Apostle John
Being loved is the most powerful motivation in the world! Our ability to love is often shaped by our experience of love. We usually love others as we have been loved. But, nobody on earth can show you the love that our God, our created has shown us.
He gave his only Son so, that mankind can be saved through Him and His love (John 3:16). Gods love for us is everlasting and we get to see The Father if we believe in His Son. The Apostle John was perhaps the most loved by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (John 21:20). In this biography we will take a look into one of the most influential man in the Bible.
John’s Life
The Apostle John was born in Bethesda of Galilee, the son of Zebedee, John shared his apostolic mission with his brother the Apostle James, who died for Christ in Jerusalem. John was a fisherman Jesus applied to them the name of Boanerges (Sons Of Thunder) because they were both rebuked for asking Christ to send down “fire from Heaven to punish the citizens of Samara that refused to admit him because he was going to Jerusalem” (Luke 9.53-56). He was in close personal contact with Jesus to the end.
A dedicated apostle, John was chosen by Jesus Christ to accompany Him on the ascent of Mt. Tabor, the scene of the historic Transfiguration, and where Jesus was proclaimed by God to be “his beloved son (Mark 9:2-3). John was also present when Jesus restored life back to Jarius’s daughter (Mark 5:37).
The “Divine Dozen” who served Jesus Christ as his apostles comprised a band of spiritual giants whose comparison to one another invites scarcely more than an embarrassment. But the sentimental favorite seems to be St. John the Evangelist and Theologian, the apostle who looked into the dying eyes of our crucified Lord on that dark day at Calvary and received the Messiah’s last request. An agonized John heard the final words from the Cross, entrusting to him the care of the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, who was uppermost in the thoughts of her Son in his last moments of earthly life (John 19.26).
John alone among the Apostles remained near Jesus at the foot of the cross on Calvary; following the instruction of Jesus from the Cross, John took Mary, the mother of Jesus, into his care as the last legacy of Jesus (John 19: 25-27).
After Jesus’ Ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, 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 (Acts 3:1) and he was also thrown into prison with Peter (Acts 4:3). He went with Peter to visit the newly converted believers in Samaria (Acts 8:14).
With his promise to Jesus for his Mother’s care fulfilled, St. John now turned his full attention to carrying the message of Jesus Christ to the spiritually darkened areas of the then known world, preaching throughout Asia Minor with a passion that won converts who formed a solid base for the New Faith. Unlike the other eleven apostles, all of whom were martyred in the name of Jesus Christ, John lived to an advanced age, escaping the fate of his brother evangelists.
This remarkable durability provided for one of the longest services on record in the cause of Christ, a service which carried over into the second century which establishes him as a record holder in conversions to Christianity. Some estimates have it that he was personally responsible for winning over some 400,000 pagans to Christianity, a staggering figure considering that his audiences could never have been at best a few hundred and most of the time a lot less.
Not even his uncle, St. Prophoros, who wrote about his nephew’s travels, could have envisioned such a protracted mission for the Messiah.
The Apostle John is the only one of the apostles generally thought to have died a natural death from old age. He was the leader of the church in the Ephesus area and is said to have taken care of Mary the mother of Jesus in his home.
During Domitian’s persecution in the middle 90’s, he was exiled to the island of Patmos. There he is credited with writing the last book of the New Testament–the Revelation. An early Latin tradition has him escaping unhurt after being cast into boiling oil at Rome. This tradition is not able to be verified by the bible.
We may not know exactly when and where Apostle John died but, what is more important is his life and the works he did and left. The Book of Revelations explains the second cumming of Christ and what would take place when he returns. We have to be ready my brothers and sisters because, His return is closer than we think.
God Bless,
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