"Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, 'Master, who is the one who will betray you?'OK, there are the verses you cited, in their entirety.When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me.”
How is Peter being "mean-spirited"? How is he "lashing out" at John?
Just curious. I don't see anything like that in these verses.
I guess you would have to read them in context, realizing that Peter had just been rebuked by Jesus, and in answer to the rebuke, points at John and asks “Lord, what about him”?
And Jesus then tells Peter, “What is that to thee”?
Really, a good contextual reading shows Peter was lashing out at John. Maybe not in a “mean’spirited’ way, but in an evil world, anything is mean-spirited when examined with Christ as our measuring stick. We all fsll short.