Hall of Faith: John, the Faithful

In looking at those in the New Testament who belong in the Hall of Faith, one would think

Jesus calls his disciples

of the Apostle John.

In the Gospel of John, he is referred to as the “Beloved disciple” or the “disciple whom Jesus loved”.

He is first introduced in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke as “ he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.” {Matthew 4:21}

So, John and his brother, James, left their father, Zebedee in the boat to follow Jesus. When he was called, the brothers were fishermen {same as Andrew and Simon Peter}.

John, James and Peter were part of Jesus inner circle

John was part of Jesus inner circle, along with Peter and James. “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart.” {Matthew 17:1}. Time after time, Jesus took these three men with him to pray or into his inner sanctum. These three men were the only disciple with Jesus when he raised the daughter of Jarius from the grave. {Mark 5:21–43, Matthew 9:18–26, Luke 8:40–56}

In Mark 3:17 we are told “James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them Jesus gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”).” When the Samaritans refused to receive Jesus, John and James wanted to call thunder down on them, but Jesus would not allow it. {Luke 9:51-56}

When Jesus entered Jerusalem for Passover, he sent Peter and John to prepare the

Peter and John prepared the last supper

Passover meal. “So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.” {Luke 22:8}

During the Passover meal, “ One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him.” {John 13:23} Later that evening, when they went into the Garden of Gethsemane for prayer, Peter, John and James went with Jesus to prayer. “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.” {Matthew 26:36-37}

John was with the women at the crucifixion

At the crucifixion of Jesus, John is the only apostle mentioned as being present when he was crucified. Jesus entrusted John with the care of his mom. Jesus greatly trusted this disciple to turn over the care of his mother to him. “Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.” {John 19:25-27}

When Mary Magdalene came with the news that Jesus had risen from the grave, Peter and John were the only two that ran to the grave. John only went into the tomb after Peter entered. {John 20:1-10}

John and Peter were among those there with Jesus ascended into heaven. John is listed second, directly after Peter, in the list of those gathered to wait for the Holy Spirit. {Acts

The disciples at the ascension

1:13}

After Pentecost, John, along with Peter, takes a major part in the founding and guidance of the Christian church. John was with Peter when a lame man was healed at the temple. {Acts 3:1}. John and Peter were thrown into jail {Acts 4:3} and went to Samaria to convert new believers {Acts 8:14}.

Paul explicitly recalled that at the Apostolic Council in 51AD, Peter, John and James the Just were considered “pillars of the church”. {Galatians 2:9}

John and Peter were arrested for preaching the faith

John traveled and shared the gospel. He went on to write the three epistles that we know as 1 John, 2 John and 3 John {although some scholars believe another person named John wrote the latter two}.

John was eventually imprisoned on the island of Patmos, which is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea.

While on the island of Patmos, John had a vision, which resulted in the writing of Revelation. This book is to prepare us for the return of Christ.

When Jesus asked Peter “Lovest Thou Me”, the conversation ends by Jesus saying {in reference to John}, ““If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!”  {John 21:22}

Many commentators reference the fact that John was given the vision of the end days by saying that he did remain to see Jesus return. And through his visions he did.

Peter and John continued preaching and sharing the word

However, John was the last of the disciples and apostles to die. He is also considered the only one among the twelve disciples to die a natural death.

So, what can we learn from John?

  1. He grew from a fisherman to church leader {God can use anyone}

  2. He could have a thunderous nature when angered

  3. He was in Jesus inner circle

  4. He willingly left everything to follow Jesus

  5. He was the only one to remain when Jesus was crucified

  6. Jesus entrusted him enough to give him the care of Mary, the Mother of Jesus

  7. He was only one of two that ran to see the empty grave

  8. He became a founder and leader of the church

Peter and John continued sharing the word and sent out many to share the word in other areas

  1. He saw a vision of the Second Coming of Jesus {and provided it to prepare the rest of mankind}

  2. He outlived all of the other disciples {could this be because he was the only one present at the crucifixion?}

John referred to himself as the beloved disciple. But what we do know for sure is that he was one of the first disciples Jesus called, remained faithful to Jesus when he was on earth and afterward, witnessed events still to unfold and was rewarded for his faith by outliving all of the other disciples.

John remained faithful regardless of the circumstances and was rewarded by God for his faithfulness.

Would you remain faithful regardless of the circumstances?

 

 

John remained faithful through some very difficult circumstances #HallofFaith Share on X

*Images courtesy of FreeBibleImages.org

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