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:[1]
| “ | Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. | ” |
This faith-inspiring, pro-life ending is diluted and obscured by the subsequent John chapter 21, which as shown below is unlikely to be authentic for multiple reasons:
Self-contradictory use of "we"
John 21:24 contradicts itself to give away its inauthenticity: "This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true."
Uncharacteristic use of "I"
John humbly never referred to himself as "I", yet John 21:25 contains an uncharacteristic, hyperbolic "I suppose" that is at odds with the straightforward ending in John chapter 20.
Inconsistent term for "children"
John 21:5 quotes Jesus as addressing his own Apostles -- grown men -- as "little children," using a Greek term (παιδίον, Strong's G3813) that is different from the Greek term used appropriately earlier in the same Gospel when Jesus, as the teacher, addressed his Apostles as his students (τεκνίον, Strong's G5040).[2]
"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.
Papyrus 66
Papyrus 66, the oldest extent fragment of a near-complete Gospel of John (estimated to be from about A.D. 200), contains only verses 21:1-9, 12, and 17 fromm John 21:1-25 . Scholars misleadingly state that that chapter 21 is included in the earliest manuscripts when, in fact, most of it is missing from this earliest, most complete one.
Compared with Codex Sinaiticus
"[I]n the ancient manuscript Sinaiticus, the scribe originally omitted 21:25 and had to go back and erase an ornamental Colophon in order to insert it."[3]
In tandem with another insertion
"John 21:25 is often thought to be a later addition because in some manuscripts John 7:53 ‒ 8:11 is inserted after 21:24."[3]
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.