The Disciple That Jesus Loved?

Jesus affectionately called John a “son of thunder”, perhaps reflecting a fiery and impetuous nature.   But John referred to himself in his gospel somewhat mysteriously as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” - why?

Modesty?  Incase he draw attention to himself rather than Jesus?  Ironically the idiosyncrasy of it may have had the opposite effect!  But this still doesn’t explain the specific self-titling. 

Boasting? Even though John was once guilty of trying to gain closer proximity to the Lord in an age to come, we can quickly discount the theory that there was any sense of superiority behind it – that Jesus in fact loved him any more than the other disciples, or even that John felt that to be the case.  John recorded that Jesus loved Lazarus even enough to cry at his funeral, without any hint of jealousy.

Here are two suggestions:

John’s self definition! Others might define themselves by race, gender, office, wealth or age – but not John.  One could almost imagine the words being the simple epitaph on his headstone – in his mind they summed his whole life up quite perfectly.

John’s testimony! Based on his own very personal experience.  John is rarely away from the Lord’s presence in the Gospel record and so he experienced that love directly and first-hand (see 1 John 1).  It was clearly a two-way process – and so Jesus knew at the cross that John was the best candidate to love and care for his mother after His death despite his younger brother being the normal default option.

You cannot miss how love is so absolutely paramount in John’s epistles, far more so than in the letters of either Peter or Paul.  John writes in the gospel that:

·         God is a God of love

·         that God loved His Son

·         that God loved Christ's disciples

·         that God loves the world

·         that God is loved by Christ

·         that Christ loved the disciples in general

·         that Christ loved them as individuals

·         that Christ expected men to love Him

·         that Christ taught that we should love one another  

·         love is the fulfilling of the whole law.

His writings add a critical component to our understanding of Jesus Christ and the nature and basis of our relationship with Him and with His Father, and the relationship between the two of them.  I recommend a detailed study of it.

John’s exposition of the pre-incarnate Word in John 1 and revelation of the apocalyptic warrior in Revelation 1 are theologically very important.  And one might think that having so much love might cause him to be a bit loosey goosey on truth and doctrine – but no!

For in the gospel of John you see this unwavering regard for the truth. Everything with John is absolute:

·         there is light and darkness in the gospel

·         There is life and death,

·         there's the Kingdom of God, and there's the kingdom of the devil

·         There are the children of God and there are the children of the devil.

·         There's the judgment of the righteous and there's the judgment of the wicked.

·         There is salvation and there is damnation.

·         There is receiving Christ and rejecting Christ.

·         There is a vine and it has some branches with fruit and some with no fruit.

·         There is obedience to His commands and there is disobedience to His commands.

And that's the way it's always portrayed by John. And when you get to the epistles, it's the same thing:

·         There are those who are in the light, and those who are in the darkness

·         There are those who confess their sin and those who deny their sin

·         There are those who are disobedient to Christ and those who are obedient to Him

·         There are those who love others and those who don't

·         those who love God and those who don't

·         those who are righteous and those who are sinful

·         those who keep the commandments and those who don't

·         those who believe and those who don't.

Despite all this very clear thinking, more stunning yet perhaps is the thought that John clearly made a connection with the Lord on an emotional level.  As a whole, John’s legacy reminds us of the vital combination of emotion and reason, of head and heart knowledge. 

John’s perspective should challenge all of us: What defines us and how can our lives be summed up?  What is our testimony that we share explicitly and implicitly with everyone we meet? Can we truly say to ourselves that we are a disciple whom Jesus loves, and loves Jesus?