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X
OST ALL
human be–
ings either have or
have had a "bes t
fr iend ," or a "closest
buddy"- someone with whom
they have shared a side of
themselves seldom seen by
others.
T hough J esus loved all men , he
was especially close to his disciple
J o hn . The a postle him-
self revealed this warm
relationship in his own
gospel.
John is a bit hesitant
about mcntioning himself
in the first person–
although he wasn't at all
hesitant about mentioning
the othcr disciples by
name.
He
is the only one of
thc gospel writers who
was bold enough to point
out Simon Peter as the
man who severed the ser–
vant's ear during Jesus'
arrest in thc garden (John
18:10). Yet he never
mentions
himself
by
name in his cntire book;
when he wri tes of
" J ohn," he refers to John
the Baptis t.
" The Disciple Whom
Jesus Loved"
At his last Passover, " J e–
sus was troubled in spirit
and tcstified, 'l tell you
the truth, one of you is
goi ng to betray me.'
H
is
disciples stared at one
anothcr, at a loss to know
which of them he meant.
One of them,
the disciple
whom Jesus loved,
was
reclin ing next to him.
Simon Peter motioned to this disci–
ple and said, 'Ask him which onc
he means' " (J ohn 13:21-24, The
New l nternational Vers ion).
Who was this " disciple whom
Jesus loved"?
Sorne days after Jesus' resu r–
rect ion from the dead, Peter engaged
in an extended discourse with t he
risen Christ. Concluding the conver–
sation, " Peter turned and saw fol–
lowing them the disciple whom
March 1983
Jesus loved, who had lain clase to
his breast at the supper and had
said , ' Lord who is it that is going to
betray you?' When Peter saw him,
he said to Jesus, ' Lord , what about
this man?'
" J esus said to him, ' l f it is my will
t hat he remain [alive] until
r
come,
what is that to you? Follow me!'"
( John 2 1: 20-22, RSV- throughout,
unless otherwise statcd).
Verse 24 then reveals the identity
WHO
WAS
JESUS
~
•
by
John Ross Schroeder
Was Jesus man, God
or what?
Where did he come from?
Was he rea lly
divine? Here, from the
book of John, are the answers.
of this disciple and future apostle:
"This is the disciple who is bearing
witness to t hese things, and who has
written these things; and we know
that his testimony is true." This
could be none other than the author
of "the gospel according to John."
John remained alive to wr ite the
book of Revelation long after Peter's
martyrdom. Apparently John was
the only apostle whose life did not
end in martyrdom.
lt
is generally
thought that, aJthoug h imprisoned,
be was allowed to live out his last
days in relative peace on the lsle of
Patmos.
J ohn was also favored to be
among the small inner circle of dis–
ciples who witnessed a foretaste of
the kingdom of God in vision.
"And after six days J esus took with
him Peter and James and John his
brother, and led them up a high
mountain
apart"
(Matt. 17:1).
There they saw Jesus
transfigured before them,
with Mases and Elijah.
lt was also John who
was the first disciple to
believe Christ had risen
from the dead. Shortly
a fter Ch ri st's re s ur–
rection, Mary Magdalene
carne and saw that the
tomb was empty. "So she
ran, and went to Simon
Peter and
the other disci–
ple, the one whom Jesus
loved .
.. "
(John 20:2).
John outran Simon Pe–
ter to the tomb, but thc
impetuous Peter went in
first (verses 3-7). "Then
the other disciple,
who
reached the tomb first ,
also went in, and
he saw
and be/ieved"
(verse 8).
John' s Deep
Understanding
Perhaps in part because
of his special closeness to
J esus, John was granted a
dccp and broad under–
s ta nding of
bis
Savior.
Ma tthew, Mark and Luke
each begin their "mini–
biographies" of J csus
with accounts of events
occu rring broadly within
the ( human) lifetime of
Christ.
But J oh n 's account of the
beginning predates even the
events in the Old Testament.
ft
is
the real beginning of the Bible,
describing events that occurred
befare even Genesis 1: l.
lt
reads:
" In the beginning was the Word,
and t he Word was with God, and
the Word was God.
He was in the
beginn ing with God; all things
were made through him, and
without him was not anything
17