The Apostle John part 1

by John Thomas Lowe
(Woodruff, SC)

QUESTION: What is the history of John, the disciple of Jesus?

ANSWER:

To learn the history of John, the disciple of Jesus, we begin with his life before he met Jesus. John, his brother James, Peter, and Andrew were all partners in the fishing business before becoming disciples of Jesus. John was the son of Zebedee, who was also a fisherman in Galilee. John's mother's name was Salome, and some say that Salome was the sister of Jesus' mother, Mary. John owned a home in Jerusalem. Shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD, John moved to Ephesus.

John pastored a church in Ephesus. He communicated with other churches in the area, as stated in the book of Revelation. He advised and counseled many people who would later become believers in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
By order of the Roman Emperor, Domitian, John was exiled to the island of Patmos. Domitian ordered his exile because he saw John as a threat to his rule. However, his popularity and influence in the Christian community continued through correspondence with churches. John wrote the book of Revelation during his exile. When he was released from exile, he returned to Ephesus. John founded and built churches throughout Asia until he was old and died peacefully in Ephesus in the sixty-eighth year after our Lord's passion.
During his life, John wrote the Gospel of John and the first, second, and third books of John and the book of Revelation. Near the end of his life, it is said that he constantly repeated the phrase, "Little children, love one another!" He did that because he believed it was the Lord's most important commandment.

Learn More about the Book of John!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
We have all sinned and deserve God's judgment. God, the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him. Jesus, the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was buried, and rose from the dead, according to the Bible. If you truly believe and trust this in your heart, receiving Jesus alone as your Savior, declaring, "Jesus is Lord," you will be saved from judgment and spend eternity with God in heaven.

Peter and the sons of Zebedee become Jesus' closest friends. While Matthew 10:2 and Luke 6:14 list Peter's brother Andrew next, Mark goes straight to James and John. Along with Peter and Andrew, Jesus had already chosen them to be disciples early on (Mark 1:19–20).
The James referred to here is not the same person who wrote the book of James. That letter was written by Jesus' half-brother and the church leader in Jerusalem. This James, John's brother, is the first martyr, and his execution by Herod is the only Apostle's death mentioned in the Bible, except for that of Judas Iscariot (Acts 12:1–2).
John becomes one of the most influential of Jesus' apostles. He is not to be confused with John the Baptist or John-Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark and the cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10). This John is the author of the Gospel of John; the letters 1, 2, and 3 John; and the book of Revelation. His Gospel is unique in that it focuses on the theology of Christ more than the miracles. John is also known as the disciple whom Jesus loves (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7). Although all the disciples love and admire Jesus, no one else is shown to be so assured of Jesus' love except maybe Mary of Bethany.
Despite John's simple devotion, he and his brother can be impulsive. Boanerges is Aramaic for "sons of rage" or "sons of thunder." Jesus' nickname for the brothers reflects that they have the destructive zeal of a thunderstorm. They live up to their name when they ask Jesus for places of honor in His kingdom (Mark 10:35–40). James, John, and Peter are the only people mentioned to whom Jesus gives nicknames.
Mark 3:13–21 is the third story about people's reactions to Jesus' ministry. Here, we establish which men Jesus chooses to be in His inner circle. Jesus separates ''the twelve'' for special training so they can be equipped to heal (Matthew 10:1), cast out demons, and spread the Gospel. Other than Peter's mother-in-law (Mark 1:30–31), there is no record that Jesus performed miracles of healing for them. However, they have witnessed Jesus' power and authority and are willing to dedicate themselves to His teaching. This is a stark contrast to Jesus' own family. This account is also recorded in Matthew
In Mark 3, Jesus calls twelve men to be His apostles. Among them are "James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder)" (Mark 3:17). This is the only place in Scripture that mentions the designation of the sons of Zebedee as the Sons of Thunder, and there is no stated explanation as to why Jesus named them this.
However, Jesus has a purpose for everything He does, so He must have had a good reason for calling James and John "Sons of Thunder." "Jesus . . . knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man" (John 2:24-25). In other words, Jesus knew the brothers' nature when He first met them, and He chose "Boanerges" as a fitting nickname.
In one vivid incident, James and John possessed some truly thunder-like qualities. Jesus and His disciples traveled through Samaria on their way to Jerusalem when they ran into trouble. Jesus attempted to find accommodations for the night in one place but was met with opposition from the villagers simply because His destination was Jerusalem—a result of Jew-Samaritan prejudice. "When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, 'Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?'" (Luke 9:54). Jesus rebuked the brothers, and they all went to another village. James and John's response to the Samaritans reveals a fervency, impetuosity, and anger that could properly be called "thunderous"—and we can be sure that there were other times when James and John lived up to their nickname.

