Paul to Timothy: Linus Greets You (2 Timothy 4:21)

This is an extremely important verse in all of the epistles from Paul, if not the New Testament.

Paul refers to a man named Linus and thereby introduces us to this man.  Paul approves of Linus.  If Paul and Timothy both know Linus, se can probably infer from this statement that Peter knew Linus while Peter was in Rome.

Who is Linus?
Nothing else in the Bible can help us identify who this man is.  However, tradition, particularly the Catholic tradition states that Linus was the second bishop of Rome after the Apostle Peter.  In other words, he is the second Pope.

This is a significant event because eventually, the church leadership must pass from those who knew Jesus in the flesh to people who did not.  Here, Paul provides a link to the next generation of church leaders and he approves of a man named Linus.

The succession of church leadership is a little complicated because the Apostle John outlives Paul, Peter, and even Linus.  However, the Apostle John is almost killed in prison and sent off to exile on Patmos.  He is likely presumed dead by the rest of the early church until letters from him start arriving.  These could include first, second, and third John, but would definitely include the Letter to Seven Churches (the book of Revelations).  Likewise, it is also commonly believed that John wrote the Gospel of John during the exile period, although I lean towards to the Lazarus theory of the Gospel of John.

So, who was the church leader after Peter and Paul died - Linus in Rome or Apostle John in exile?

I would say a bit of both.  John is in exile and cannot manage the actual church.  He can only write from afar.  Linus would be on the ground in Rome and can run it.

However, it also presumes that the church was organized in this period of time.  I don't think it was.

Finally, as far as we can tell, John in exile never challenges the authority of Linus as successor of  managing the church in Rome.  If John knows about what is happening in the Seven Churches (Revelations 2-4), then we can presume that he knows about the church administration leadership in Rome after Peter and Paul died.  If John had a problem with Linus succeeding Peter as "bishop of Rome", then he would have sent a letter stating as such.  We should hope that the letter would have ended up in the Biblical canon, if it existed.

We have to be careful with this logic because absence of evidence is not always evidence of absence.  But it is telling that in 1, 2, 3 John or Revelations, there is no mention by John challenging the succession of church leaders in Rome.