The Beloved Disciple

- John at the Last Supper (Crespi)

Today is the Feast of John the Apostle and Evangelist ...

John the Apostle (יוחנן "The LORD is merciful", Standard Hebrew Yoḥanan, Tiberian Hebrew Yôḥānān, Greek Ευαγγελιστής Ιωάννης), was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. Christian tradition proclaims he is the same person who wrote:
* the Gospel of John and first epistle of John (the author of these is also referred to as John the Evangelist, John the Theologian or John the Divine)
* the second and third Epistle of John (the author of these is sometimes distinguished under the name of John the Presbyter).
* the Book of Revelation (the author is sometimes referred to as John of Patmos or John the Revelator' ....
- Wikipedia

One of the interesting things about John's gospel is that the author doesn't refer to himself by name, but only as the "other disciple" or more famously, "the disciple Jesus loved". Some scholars think the beloved disciple might have instead been Mary Magdalene, and others, like Ben Witherington, think Lazarus was the disciple Jesus loved (What Have They Done with Jesus?: Beyond Strange Theories and Bad History--Why We Can Trust the Bible). I'm sticking with John, though ... here below is a short article on the subject of the beloved disciple that emphasizes the importance of translation ...

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The Disciple Whom Jesus Kept on Loving?
- edited by Dr. David Alan Black

It is only the apostle John who calls himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:20). Actually, John uses a tense that emphasizes a process— something like "the disciple whom Jesus kept on loving." The implication is almost, "he kept on loving me despite myself."

And little wonder.

Do not think of John as some kind of soft, sentimental, wishy-washy weakling. He was a "son of thunder" (Hebrew for a person with a boisterous personality). He wanted to call down fire from heaven on the Samaritans. He sought the place of prominence at the right (or, if need be, at the left) hand of Jesus in the kingdom.

John the weakling? Hardly.

And now, writing many years later at the end of his long life (John outlived all the other apostles), he has one chance to describe himself to his audience. He could have done this in several different ways, each with its own emphasis. I might introduce myself, depending on the occasion, as Becky’s husband, Nathan’s dad, a surfer from Hawaii, a Greek teacher, a Baptist preacher, and so forth.

And John? Did he write "apostle of Jesus Christ," or "first bishop of the church at Ephesus," or "author of the Book of Revelation"? He could have, but he wrote none of these. Thinking back to his impetuous relationship with the Lord, to his unworthiness even to be called a follower of Christ, he simply wrote, "the disciple whom Jesus kept on loving."

The description implies, not arrogance (as if he meant "the disciple whom Jesus loved more than the others"), but a profound sense of divine grace.

Is that not your identity and mine—we who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior and Lord and who also know our own weaknesses and shortcomings? We are but disciples whom Jesus keeps on loving, and loving, and loving.

Loved with everlasting love,
Led by grace that love to know,
Spirit, breathing from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so!

O this full and perfect peace!
O this transport all divine!
In a love which cannot cease,
I am his and he is mine.

G. W. Robinson (1838-77)

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Check out The Johannine Literature Web / Felix Just SJ

Here's a great page of St. John in Art


- John at the crucifixion (Bronzino)