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| Andrew | James | John | Jude Thaddeus | Peter | Phillip | Thomas (todo) | Simon the Zealot |
| Matthew (todo) | Jude (todo) | Judas (todo) | Bartholomew (todo) | Mary | Joseph | Nathaniel (todo) |
The most “beloved” apostle is John Zebedee, brother of James. As the apostle that Jesus loved most, which gave him special status among the apostles: he was the only apostle who didn’t deny knowing Jesus, the only apostle present at certain miracles, and the only apostle to stand at the cross. His dedication was rewarded in many ways: Jesus entrusted his mother to John’s care (chosen above Jesus own brothers), revealed to John that Judas Iscariot was the betrayer, revealed all the knowledge of heaven and earth to him, Peter and James and lived to a peaceful old age of one hundred. He was present at the last words of Jesus on the cross, and presents us with the last book in the Bible: Revelation.
Being called to serve at twenty-five, John went through a transformation of character. Early on he was very hot tempered. According to Luke’s gospel the Samaritans were disrespectful to Jesus which greatly upset the Zebedee sons. They asked if Jesus would permit them to command “heavenly fire” to destroy the Samaritans. After the resurrection John’s temper gave way to patience and gentleness as the traditions will show.
Tradition says that he never married remaining virgin all his life. The early Christian writers certainly didn’t miss this point, they noted the fact that John was chosen by Jesus to care for the Virgin Mary, and lived to a respectful old age as a sign that believers should not marry. John himself had nothing to say that would indicate that being celibate was a desirable trait. [check]
In addition to being the most “belolved” of the apostles, John had a personal relation with the high priests which adds a new angle of understanding what Jerusalem was like in that time. According to the gospel, John was able to make use of his friendship with Caiphas so that Peter could enter the courts to learn Jesus’ fate. According to the fourteenth century writer Nicephorus Calixtus, John sold a property previously owned by his parents to Annas, the father in law to Caiphas.
After working with Peter in Jerusalem he went onto Greece where he founded many churches (but returned to Jerusalem in 50AD and 62AD to attend the Apostolic Synods). It was John’s style to select one of his converts and place them in charge of the new church, rather than personally overseeing the church. Not all of his appointments went well. John was on a ministry of the churches in lesser Asia (Turkey, Syria) when he came across a young man who he felt would be a respectable addition to the church. He brought the man to the bishop that John had previously appointed. “In front of Christ and the church I strongly recommend that you take this man into your care”. The bishop accepted his duty and assured John that he would carry out John’s request. “Bishop, I strongly recommend that you take this man into your full care” John said again to the entire church before leaving.
The bishop invited the man to come live in his house and was taught by the bishop. With time he was baptized and eventually confirmed as a member of the congregation. The bishop was pleased with the progress of the man and lessened his focus on the man. Seeing their chance to make a fool of the bishop a group of hoodlums took interest in the man. He was seduced into mischief making, debauchery and then thievery with the gang of hoodlums. He quickly became the most ruthless of the gang and led a band of highway robbers.
Some time later John was passing through the area again, and stopped in to check in on the man. He met with the bishop saying “Restore to me the trust which Jesus and I gave to you in this church”.
“Trust? You didn’t entrust me with any monies” replied the confused bishop.
“The man I entrusted you with, his soul. Bring back the soul that I trusted you with”
The bishop was quite upset, “no no I can’t do that. He is dead.”
“Dead? Really? How then did he die?”
“He has died to God, has become a robber and instead of being with us in the church, he hides in the mountains with his hoodlums”
John grabbed his own clothes and ripped them, crying out “What have I done? What sort of guardian have I provided to a brother’s soul” not waiting for a reply John continued “Get me a horse!”
He immediately went to the hills where the robbers were known to hide. He was taken prisoner, surrendering without incident by the henchmen of the gang. They brought the old and weak John to the leader, who seeing John became ashamed and ran off into the hills.
John yelled out “Child! Child why are you running away from me? Why are you running from your father? I am unarmed, and I am old! Son, wait. There is always room for forgiveness; your salvation is not irrevocable. Listen to me. I am willing to lie down and die you, just as Jesus did for all of us! I will pledge my soul for yours. Stop! Believe me, I have been personally sent by Jesus to bring you home”
He stopped running, looked into John’s eyes, then broke down. John hobbled up to him and took the man in his arms with tears. The man had the tattoo of his hang of right hand that he wouldn’t show to John hiding it behind his back. Noticing the reluctance to embrace him John reached around to the right hand, looked at the tattoo and said “You are truly forgiven, its OK now, its all over” kissing his tattoo to showing his complete acceptance. The story concludes that the nameless man remained happily within the church.
