John the Apostle (Ancient Greek: Ἰωάννης; Latin: Ioannes; c. 6 AD – c. 100 AD), also known as Saint John the Beloved and, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebedee and Salome. His brother James was another of the Twelve Apostles. The Church Fathers identify him as John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, John the Elder, and the Beloved Disciple, and claim that he outlived the remaining apostles and was the only one to die of natural causes, although modern scholars are divided on the veracity of these claims.
John the Apostle is traditionally held to be the author of the Gospel of John, and many Christian denominations believe that he authored several other books of the New Testament (the three Johannine epistles and the Book of Revelation, together with the Gospel of John, are called the Johannine works), depending on whether he is distinguished from, or identified with, John the Evangelist, John the Elder, and John of Patmos.
The authorship of the Johannine works has traditionally been attributed to John the Apostle. While many modern scholars continue to affirm traditional authorship, most have concluded that he wrote none of them. Regardless of whether or not John the Apostle wrote any of the Johannine works, most scholars agree that all three epistles were written by the same author and that the epistles did not have the same author as the Book of Revelation, although there is widespread disagreement among scholars as to whether the author of the epistles was different from that of the gospel.
References to John in the New Testament
John the Apostle was born into a family of Jewish fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. He was a son of Zebedee and the younger brother of James (James the Great). According to church tradition, their mother was Salome. And according to some traditions, Salome was the sister of Mary, Jesus' mother, making Salome Jesus' aunt, and her sons James and John the Apostle, cousins of Jesus.
John the Apostle is traditionally believed to be one of two disciples (the other being Andrew) recounted in John 1:35–39, who upon hearing the Baptist point out Jesus as the "Lamb of God", followed Jesus and spent the day with him, thus becoming the first two disciples called by Jesus. On this basis some traditions believe that John was first a disciple of John the Baptist, even though he is not named in this episode.
According to the Synoptic Gospels (Matt 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20; Luke 5:1–11), Zebedee and his sons fished in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus then called Peter, Andrew, and the two sons of Zebedee to follow him; showing that James and John were counted early among the Twelve Apostles. Jesus referred to the pair as "Boanerges" (translated "sons of thunder"). A Gospel story relates how the brothers wanted to call down heavenly fire on an unhospitable Samaritan town, but Jesus rebuked them. And John was the disciple who reported to Jesus that they had 'forbidden' a non-disciple from casting out demons in Jesus' name, prompting Jesus to state that 'he who is not against us is on our side'.
In AD 44, James became the first Apostle to die a martyr's death. John the Apostle is traditionally believed to have lived on for more than fifty years after the martyrdom of his brother James.
In the Gospels and in the Book of Acts, the Apostle John is always mentioned in the group of the first four apostles, listed either second, third or fourth.
John, his brother James, and Peter formed an informal triumvirate among the Twelve Apostles in the Gospels. Jesus appointed them to be the only apostles to accompany him at three particular occasions during his public ministry: the Raising of Jairus' daughter, the Transfiguration of Jesus, and the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus sent only Peter and John into the city to make the preparation for the final Passover meal (the Last Supper).
Many traditions identify the Apostle John as the "disciple whom Jesus loved" in the Gospel of John, but this identification is debated. At the meal itself, the "disciple whom Jesus loved" sat next to Jesus. It was customary to recline on couches at meals, and this disciple leaned on Jesus. Tradition identifies this disciple as John.
After the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, only Peter and the "other disciple" (according to tradition, John) followed him into the palace of the high-priest. The "beloved disciple", alone among the Apostles, remained near Jesus at the foot of the cross on Calvary alongside myrrhbearers and numerous other women. Following the instruction of Jesus from the Cross, the beloved disciple took Mary, the mother of Jesus, into his care as the last legacy of Jesus. Peter and John were also the only two apostles who ran to the empty tomb after Mary Magdalene bore witness to the resurrection of Jesus.
After Jesus' Ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Apostle John, together with Peter, took a prominent part in the founding and guidance of the church. He was with Peter at the healing of the lame man at Solomon's Porch in the Temple; and he was thrown into prison with Peter. Later, only Peter and John went to visit the newly converted believers in Samaria.
While John remained in Judea and the surrounding area, the other disciples returned to Jerusalem for the Apostolic Council (c. 48–50 AD). Paul the Apostle, in opposing his enemies in Galatia, explicitly recalled that John, Peter and James the Just, were collectively recognized as the three Pillars of the Church. And Paul referred to the recognition that his Apostolic preaching of a gospel free from Jewish Law was received from these three, the most prominent men of the messianic community at Jerusalem.
The phrase "the disciple whom Jesus loved"—(ὁ μαθητὴς ὃν ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ho mathētēs hon ēgapā ho Iēsous), or in John 20:2: "whom Jesus loved" (ὃν ἐφίλει ὁ Ἰησοῦς, hon ephilei ho Iēsous)—is used six times in the Gospel of John and in no other New Testament accounts of Jesus. And John 21:24 claims that the Gospel of John is based on the written testimony of this disciple.
The disciple whom Jesus loved is specifically referred to six times in the Gospel of John:
It is this disciple who, while reclining beside Jesus at the Last Supper, asks Jesus, after being requested by Peter to do so, who it is that will betray him.