“The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved”
On the third day of Christmas, December 27th, the Church remembers the Apostle and Evangelist, St. John. Heralded as “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” a phrase explicitly stated six times in his Gospel, John is one of most complex, dynamic, and popular of the disciples.
This is at least partially because St. John apparently distinguished himself among the apostles for his devotion and faithfulness to our Lord. Jesus’ regard for him is clear: he was one of the three who constituted the inner circle (along with his brother, James, and the Apostle Peter), was present at the Transfiguration, and was one of only a few brought into Gethsemane. He was the only apostle who is mentioned as being at the foot of the cross the day of Jesus’ crucifixion and was the one to whom the Lord committed his mother after his death. On Easter morning he was the first of the twelve to reach the empty tomb.
But why was this so? He certainly didn’t come from a notable station in life: a son of Zebedee and a Galilean fisherman, St. John was called to follow Jesus right out of his fishing boat. He was James the Elder’s younger brother, and together they were called the “Sons of Thunder,” likely due to their personalities or zeal. This is exemplified in Mark 9:38 and Luke 9:54, when they asked if they should call down fire to consume a Samaritan village. They were also ambitious: in Mark 10 it is mentioned that the two brothers (through the request of their mother) ask Jesus to be seated with him in glory on his right and left hands.
Yet these incidents still provide us with some insight into why John might be called “the one whom Jesus loved.” He personally experienced our Lord’s love, and he experienced it unconditionally. As the previous examples show, Jesus didn’t love John because of his own perfection or greatness, but he did love him. This love inspired him to write more of the New Testament than any other member of the twelve, with five books of the Bible attributed to him. And when you read the New Testament books that spring from his pen, you find an overwhelming emphasis on love: the love that God shows us in Jesus Christ and the love that Christians ought to show one another. Naturally, then, he even identifies himself in terms of this love, repeatedly calling himself “the one whom Jesus loved.”
The Church has long held that he was also the only disciple who did not die a martyr like the rest and instead lived to old age. For this reason his feast day is observed with white vestments and paraments instead of red, all the more appropriate as his feast day falls in the early days of Christmastide.
A Brief History
It is said that after the first empire-wide persecutions of the early Church, St. John was exiled to the Island of Patmos, where it was thought that he wrote the Book of Revelation. While there is controversy surrounding the specifics of John’s final years of life and the place of his death, many of his followers claimed he completed his letters and Revelation in Ephesus and was buried there at the site where the Basilica of St. John was later constructed by Justinian in the sixth century. One of those in the early Church who proliferated the belief that St. John was buried in Ephesus was the Church father, St. Polycarp. Together he and St. Ignatius are considered to be disciples of John and are thought to form the beginning of a Johannine theological lineage that runs well through the first two centuries of the Church.
St. John also has a legend associated with him that states that the Emperor Domitian attempted to kill him twice, once by ordering him to drink a cup of wine that had been poisoned. St. John is said to have taken the cup to bless it and in doing so caused the poison to slither away from it in the form of a snake. The second attempt to kill John similarly didn’t result in his death, and it is thought that he fell asleep in the Lord as an old man. Although the date and cause of his death cannot be confirmed, St. John has been commemorated in the West on December 27th, “the Feast of St. John,” since about the fifth century.
Historically, St. John is represented by an eagle, meant to allude to the height of his theological vision, which can be seen especially in the lofty theological language of his gospel’s prologue (John 1:1–18). Related to this symbolism is a tradition that predates the Reformation, wherein churches have historically constructed their lecterns in the shape of an eagle on whose outstretched wings the Bible rests. After the Reformation, the eagle lectern became an especially prominent symbol in Protestant presenting us with a reminder of St. John and the theological insight that his gospel offers.
Collect
Merciful Lord, we beseech Thee to cast the bright beams of Thy light upon Thy church: that it, being instructed by the doctrines of Thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist St. John, may attain to the light of everlasting life; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Lessons
Epistle
Gospel
Resources
Issues, Etc. interview with the Rev. Dr. Louis Brighton on John the Apostle
Propers found in Daily Divine Service Book: A Lutheran Daily Missal, edited by the Rev. Heath Curtis
References:
1. Weedon, William. Celebrating the Saints. Concordia Publishing House. 2016.
2. Lindemann, the Rev. Fred H. The Sermon and The Propers, Volume I: Advent and Epiphany. Concordia Publishing House. 1958.
3. Blackburn, B. & Holford-Strevens, L. The Oxford Companion to the Year. Oxford University Press. 1999.
4. Vitz, Evelyn Birge. A Continual Feast. Ignatius Press. 1985.
Images:
1. St. John: From a Series of the Four Evangelists, Anonymous, Italy, ca. 1518.
2. St. John the Evangelist, Juan de Juanes, Spain, c. 1445/1450.
3. Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos, Titian, Italy c. 1553/1555.
4. The Eagle of Saint John, Martin Schongauer, Germany, 1490.
[…] “Apostle of Love” and “The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved” is St. John, one of the most complex, dynamic, and popular disciples found in Scripture. Although his day falls […]