One of Jesus’ earliest disciples was John, the son of Zebedee and Salome. He was likely a cousin of Jesus and seemed to be sensitive spiritually. The message that John the Baptizer was preaching resonated in his heart and he had become his disciple. So, when John told him and Andrew as Jesus walked by that they should “behold the Lamb of God” (Joh 1:36), he left John to follow Jesus. Jesus invited him to observe His life (v39), welcomed him into it, and later commanded him to leave his day job as a fisherman to follow Him as a full-time disciple (Mar 1:19).
The name John conveys the idea of a gift from God. Although this series is titled “The Chosen,” emphasizing the fact that these followers of Jesus were the result of His careful choice and decision (see John 15:16 and Luke 6:12-16), there is a sense in which John’s character and friendship embodied a good gift from the heavenly Father to His Beloved Son while on earth. This time of difficulty and trial, of rejection and endurance, was aided by the loyalty and support of a John. One can’t help but see some comparisons and contrasts with David and his John (Jonathan) during David’s sojourn and exile as an unacknowledged, anointed king.
David’s Jonathan was his senior when David was taken into Saul’s house as the court musician. He later became his brother-in-law upon David’s marriage to his sister Michal. Jonathan came to appreciate David as his saviour when David took his place in the valley of Elah and faced down the giant. Jonathan renounced all claim to his father’s throne and covenanted himself in love and loyalty to David. Throughout David’s alienation from Saul and Israel, Jonathan was his constant, the one who encouraged and supported David from a distance and who expected to be beside David when the Lord installed David on the throne.
Jesus’ John was likely younger; many consider him to be the youngest of the Twelve. As intimated earlier, he was likely an earthly cousin of Jesus, but became an adopted brother when the Lord entrusted him with His mother from the cross (Joh 19:27). John was one of the first disciples to apprehend the import of Jesus’ words with respect to His death and resurrection. When he saw the empty tomb (20:8), he believed. Whereas David’s Jonathan overtly expressed his love to David, John was more impressed by Jesus’ love for him. One of John’s favourite ways to designate himself was “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20). This appreciation of his Lord led to a desire to be near Him. He was the one who reclined nearest Jesus’ heart at the Last Supper (13:23), who followed Him in the night to His trial (18:15), and who was at the cross (19:26). Jesus appreciated his quiet adoration and included him as one of the three closest disciples who alone witnessed the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter, the Lord’s transfiguration and the agony of Gethsemane.
John’s ministry flourished in the early days of the Church. He often accompanied Peter as they bore witness to the resurrected and ascended Christ. Even when imprisoned and threatened, John didn’t falter. Indeed, his appreciation for the love of Christ led him to recognize that in reality “God is love” (1Jn 4:8). John wrote, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us” (v10).1
As an older man, John suffered as a martyr without dying. It is thought that he was plunged into a cauldron of boiling oil but did not succumb to his injuries. Thereafter he was banished to exile on the island of Patmos. He had a ministry late in life in Ephesus and the surrounding regions. When John wrote his Gospel later in life, he felt the need to make a clarifying comment about his existence, as some were beginning to think that he would be immortal until the Lord’s return (Joh 21:23).
John’s greatest legacy to the Church is the writings he left, inspired by the Holy Spirit. His Gospel uniquely presents Jesus as the eternal Son of God, its contents carefully organized in view of the reader’s coming to eternal life by trusting in God’s Christ (20:31). He left several letters that emphasize the familial aspects of Christian living as children of God. Finally, he gave us the revelation he received of Jesus Christ that forms the closing book of the New Testament canon. David’s Jonathan never lived to see David’s ascension to the throne. Jonathan was the one who came to visit and encourage him while in exile. Jonathan watched the champion Goliath fall at David’s feet, but it was John’s unique privilege to fall at the feet of God’s champion who is alive forevermore (Rev 1:17-18). It was Jesus who came to John in exile, in all the glory of His exaltation. So, it fell to John, the beloved disciple, to record the present and coming glories of his Friend and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
As we have reflected on John and his life, two features of practical relevance come to mind. I once read a book that declared there are only two things God wants us to know: “I love you” and “Trust me.” John knew this before the book author did. They characterized his life, and we would do well to incorporate them into ours as well. There is nothing that will stabilize our lives more than a deep appreciation for the fact that “Jesus loves me.” Too often, our lives reflect a desire to reach up to God that He would bless and reach down to us, a performance-based acceptance that resists grace. Days that begin with brave resolutions end in failure. The vagaries of life, sin and human weakness conspire together to make our relationship with God yo-yo according to our emotional state on any given day. It was not so with John. He gloried in the fact that God loved him. Jesus loved him. So, when Jesus asked him to follow, he did. No questions asked. He trusted. No wonder these twin themes can be so easily traced through John’s writings: the greatness of God’s love and the command to believe. John fittingly closed the written record of the Scriptures with these words, reflecting his given name: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Rev 22:21).
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
