St. John Apostle and Evangelist (27 Dec)
by the Revd Dr Robert Wilson PhD (Cantab), Old Roman Apostolate UK
This is that disciple who giveth testimony of these things and hath written these things: and we know that his testimony is true
Today we celebrate the great feast of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. It is especially appropriate that this feast falls within the Octave of Christmas for it is St. John’s Gospel that bears witness to the central message of Christmas, that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. But St. John’s Gospel is not simply a theological treatise. It claims specifically to rest on eyewitness testimony, and indeed in the closing words of the Gospel it is claimed that the Beloved Disciple himself wrote the Gospel. In making this claim it is unique among the Gospels. Neither St. Mark nor St. Luke professed to be an eyewitness of the ministry of Jesus. They based their accounts on traditions that had been handed on to them by those who were from the beginning eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. Though St. Matthew was an eyewitness, his Gospel does not make the same personal appeal to eyewitness testimony as St. John’s Gospel. St. John’s Gospel specifically claims to be the work of one who knew Jesus and was loved by him.
Who was the Beloved Disciple? Christian tradition affirms him to be none other than John, son of Zebedee, brother of James and one who, alongside St. Peter, formed the inner core of Jesus’ disciples. St. Irenaeus claimed that St. John himself published his Gospel at Ephesus and that he was the last of the apostles to die, surviving to the reign of Trajan at the end of the first century. St. Irenaeus is a good source in this matter for in his youth he had been a disciple of St. Polycarp, and recalled how St. Polycarp could himself recall his own earlier discipleship of St. John.
The internal evidence of the Gospel also supports St. Irenaeus’ testimony. Though the Beloved Disciple is never named he appears alongside St. Peter at the Last Supper (John 13), in the race to the tomb on the first Easter morning (John 20), and in Jesus’ resurrection appearance to the disciples by the Sea of Galilee (John 21). It is also probable that the unnamed disciple who followed Jesus’ alongside Peter and Andrew in the first chapter of the Gospel was St. John, and that he was also the disciple known to the high priest who was able to gain access alongside St. Peter at the time of Jesus’ trial before the Jewish authorities (John 18). Since the sons of Zebedee are otherwise unaccountably missing from the Gospel (apart from being mentioned at the resurrection appearance by the sea of Galilee at the close of the Gospel) and the beloved disciple must have been a man of real authority in the Church, with a status not unlike St. Peter, it is reasonable to infer that he was St. John.
It is also the case that in the earliest days of the Church in the Acts of the Apostles St. John appears alongside St. Peter in preaching the Gospel in Jerusalem and in Samaria. It is significant that St. John’s Gospel is especially focused on Jerusalem and also includes the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman. St. John’s Gospel is especially written to show that Jesus is the fulfilment of the hopes of Israel and that the true Israelites are those who follow Jesus. St. Paul, in the Epistle to the Galatians, recalls that at the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem he had agreed with St. Peter, St. James and St. John that he would focus especially on mission to the Gentiles and they would focus especially on mission to the Jews. At some stage this missionary work must have led St. John to settle in Ephesus, where he published his Gospel. Exactly when St. John settled in Ephesus and when the Gospel was written is unknown (most probably it was written in stages over an extended period of time), though we do know that St. John was the last of the Apostles to survive and he lived until the reign of Trajan at the end of the first century.
It is often correctly observed that St. John’s Gospel provides the key that unlocks the significance of the other three theologically. What is less commonly recognised is the fact that it also provides the key that unlocks the significance of the other three historically as well. The other three Gospels tell of Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem with the prospect of certain death before him. Up until that point they speak only of a ministry in Galilee and yet they also show that Jesus already has friends and acquaintances in Jerusalem, a man who provided a donkey for the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the man with the pitcher of water who provided an Upper Room for the last supper, and Joseph of Arimathea, who provided a tomb for Jesus’ burial. They also recall how Jesus wept over Jerusalem as he made his final journey into Jerusalem. It would be strange if he wept over a city that he had not sought to win over.
St. John’s Gospel unlocks the key to this otherwise unaccountable mystery. It shows that Jesus undertook an extensive ministry in Jerusalem and Judea as well as in Galilee. It tells of how Jesus’ first disciples were previously disciples of St. John the Baptist and that Jesus, on gathering these first disciples, ministered in Jerusalem, where he cleansed the temple as an act of prophetic symbolism in judgement upon the Jewish nation, and ministered in Judea alongside St. John the Baptist (John 1-3). All this took place before the imprisonment of St. John the Baptist by Herod Antipas. It was only after John’s imprisonment that Jesus began his Galilean ministry. He is only in Galilee at all because he faced opposition in Judea and Jerusalem. It was precisely because those first disciples had already been followers of St. John the Baptist and had followed Jesus in his first Judean ministry that they subsequently gave up all and followed him in Galilee when they were called to be fishers of men.
Though St. John largely omits most of Jesus’ ministry of seeking and saving the lost in Galilee (which is reported in the other Gospels) it provides the key to understanding the climax of the Galilean ministry at the Feeding of the Five Thousand when it recalls how the crowd, when they witnessed the miracle which recalled the giving of manna through Moses in the wilderness, sought to make him king by force (John 6). Jesus therefore had to educate his disciples on the true nature of his ministry as one who was the Suffering Servant of Isaiah who would give his own life for the life of the world. Many of his disciples found this a hard saying and ceased to follow him, but Jesus’ inner circle remained faithful and from that time on in all the gospels it is intimated that he must go to Jerusalem where he will face certain death.
It is here that St. John again provides more detailed information, for he not only recalls the last week in Jerusalem but also a final ministry in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles and at the Feast of Dedication, as well as ministry in the country beyond the Jordan where John had first baptised (John 7-10). It is after the furore provoked by the raising of Lazarus that a meeting of the Sanhedrin takes place during which the high priest Caiaphas utters the fateful words that it is expedient that one should die for the people lest the whole nation perish, and the Sanhedrin resolve to put Jesus to death (John 11). This crucial event (which is reported only in St. John) provides the key to understanding the whole subsequent passion narrative and the collaboration between the Jewish and Roman authorities. It shows that the decision by the Jewish authorities to hand Jesus over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and to put him to death had been made in advance. It was only the carrying out of the plan (assisted by the unexpected windfall of Judas’ offer) that needed to be done.
Thus, St. John is not only the most theological of the Gospels, it is also (as the work of an eyewitness) in many ways the most historically valuable in terms of the detailed precision which it shows in describing the topography of Palestine and the chronological sequence of the events of Jesus’ life. In affirming this we can join with the testimony of those who in St. John’s presence affirmed that “we know that his witness is true”. It is in truth the witness of one who beheld his glory in the days of his earthly life.
Do thou, O Lord, in thy goodness shine upon thy Church: that being enlightened by the doctrine of blessed John thine Apostle and Evangelist, she may attain to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who livest and reignest with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
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