Thomas Aquinas tells a story about John in his Summa Theological. As the story goes some people came across John playfully wrestling with his followers. He looked up at the visitors and spoke to the one carrying a bow “Shoot an arrow for me – hit anything, that tree over there is fine.”
The visitor strung an arrow and shot it.
“Can you do that again?”
“Of course.” And he did.
“Again? And again? Repeatedly – over and over”
“You mean keep shooting the arrows without stopping?” asked the perplexed bowman.
“Yes. Without stopping. Can you do that?”
“No, of course not – the bow would snap”
John smiled a big grin, “Yes, that is how our spirit is. It would break if we, ourselves, didn’t relax the tension. In daily life, games and pranks allow our spirit to rest. We must know how to pause, and that is the role of games”
On one of his journeys to Greece a fierce storm capsized the ship, all the passengers managed to make it to shore – except John. Two weeks later, his disciple Prochoros was looking for his body along the ocean when he stumbled across the very much alive John. This was the first misfortune of the sea for John, later on a different journey the boat was swept far out to the sea, taking the boat days off course without sufficient water. John changed jugs of the toxic salt water into fresh water.
Most of John’s tradition takes place in Ephesus. At the time Ephesus was known as the […]. John made Ephesus his home base, traveling to and from the city throughout his life. The city was known for its Temple of Artemus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This temple was the most beautiful building in the Roman world, made from marble and gilded with gold there was no comparison to its beauty. It was built at the harbor’s edge so that anyone sailing into Ephesus would be impressed; many ancient writers took note of it. The temple was used to worship the deity Diana […]
John was not pleased with this. One story says that he went to the temple to preach against pagan worship. The worshipers were furious with him and started throwing rocks at John, after making the sign of the cross; the rocks were reflected back at the throwers. ot persuaded, John continued his preaching at the temple. A demon that haunted the temple for 249 years challenged him, but was exorcized. Still, the worshipers were not convinced. They dragged him inside and forced a challenge on him:
“If your” […]
Figure 12 - Remains of the Temple of Artemus
Word of John’s success in Ephesus caught the attention of the Emperor Domitian, who in 95AD had John arrested and brought to Rome. Soldiers were dispatched to Ephesus and scoured the city looking for him. They came to John’s residence and asked the haggard old man doing yard work where they could find his master John.
“I am he” replied the old man.
“Stop old man, we don’t have time for lies and trickery. Where is John, if you do not tell us truthfully then we will arrest you as well.”
“But, I am he. I am John, the one you are looking for.” The neighbors who heard the commotion came outside. “Hey John, what’s the problem?” called out the neighbor.
“See?”
The soldiers told John to gather his things, he was going to Rome. He looked over himself, grabbed a few date-fruits and said “Ok, let’s go”
The next morning the soldier woke John, “Come on, get up. Hey, cheer up, come have breakfast with us.”
“Oh, I’m happy in my soul for sure, but I’ll pass for now”. For a week he wouldn’t eat, and they were worried he would die before arriving in Rome. On the seventh day of their travel they arrived in Rome. The soldiers immediately brought John to the Emperor, the bowed and spoke:
“Worshipful Caesar! As commanded we bring John the Jew from Ephesus to you, a god, not merely a man. We swear that from the hour we arrested him, until now he has not even tasted bread or meat.”
Domitian smiled and raised his hand to his lips saluting John with a kiss, but, John leaned forward and kissed Domitian above his heart. “Why did you do that?! You didn’t think that I, Caesar Domtian, was worthy enough to kiss the likes of you?”
“Its right to adore the hand of God first f all, and in this way kiss the mouth of the king. So it is written in the holy books ‘The heart of a king is in the hand of God[1]’”
Domitian looked him over, “Tell me, are you John the one who said my kingdom would soon be overturned? And that some other king, this Jesus, would replace me?”
“Oh Caesar, you will reign for many years, as given by God. After you there will be many others. When the times of the earth have been fulfilled, out of heaven will come an eternal King. He will be true, the judge of the living and of the dead, to who every nation will bow, through who every earthly kingdom will be brought to nothing. This is the mighty Lord and King of everything that has breath and flesh, the Word, and Son of the living one, this is the Jesus that I speak of.”
