St. John, the Beloved Disciple, Apostle (Remembrance Day December 27)

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life...that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you may also have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His son Jesus Christ." I John 1:1-3

Disputes over doctrine often form the battleground for denominational religion. Doctrine is important in that it tells us what lies within the Kingdom of God, and what lies outside of its realm. But that makes it more like the fence that surrounds the pasture of the Lord; it is not the pasture itself in which the daily Christian life grows and prospers. Once we are within that pasture, it matters not so much what we believe, as Who it is that we believe in. Life within the pasture is based on relationship to Jesus Christ, and it is devotion, not doctrine, that is the better measure of life within the kingdom. Christ's rebuke of the Ephesian church in Revelation 2:4 is that "you have left your first love." Purity of devotion is never intended to be sacrificed in order to attain purity of doctrine. We are not meant to spend our lives being fence-menders. Our fences of doctrine have been established by the ancient Church since its beginning; it's time to live out the liberty by which Christ has set us free. In every age of the Church there have been those who have possessed an inner delight at having an intimate relationship with their Lord. They have "chosen that good part which will not be taken away from [them]" (John 10:42), that contentment of spirit which comes from sitting at the feet of the Lord. Such a man was John, both an apostle and an evangelist, but better remembered as that "disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 20:2).

John was the son of Zebedee and brother of James the Greater (Matthew 4:21-22). Since he is always mentioned after James in any listing of the two brothers, commentators have concluded that John was the younger of the two. Although he is portrayed in the synoptic gospels as a fisherman, we also know from his own gospel that he was a disciple of John the Baptist (John 1:34-40), one of two to which John the Baptist declared "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" as he sent them to follow this new Teacher come from heaven. What we see portrayed of John in the gospels is a man deeply in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, a man whose devotion grows daily as he is accounted worthy of love and trust by the Lord. Consider these Scriptures. John was one of the three (along with Peter and James) who was present at the raising of Jairus' daughter (Luke 8:51), who was on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:1), who was present at the Lord's agony in prayer in the garden (Matthew 26:37). He and Peter were sent into Jerusalem to prepare the Lord's final passover meal with His disciples (Luke 22:8), during which he sat at the Lord's side leaning back on His chest (John 13:23-25). He was present at the Lord's trial before the Sanhedrin (John 18:15-16), and when it appears that all other of the disciples deserted Jesus for fear of their lives, John stood at the base of His cross and received the mother of Jesus into his care (John 19:25-27). It is no wonder, therefore, that he was one of the first disciples to run to the Lord's grave on Resurrection Day after the news of Mary Magdalene reached them, and was the first disciple to believe that Christ was alive once more (John 20:2-10).

Because of Jesus' words to Peter recorded in John 21:20-23 the rumor was started that John would not see death. What we know of his later life is taken from both scripture and church tradition. We know that he remained in Palestine until Herod's persecution (compare Acts 8:1-2 and 12:1-2). Church tradition tells us that some time after that John went to minister to the churches in Asia Minor which had been started through the ministry of Paul. It is probable that he returned in A.D. 51 with the rest of the apostles for the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-6). Paul referred to John as one of the pillars of the Church (Galatians 2:9), and it is doubtful that he would have been absent from such a gathering. At some time in his mission work, he was arraigned before the Romans for his faith, and tradition tells us that he was immersed into a cauldron of boiling oil, from which he was miraculously delivered. He was subsequently banished to Patmos under the reign of the emperor Domitian (A.D. 81 to 96) and it was on that island that he received the book of Revelation (Revelation 1:9). After Domitian's death, John returned from exile and settled at Ephesus (Jerusalem had been besieged and destroyed by the Romans some 25 years earlier). There are several sources which confirm this. Justin Martyr, writing from Ephesus in the early second century, mentions in the Dialogue with Trypho (Chapter LXXXI) that "there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ..." And Irenaeus, writing in the same era in Against Heresies (Book III, Chapter I Section 1) states that "John, the disciple of the Lord...did himself publish a gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia." According to church records, John died in A.D. 100 at Ephesus, bringing to an end the apostolic age. He was succeeded by his most famous disciple, Polycarp, but that is another story.

His gospel differs from the other three in its nature, with the same difference which devotion has when compared to doctrine. In the three synoptic gospels we have an account of all that Jesus did and taught (as Luke tells us in Acts 1:1). But in John we see the revelation of the person of Jesus Christ, at least insofar as his words were able to communicate that person. Consider the pictures which John paints to describe Him "who dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory..." (John 1:14). To John, Jesus was The Word of God (John 1:1), the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the Second Birth (John 3:1-17), the Living Water (John 4:13-14 & John 7:37-39), the Messiah (John 4:23-26), the Fulfillment of Scripture (John 5:39), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), the Light of the World (John 8:12), the True Liberty (John 8:32,36), the Door of the Sheepfold (John 10:7), the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), the Way, Truth and Life (John 14:6), the Humble Servant (John 13:12-17), the True Vine (John 15:1), the Giver of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22-23), the Son of God (John 20:30-31). These are a few of the images of one who knew Jesus, not knew about Him; it is the perspective born of devotion, not doctrine. One last thing can be mentioned of John to further bear this out. The Church has ascribed to him two symbols of his ministry. The first is the eagle which speaks of the heavenly heights which are portrayed in his gospel. The second is the chalice which Jesus told him he would drink of in Matthew 20:23 after his mother asked preference for him and his brother. This speaks of a deep, heart relationship, a "fellowship" as John puts it in our opening scripture, which is "with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." This is the good part which John sought from His Master which is now his eternally to enjoy. May we never confuse our practice of religion with only the mastery of doctrine. It is the depth of relationship to Jesus Christ that we are to seek so that the words of our Lord in John 17:22-24 might be fulfilled for us as they were for John; "...that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in unity, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."

