and yet John 21:11 states implausibly that Peter alone hauled the immense catch of 153 fish from the boat to the shore. There would be no reason for the others not to help, and this appears to be a mistake that a non-eyewitness and nonfisherman would make.
Peter questioned Jesus about John?
John 21 depicts Peter as complaining to Jesus about favoritism of John, after the Resurrection. This is unlike anything else in the New Testament and seems more likely to have been written by an admirer of John than by John himself. After all that they had been through by this point, such a questioning of Jesus at this point seems implausible.
Analogy to Mark ending
Virtually everyone agrees that the Mark ending was a later addition, so it is proper to ask if the somewhat rehashed text comprising John chapter 21, after the clear ending above was likewise a later addition to the Gospel of John.