St. John
“Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light, that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.”
Collect, St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
Today, in the church’s calendar, we remember St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. In his Gospel, John recounts how he was introduced to Jesus (John 1:35-39). John, who would eventually become one of Jesus’s disciples, was first a disciple of the other John — John the Baptist.
When John the Baptist saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” John was standing next to John the Baptist as he proclaimed this. And that is all it took. From that moment, John began a lifelong journey of following Jesus, eventually taking on the title, “The Beloved Disciple.”
Five books of the Bible are ascribed to John: The Gospel of John, his three letters and the Book of Revelation. According to tradition, John spent his last years in Ephesus, and it is likely that the seven churches that he mentions in the Book of Revelation enjoyed his ministry.
John is perhaps best known for writing the “Fourth Gospel,” which is different from the rest. Whereas the other three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels, John’s Gospel stands apart in style in content. Additionally, John's Gospel is more explicit in highlighting Jesus’s divine nature. In fact, in the opening verse, John refers to Jesus as “God” (John 1:1).
John’s bold claim about Jesus’s divine nature is remarkable especially when one realizes that no one knew Jesus better than the “Beloved Disciple.”
John walked with Jesus. He ate meals with Him. He reclined on His chest. He stood by His cross. He entered His tomb. John experienced the fullness of Jesus’s humanity (the Jesus of history), and yet, boldly proclaimed that this man — a man with whom he was intimately acquainted — is God himself.
As we continue our journey through the Christmas season and we reflect upon God’s great gift to us in Jesus Christ, St. John reminds us that Jesus was not merely a man. But the one through whom “all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:3-5)