St. John the Baptizer (Remembrance Day June 24)

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness; prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth; the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Isaiah 40: 3-5

There is a saying in modern evangelical witnessing that "God has a wonderful plan for your life." It's certainly a scriptural exclamation, for it says in Ezekiel 33:11 "Say to them, 'As I live' says the Lord God, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.'" And again in Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." But there's the catch, called according to His purpose. God's plan for your life is intended to be His plan, not yours. All too often, however, the Christian life is viewed as nothing more than the sanctified version of what was once a secular life-style. But sanctified means holy, and holy means consecrated or set apart to some purpose. What is that purpose? It is His purpose. To be called by God means to be set apart expressly and without reservation for His will to be done. Said another way, our lives are no longer our own, for if any part remains our own, that part is withheld from God and becomes darkness within us (see Matthew 6:22-23). It is unfortunate that such lives which are sold out completely for the Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom are rare within the modern Church today. Yet in every age God has maintained the remnant of His own special people who are not ashamed of the gospel; those saints whose every breath is a prayer that the fullness of the Lord's Kingdom might be made manifest to their world; those who have yielded up their earthly life for divine purposes. Such a man was John the Baptist.

This we know of John's lineage. According to Luke 1:5-6 his father was Zecharias, a priest of the course of Abia, and his mother was Elizabeth of the daughters of Aaron and the cousin of Mary. And of them it records simply that "they were both righteous before God, walking..... blameless." John's birth had been foretold as the last words of the Old Testament given by God to His people. In Malachi 4:4-6 it says that "I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers...." We know this to be prophetic because of the interpretation brought by Jesus Himself in Matthew 11:7-15 or Matthew 17:10-13. That his birth was something special in the plan of God we know because it was announced to his father by the angel Gabriel in Luke 1:8-23, which also points to Malachi. Of the baby, Gabriel simply says "many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord...he will also be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God."

At his circumcision his name was declared to be John, which means "Yahweh hath mercy." When his father's tongue was loosed in prophetic praise the people were fearful and asked "What kind of child will this be?" Zecharias' prophecy left little doubt. "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for He has visited and redeemed His people....and you child will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways." (Luke 1:67-80) The rest of John's youth was spent "in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel." Far from the clamor of the world, he allowed God to mold his life according to His word. As we said earlier, there was 400 years of prophetic silence after the prophet Malachi until "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Casesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness..." (Luke 3) To those lacking direction his message was to the point "Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:2). To those seeking the consolation of Israel his message was hope "There comes One after me who...will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:7-8) To those of faith his message was prophetic "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." (John 1:29-30) To the hypocrites and scoffers his message cut like a sword "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Luke 3:7) But none who came humbly and sincerely were ever turned away from the waters of his baptism.

He was hailed as a rabbi, revered as a holy man, sought out by "Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan." (Matthew 3:5). But he refused to be exalted, disclaiming any of the rightful honors that had been given him by God. (John 1:19-28). His own words sum up the vision he carried within himself; "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.....He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:2-36) He was the friend of the bridegroom and to behold the bridegroom coming to earth to gather up His bride was joy fulfilled for his desert-tried heart. His birth was prophesied and proclaimed by angels....compare that with his death at the hand of Herod, his life-blood poured out as payment of Herod's lust for a dancing girl. (Mark 6:14-29). Yet such was God's plan. His eulogy was given prophetically by the Lord while John was yet in prison in Matthew 11:1-15. "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?...a prophet? Yes I say to you and more than a prophet....assuredly I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist...."

So now we ask; when we consider his life, what do we see? A reed shaken by the wind? No, we see a man with clarity of vision to whom the winds of politics or apostate religion mean nothing, one who moves only on the wind of the Holy Spirit. A man clothed in soft garments? No, we see a man whose heart was free from any hold which worldliness or honor could set upon him, one who was fully a bondservant of the Lord. But do we see a prophet? That is the key question. For in John the Baptist we must see that life which we talked about earlier, one which is totally set apart for God's purposes, and totally spent in His service. That is the word of God which comes forth from the wilderness and shakes the halls of politics and religion to their very root. That is what our lives are intended to be. And consider this in closing. John's message was compelling "...bear fruits worthy of repentance...even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (Luke 3:8-9) How much more pressing must our cry be now that we are that much closer to the end of the age and even now the ax is being raised for the cutting stroke. And when it falls, the door to mercy is closed, and the door to eternal judgment opens. Our prayer must be, “Put your word in us, O' Lord, to bring deliverance to this generation of souls.”