Heather Willcockson Supporter

The short answer is yes. It is John the disciple of Jesus.

October 25 2013 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jack Croach Supporter

Authorship, date, and origin. The Gospel of John is anonymous. According to a Church tradition dating from the 2nd century, first attested by Irenaeus, the author was "the Disciple whom Jesus loved" mentioned in John 21:24, who is understood to be John son of Zebedee, one of Jesus' Twelve Apostles.
Gospel of John - Wikipedia
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1, 2, and 3 John | The Center for Biblical Studies
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Traditionally, the authorship of 1, 2, and 3 John has been ascribed to the apostle, John son of Zebedee, who also was understood to be the author of the Gospel of John and Revelation. Many contemporary biblical...

April 16 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jack Gutknecht Supporter Arizona Bible College graduate and Dallas Seminary graduate

He was St. John the Apostle, also called Saint John the Evangelist or Saint John the Divine. —Britannica

"He was surnamed by Christ as a son of 'Boanerges' because of his prophetic zeal and resolution to witness for Christ. Mark 3:17 --John and his brother James were termed ‘sons of thunder’ by the Master (Mark 3:17). 

“He sat next to Christ at the Last Supper, leaning on Jesus' chest John 13:23.

“From many references in the 4 gospels, the Acts and Revelation, the preacher can develop these traits in John’s character: his natural energy (Mark 3:17); his intolerance (Mark 9:38); his vindictiveness (Luke 9:54); his ambition (Mark 10:35-37); his eagerness to learn (John 13:23; I John 2:9); his sympathy (John 19:26); his love (1 John 4:7-21)." --Lockyer

(One of my favorite verses is 1 John 4:10, "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.")

According to Tertullian, John was banished (presumably to Patmos) after being plunged into boiling oil in Rome and suffering nothing from it. It is traditionally believed that John was the youngest of the apostles and survived them.

S. Michael Houdmann said, "The most plausible theory of John’s death states that John was arrested in Ephesus and faced martyrdom when his enemies threw him in a huge basin of boiling oil. However, according to the tradition, John was miraculously delivered from death. The authorities then sentenced John to slave labor in the mines of Patmos. On this island in the southern part of the Aegean Sea, John had a vision of Jesus Christ and wrote the prophetic book of Revelation. "

In my mind at least, I am convinced that among the Twelve Disciples, John was uniquely called the one Jesus loved. --See https://www.gotquestions.org/disciple-whom-Jesus-loved.html

"Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus (a.d. 189-198) stated that 'John, who also leaned on the Lord’s breast, who was a priest wearing a mitre and marter, witness and teacher, he sleeps at Ephesus' (cited in Euseb. Hist. III. xxxi. 3). Eusebius (c. a.d. 325) accepted and quoted this evidence as indicating John as author of the 'undoubted writings of this apostle.' He presents him as having lived to a very old age contemporary with the emperors Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan, and bishops Clement, Ignatius, and Simeon. This John he concludes, wrote the fourth gospel, 'read in all the churches under heaven' as an undoubted writing of the apostle. He adds that whereas the fourth gospel and the first epistle are undoubtedly the works of the apostle." --Encyclopedia of The Bible – THE APOSTLE JOHN

February 01 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

John Appelt Supporter

John the disciple has been rightly regarded as the author of the gospel bearing his name.

He had to be one of the twelve disciples, John 21:24. John 21:2 mentions “sons of Zebedee,” so John cannot be ruled out. Then, this specific disciple is the one whose future Peter asked about, John 21:18-23. Peter knew him as “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” the one leaning on Jesus. Peter had motioned to him to find out who would betray Jesus, John 13:23. 

The five-time phrase, “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” was John’s modest way of referring to himself. He does not give his name with this designation, as Judas or Nicodemus, Matthew 10:4, 27:3, Mark 3:19, John 7:50, 19:39. The reason is, he was known to the reader. 

John probably called himself that because he understood Jesus’ love for his disciples, John 13:1, and thus himself. Of the gospel writers, John reveals more about who Jesus was, especially His deity. He alone recorded the last discourse of Jesus, John 13-17. Knowing Him well, he readily recognized Jesus in John 21:7. His closeness had to be why he was one of the inner circle, Peter, James, and John, Mark 5:37, 9:2, 14:33, of which John modestly makes no mention.

Tradition says he was the youngest apostle who lived into his 90s, fitting Jesus’ prediction, John 21:20-23. Being called the brother of James, Matthew 4:21, 10:2, 17:1, suggests John was younger. Also, John may have been younger to outrun Peter to the tomb, John 20:4, but respectfully held back from going in. Then, Jesus entrusted the care of His mother to him while giving him to her as his mother, John 19:26, 27. This suggests his youth, his closeness to Jesus, and his ability to support, likely in a wealthy family as his father had hired men in their fish business, Mark 1:20.

In John 1:35-40, John wrote about Andrew and an unnamed disciple, disciples of John the Baptist, the first to follow Jesus. Peter, James, and John were business partners, Luke 5:8, so John may have been that disciple. Only John writes about this event as if he had witnessed it. He may be “another disciple,” John 18:15-16, well-known to the high priest due to his social standing. Note, the mother of the Zebedee brothers asked for a special favor for them, Matthew 20:20-23.

Some believe the gospel was written about AD 62. The three pastoral epistles of John came later, probably when he served the Lord in Ephesus. He identified himself as an elder befitting his age and leadership role. 

In about AD 96, John, as servant of the Lord, passed on the revelation entrusted to him, Revelation 1:1. Tradition places John on Patmos (Revelation 1:9) during Emperor Domitian’s reign (81-96), and released by Nerva (96-98).

The writings of the apostle John, the one mending nets, Matthew 4:21, would lead people to the Lord, set things straight in the family of God, and serve to encourage and build up the faith.

September 14 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report