James and John were two of Jesus' closest friends, being two of the "inner three" disciples (see Matthew 17:1). As the church age began, James was the first Apostle to be killed (Acts 12:2), while John was the last to die, although of old age. John's epistles, written late in his life, hint that he still possessed a fervency of spirit, especially in his denunciations of apostates and deceivers (1 John 2:22; 2 John 7; 3 John 10). However, it is a fervency tempered by love. In fact, in 1 John, the word "love" and its relatives occur over 40 times. When he first met Jesus, John was one of the "Boanerges." However, after walking with Jesus for a lifetime, the "Son of Thunder" earned a new nickname: the "Apostle of Love."
Meet the Apostle John: 'The Disciple Jesus Loved'
Who Was the Beloved Disciple?
Anonymous figures have a way of piquing our curiosity and compelling us to learn more. Think of Watergate's Deep Throat or the notorious Unabomber. Now that Deep Throat was FBI agent Mark Felt and the Unabomber was a schizophrenic mathematician named Ted Kaczynski; those figures cease to be as enjoyable as they once were.
The same goes for anonymous figures in the Bible. Perhaps the most well-known in the New Testament is the so-called beloved disciple. Apart from Jesus, this character—whose identity is never revealed—should be regarded as one of the most intriguing figures in the Gospel of John. However, since many assume they already know this figure's identity, he often fails to inspire the sense of mystery that the story intends to evoke.
The most common identification of this character is drawn from an early tradition, which holds that the beloved disciple was an actual individual known as John, the son of Zebedee, a disciple of Jesus. This theory also identifies the son of Zebedee as the author of the Gospel of John. This idea remains an essential view among contemporary Christians, though there is little evidence to support it. Other scholars have variously identified the beloved disciple as Lazarus (John 11:38-44), Thomas (John 20:24-28), or even Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18). However, these theories ultimately miss the point.
The shadowy figure is known as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" and appears in five scenes in the Gospel of John (John 13:21-30, John 18:15-18, John 19:26-27, John 21:7 with John 21:20), though some also regard the unnamed disciple in John 1:35-39 as the beloved disciple. In these scenes, the beloved disciple stands in contrast to Simon Peter, characterized less positively. In each instance, the beloved disciple responds to Jesus in a way that the narrator considers praiseworthy. At the same time, Peter expresses confusion, doubt, and misunderstanding before denying that he knows Jesus. In a sense, the beloved disciple gets everything right: twice he is found in a location that indicates his loyalty to Jesus (John 18:15-18, John 19:26-27); he responds appropriately by believing in the empty tomb, even when he does not understand (John 20:3-8); he also recognizes the risen Jesus from afar while the other disciples do not (John 21:7). In what is probably the most critical comment about the beloved disciple, the narrator depicts him as "leaning back on the chest of Jesus" (author's translation, John 13:25)—an English rendering of the exact Greek phrase used to describe the relationship between Jesus and God the Father ("close to the Father's heart," John 1:18). These depictions reinforce the idea that the beloved disciple should be seen as an ideal follower of Jesus—one with whom any faithful reader can and should identify.