Personality wise - Are you like the Apostle John, Peter or Paul?
But it’s hard for us to visualize John, so humble that in his Gospel he cannot bear to name himself. With quiet joy he refers obliquely to “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:7). We know that John was one of the inner circle along with his brother James, and with Peter. We know that at the Last Supper John found a place as close to Jesus as possible. But what else do we know about this quiet apostle? And what do we know about his writings?
John and His Writings
The man. When John and his brother James, the sons of Zebedee, began to follow Jesus, they were apparently quite young and passionate. Once the disciples were passing through Samaria on the way to Jerusalem. James and John went on ahead to find lodging in a village. When the Samaritans, who hated the Jews as much as they were hated, learned the party was traveling to Jerusalem, they refused them shelter. Furious, James and John confronted Jesus. “Lord,” they asked, “do You want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” (Luke 9:54) Their nickname was appropriate: “Thunderers.”
Another time the disciples saw a man driving out demons in Jesus’ name, but the man was not one of their company. “We told him to stop,” John reported, “because he was not one of us” (Mark 9:38). John was again corrected by Jesus because his zeal had missed the spirit of his Master.
A final Gospel incident (Matt. 20:20–28) completes John’s portrait. He and his brother whisper privately to their mother. Shortly she approaches Jesus. Could the places of authority at Jesus’ right and left hand be reserved for her sons when the Lord takes power in His kingdom? Jesus explained to the mother and to the two sons that He did not have the authority to grant such a request. Later the other disciples heard of the pair’s attempt to gain advantage, and reacted with understandable anger. Then Jesus explained to the Twelve that greatness in His kingdom is not found in authority but in servanthood: a servanthood far removed from the self-concerned attitude of James and John.
We can understand John; we’ve all known (and possibly been) such firebrands. We understand his quickness to take offense and the anger that urged him to strike back. We understand the pride that held others at arm’s length. We understand the drive to succeed, the hunger to be somebody and gain a high place even at the expense of friends. We understand all this because these are the motivating passions (epithumia) in our world. These are the desires that the New Testament encourages us to replace with a set of values summed up in the concept of holiness. Yes, we understand young John only too well. He is so much like us!
But when we come to John’s writings, we meet a different man. We meet a man whose favorite word was love, a man who was gentle, so selfless that he hardly mentioned himself or his feelings, except as they related to the needs of the men and women to whom he ministered. We meet a man who was transformed, who demonstrated in his own personality the Bible promise that we can be changed by beholding Jesus (2 Cor. 3:12).
John emphasized the love Jesus had for him even in the days before he matured; thus he calls himself, “The disciple whom Jesus loved.” What a message for you and me. Jesus loves and accepts us, no matter what our stage of growth. Jesus’ new life will grow within us and, as John, we will become more and more like our Lord.
John’s writings. John’s epistles were probably written from Ephesus and circulated in the churches in Asia. They were immediately accepted by the whole church: we even have evidence of an exegesis (study and explanation) of John’s Gospel from as early as A.D. 150.
Like Peter and Jude, John counseled the church about dangers from within. He warned against antichrists who were trying to lead believers astray. Like the others, John identified the spirit of antichrist with the denial that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (1 John 4:2). The person of Jesus is the central doctrinal truth, and a relationship with Him, who is God, is the irreplaceable essence of our Christian experience. He also reminds us that sin by any name is the devil’s work: we are not to be moved by appeals to our passions.
Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The teacher’s commentary (pp. 1047–1048). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
