John, “Whom Jesus Loved” (3nd in a series on the Apostles)

The Bible has been called a biography of the human race, and rightly so. It sets forth our record from creation, to the fall, to our death for sin and our death to sin through redemption and regeneration through Christ.

Not only does it give us a record of man, it also tells us of men—individual, particular men. It tells us how they lived and how they died. It gives us glimpses of their words and works. We have at times profiles, and at times portraits—of good men and of bad men.

Of all the biographies of the Bible, none has made more impact than those of the Apostles of Jesus Christ.  They were those who were closest to our Lord during his three and one-half years of earthly ministry. They heard His every word and saw His every deed. They felt His pulse, as it were, heard His prayers, witnessed His trials, and watched His tears. They were chosen by Him to carry on what He had begun.

And, of the 12, none is more important than the one who leaned on His breast at the Last Supper in the Upper Room.

We know him simply as John. He was one of the first to be called to this holy vocation, and he was the last to have lived out the will of God for his life on earth. We can benefit greatly as we study his life in the New Testament—noting his profile as an apostle, his performance as an apostle, and his pen as an apostle.

1. His profile.

• He was one of the “sons of Thunder,” brother of James, sons of Zebedee. His mother, Salome, was a devoted follower of Jesus. Zebedee employed his sons in the family fishing business. Jesus gave James and John the name “Sons of Thunder.”
• Andrew and Peter were also in this business with Zebedee and his sons. It was a thriving business.
• He was a disciple of John the Baptist and was led to Christ by the Baptizer. (John 1:35)
• He wrote five books of the New Testament and was known as “the one whom Jesus loved.” (John 13:23; 19:26; 21:7; 21:20)
• He outlived 12 Roman emperors, including Augustus and Nero. Two of these emperors committed suicide and seven were murdered.
• He was doubtless in his teens when Jesus called him to follow Him as an apostle; he outlived all others apostles, dying (it is believed) in his 90s.

2. His performance.

•  John probably enjoyed the most intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus.
• He was the last person Jesus spoke to before He “gave up the ghost.” It was John to whom Jesus committed the care of His mother, Mary.
• He was, along with Peter and James, one of the three who made up the “inner circle” of Jesus during His earthly ministry. At the Last Supper, Peter asked John to find out from Jesus who the betrayer was that Jesus had alluded to. (John 13:23,24)
• He became a close companion of Peter: at the Supper; at the place of Judgment, both Peter and John were on site; and both were at the sepulcher, John arriving before Peter. (John 20:1ff)
• Peter and John were fishing when Jesus, in a post-resurrection appearance, met them on the shore and fixed breakfast for them. (It was John who first said from the boat, “It is the Lord.”)
• After the resurrection and following Pentecost, this apostolic duo was often together, as at the healing of the lame man at the Temple. (Acts 3:11)
• They were persecuted, imprisoned together, and withstood the authorities when told they must stop preaching.
• Their personalities were very different: Peter was open, John closed; Peter was quick to act, John given to thinking first.
• Both possessed an unquestionable love for, and devotion to, Jesus of Nazareth.

3.  His pen.

• John’s writing was his greatest contribution. He wrote more than any of the 12. Yet, he never mentioned his name in the 21 chapters of his classic gospel, the only gospel which does not contain a list of the 12.
• The one word that characterizes his writings is “love.” For example: “God so loved the world.” “Let us love one another.” “God is love.” “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren.” “There is no fear in love.” “We love Him because He first loved us.”
• One writer said of John: “He gave in his writings a definition of love that the world has not found in any other literature.”
• One learns a lot about John by noting the words he uses repeatedly in his gospel: “light” (23); “life” (52); “love” (7); “truth” (25); “believe” (98); “world” (78); “witness” (30) “testify” (13); “testimony” (25). In his writings, John uses the word “love” a total of 80 times.
• It is fair to say that the Apostle John wrote to present incontrovertible evidence that Jesus is God and that God is love.

His place among the 12 was unique. He spent the latter years of his life in exile on the isle of Patmos, where he received the indescribable Revelation!

John was the only Apostle who was not cruelly martyred. Legend says that he was put into a cauldron of boiling water, from which he escaped in a miraculous manner. Afterward, he was exiled to Patmos, where he received the Revelation of Jesus Christ as recorded in the last book of the New Testament.

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet…And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid a hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last.”(—the Apostle John, Rev. 1:10, 17)