Skeptically Domtian questioned “What is your proof? I am not persuaded by words only; words are a sight of the unseen. What can you show, in heaven or on earth, by the power of this king yet to come? Shouldn’t be a problem to show a little proof since he is the Son of God”
“Bring me a cup of poison and I will show you” when a cup was brought John prayed out loud, “In the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God, I drink from the cup which you have made sweet. Mix this poison with the Holy Spirit and make it a fountain of life and of salvation. Make it for healing of soul and body. Make it for digestion and growth, for faith not to be turned from. Make it an undeniable testimony of death as the cup of thanksgiving!” Finished speaking, John drank from the cup.
Domitian waited quietly for John to fall into convulsions and die, but John stood calmly talking about Jesus. Showing no signs of the poison, Domitian thought the servants had betrayed him and was going to execute them. “Don’t take it so bad Caesar,” said John, “in fact make it a test and see the power of this poison. Choose a condemned man and make him drink what is left”
A condemned man was brought and made to drink the remains. He immediately fell down convulsing, dying within minutes. The people in the court were amazed and fell into a shocked silence.
“O Caesar, was it your clever plan that I might me made into a murderer today? What should we do with him”, pointing to the dead man. “Guards, throw him away with the trash” Domitian ordered.
John walked to the dead man, leaned over him and prayed out loud “O God, maker of the heavens, master of the angels, of glories, of powers in the name of Jesus Christ, your only begotten Son, give to this man who has died a renewal of life.”, John reached down and took the man’s hand, “Restore to him his soul so that Domitian may learn that the Word is much more powerful than poison and it alone is ruler of life”. The man was revived and stood.
The Emperor thought for some time, then spoke “I have made it law that all of your kind should be arrested and imprisoned without the waste of a trial. You are to be executed immediately.”
John looked at the revived man, “He is free to go?”
Domitian gave a dismissive wave of the hand, “Yes yes, I already ordered him to be thrown out with the trash.”
John spoke to the man “Go now, give thanks to God, who has delivered you from prison and death today”
The trial wasn’t much of a trial; John was humiliated and sentenced to die in a pot of boiling oil. Calmly John went to face his execution praying as he was brought before the pot. The soldiers tied him, lifted him up, and threw him into the oil. Expecting to hear shrieks of agony, they only heard his prayers. The soldiers pulled him out and reported the miracle to Domitian. Convinced that John was a sorcerer, Domitian exiled him to the island Patmos.
Figure 13 - Prochoros Scribing for John
John spent his exile in prayer. For two years he often fasted, prayed and taught his disciples. After praying and fasting for three days straight John summoned his disciple Prochoros to write down John’s words. When they finished, Prochoros presented The Gospel of John to the world. Later John fell into a twenty day prayer and fast. At the end of the preparation, Prochoros was called again to receive his dictation. Prochoros was given the text to Revelation.
Two years later Domitian died and the Senate declared that all Domition’s punishments for Christianity were illegal, and that all sentences were commuted. John was freed from Patmos and returned to his home town of Ephesus.
By now John was in his late nineties, weak, and unable to get around unless he was carried by his disciples. When John was carried through the town he always told people “My dear children – love one another!” Finally, after hearing this all the time, the disciples asked him “Master, why do you always say that?”
“Because is it the teaching of the Lord, and if you do that, you do enough”
John knew the end was coming soon, and called the disciples to him. “Prepare my grave, my time is coming” The disciples went to the church and spent a week digging a grave in front of the altar. On the next service, John was carried into the church and made his final service to the church. During the service he told the people to take care for each other.
“My time is here.” He stood in front of the tomb, took off all his clothes except his underwear. He prayed out loud giving thanks for being called as an apostle then stepped into the tomb. A blazing light shot up from the grave into the heavens. The people came over to the tomb to see what had happened. In the tomb only his sandals and clothes remained.
The church was expanded over the ages. The church is a short distance from the Temple of Artemus which provided a convenient and ready supply of marble and columns, the Seventh Wonder of the World became the building supply for the tomb of one of the Twelve Apostles. Pilgrims to the site claimed that the dust from John’s tomb would cure diseases, making John’s tomb a famous pilgrimage site in Turkey. The church of St John stood for centuries, but was destroyed in the 1300s during the Islamic conquest.
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