THIS evening I would like to talk about the Apostle John. The name ‘John’ means ‘The Lord has worked grace’. John the Apostle is the son of Zebedee and Salome (the sister of the Blessed Virgin Mary). He is also the brother of James, and the cousin of Jesus. In the Bible, John is called ‘the beloved disciple’, the disciple whom Jesus loved. He is also believed to be the author of the Gospel which now bears his name, as well as three canonical letters and the Book of Revelation. While scholars tend to ascribe some or all of these works to others, I do not wish to. Time tonight does not allow me to examine all of John’s writings in detail, so I must be selective. However, I strongly urge you to read John’s works and immerse yourself in the richness of his vision.

In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, & Luke) we first meet our soon-to-be disciple by the shore of the Sea of Galilee with his father, Zebedee and his brother, James. In John’s Gospel, however, there is no mention of him until the Last Supper. The apostle is then also present at the Crucifixion, standing at the foot of the Cross with Mary, the mother of Jesus. Along with Simon Peter, he is the first witness of the Resurrection. John is also one of the seven disciples who have breakfast with the Risen Christ by the Sea of Galilee, when Jesus asks Simon Peter three times if he loves him. At the end of his Gospel John writes the following authorial comment:

This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (Jn 21:24-25)

John is someone we can trust, whose writings help us to ponder the mysteries of God’s love. Elsewhere, in the Synoptic Gospels, John appears as part of an inner circle of disciples. He is with Peter and James at the Transfiguration, and at several miracles where not all the Twelve are present. What then are we to make of this apostle? The various mentions of him in Scripture show that he is a beloved disciple, one loved by God, who loves God deeply. Love is something of a defining characteristic in John’s writing, especially in his Gospel and Letters. But even love must be set in a wider context, namely God.

John’s Gospel begins at the beginning, a very good place to start.‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ (Jn 1:1) God is trinitarian: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Duw Dad, Mab ac Ysbryd Glân). He always has been, and always will be. ‘The Word became flesh and dwelt among us’ (Jn 1:14). The word translated as ‘dwelt’ actually means ‘pitched his tent’, tabernacled among us, like a nomad, or a shepherd, or an exile wandering like Israel after the Exodus from Egypt.

John then introduces his namesake, the Baptist, who on seeing his cousin Jesus, exclaims ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ (Jn 1:29). Jesus calls disciples, and suddenly they are at a wedding in Cana, where the wine runs out. To prevent shame and ‘social death’ for the hosts, Our Lord turns a large amount of water into wine. God is generous, and the messianic banquet is a reality! There are other signs of Jesus’ divinity and God’s love for humanity. In John’s Gospel, Our Lord is keen to say, ‘I am’: ‘I am the Good Shepherd’ ‘I am the Bread of Life’ ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life’. Just as God reveals himself to Moses at the Burning Bush, saying: ‘I am who I am’. This is the same God who took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

It is when John is with Mary at the foot of the Cross that the Beloved Disciple is singled out for the second time. Just before Christ dies He looks down, and says:

‘Woman behold your Son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home (Jn 19:26-27)

Something wonderful is happening here. On the hill of Calvary, on Good Friday, Jesus is starting the Church, with His Mother (the laity), John the Beloved Disciple (the Clergy), and Himself (Our Great High Priest). Jesus offers himself as both priest and sacrifice upon the altar of the Cross to take away our sins, and to restore our relationship with God and with each other. John and Mary become a new family, not because of ties of blood and kinship (though they are related), but through Jesus. Likewise, every Christian is a brother or sister in Christ. We are all children of God.

From this verse the tradition arises that Mary and John lived together in Ephesus, south of Smyrna, (modern İzmir). This tradition maintains that the Apostle was exiled to the island of Patmos for his preaching of the Good News. There John lived in a cave where he had the visions which have come down to us as the Apocalypse, the Revelation of St John the Divine. Before his exile, during the reign of the emperor Domitian, it is recorded that John survived being immersed in a vat of boiling oil near the Porta Latina, the Latin Gate on the south of the Aurelian Wall of the City of Rome. This miraculous event was remembered in a feast celebrated (until 1960) on 6^th May, and is found in the Calendar of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. John’s main feast day, however, is the 27^th December. Significantly, he is the only apostle not to have suffered a martyr’s death, and so the liturgical colour of his feast days is white and not red — the usual colour for a martyr. 

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI wrote that the example of St John teaches us that:

‘The Lord wishes to make each of us a disciple who lives in personal friendship with him. To achieve this, it is not enough to follow him and listen to him outwardly: it is also necessary to live with him and like him. This is only possible in the context of a relationship of deep familiarity, imbued with the warmth of total trust. This is what happens between friends: for this reason Jesus said one day: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends … No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (Jn 15:13, 15)’  [ Pope Benedict XVI, Christ and his Church: Seeing the face of Jesus in the Church of the Apostles, CTS 2007: 72-73.]

The way to understand John and his theology is through the prism of love. As the apostle writes:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn 3:16-17)

These words are echoed in John’s First Letter:

‘By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.’ (1Jn 3:16)

God loves us, and becomes one of us, so that we may have life in all its fulness. Love means willing the good of another. God’s love for us shows that our flourishing is His will. This is the reason for the Incarnation, our Salvation, and Redemption. Love is also the source for both the words of teaching and the signs which pervade John’s Gospel. This is Good News, given to us by the Church — a community of love, which feeds us with Christ’s teaching and the bread of life — so that we can grow more and more into the likeness of the one who loves us: Jesus Christ, who is Our Lord and God.

John is the disciple who has a vision of Heaven, of heavenly liturgy which looks Eucharistic. As one of the first disciples to experience the reality of the Resurrection, and as one who sees and believes, John understands that Eternal Life Heaven is our objective. He says:

‘I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.’ (1Jn 5:13)

As Christians, we need to follow the example set by the Beloved Disciple. We need to love Our Lord and Saviour above all else. Like John, we need to see and to believe, and to let God work in our lives. We are called to let God act in us, and through us, to bring His message of love and forgiveness to our needy world.

The depth of John’s relationship with Jesus illustrates how such a theology might come about. John’s life and teachings should continue to inspire us as Christians today. Reminding us to love, to believe, and to persevere in faith, even in the face of hardship. May all of us gathered here today be strengthened by the example of John, to grow closer to God and to give glory i Duw Dad, Duw y Mab, a Duw yr Ysbryd Glân. To God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I’r hwn y priodoler pob gogoniant, arglwyddiaeth, a gallu, yn awr, ac yn oes oesoedd. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion and power, now and forever. Amen.