Saint John the Beloved, Evangalist and Apostle.
Feast Day -- 4th Day of the Coptic Month of Tubah (3rd week of January): On this day, in the year 100 A.D., St. John, the Evangelist and the Apostle who was the son of Zebedee, departed. St. John Chrysostom said that St. John the Evangelist was originally a disciple of St. John the Baptist. He was the brother of St. James the Elder, who was killed by Herod by the sword. The Lord called both Sts. John and James, "Boanerges" (Mark 3:17), that is to say, "sons of thunder," for their strong zeal and great faith. He was also the disciple whom Jesus loved.
The lot fell on him to go to Asia after the Lord's Ascension. The people of Asia were stiff-necked, so he prayed to Christ to be with him. He went to Ephesus, accompanied by his disciple Prochorus. They embarked on a ship, but the ship was wrecked on the way and every one of the passengers clung to a plank of the ship's wood. The waves washed out Prochorus to an island, but St. John remained among the waves of the sea for several days, until the waves carried him to the same island where his disciple Prochorus was, by the will of God. When they met together, they offered thanks to God for taking care of them.
From there, St. John went to the city of Ephesus and he preached the word of salvation there. The people of Ephesus did not accept him at first, until the day when an only child of his mother fell in the furnace of a public bath managed by her. They got him out of the fire but he was dead and his mother wept bitterly. At this time, St. John went forward, prayed to God and crossed the child, breathed in the child's face, and life came back to him right away. His mother rejoiced and she kissed the feet of the apostle. From this moment on, the people of the city came to fear his teachings and many believed and were baptized by St. John. This stirred resentment by the pagan priests of the city who tried to kill him several times buy they could not, for the Lord protects all those who love Him. After a great effort and many hardships, St. John led them to the knowledge of God and ordained biships and priests for them.
From there, he went to other places in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) and converted many people to Faith in Christ. Saint John lived ninety years, and they used to carry him to the gatherings of the believers. They would lift him up because of his old age, with great crowds surrounding him and the Saint once lifted up would just say, "My children, love one another."
He wrote the Gospel that bears his name, the Fourth Gospel according to St. John, and the book of Revelation which describes what he had seen while exiled on the Island of Patmos in the Mediterranean See for being a preacher of Christianity. This revelation was one of divine mysteries, many of which have already taken place, while other parts thereof will still take place in the end days. St. John also wrote the three epistles known by his name. He was with the Lord Jesus Christ at the Transfiguration. He leaned (reclined) on the Lord's chest at the Last Supper. He asked the Lord, "who is one who shall betray You?" He was also standing near the cross with the Virgin St. Mary and when the Lord said to His mother, "Behold your son," and to St. John, "Behold your mother." He was the disciple whom St. Peter asked the Lord about (John 21), "And this one, what of him?" To which the Lord Jesus replied, "If I will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?"
When St. John felt that he was about to leave this world, he summoned the people and gave them the Body and the Blood of the Lord. He prached to them to be steadfast in their, then he departed from the City of Phaesus to a short distance. He comanded his disciple and others to dig a pit for him, and he went down and prayed and bade them farewell. He commanded them to return to the city and to tell the brethren to be steadfast in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, saying, "I am innocent of your blood, for I have never left any command of God that I haven't told you about, and now, let it be known that yo will never see my face again, and God will reward everone according to his deeds."
When he said that, they kissed his hand and his feet, and they left him and retruned to the city. When the people knew what had happened, they went out tot he place where the saint was, and they found that he had departed. They wept and were deeply sad. They talked about his miracles and marvelled about his meekness. In spite of the fact that he did not die by the sword, as the rest of the apostles did, he was equal to them in the heavenly glories.
May his holy blessings be with us all Amen.
A more detailed biography of the life of the Blessed St. John the Evangelist and his writings are below:
Little is known about the early life of St. John, except that his father was named Zebedee and he had a brother called James. St. John was one of the first disciles, being among those whom Jesus called by the Sea of Galilee. It is also possible that he was the unnamed companion of Andrew when he first followed Jesus (Jn. 1:35-37). That he was important in the little group around the Lord Jesus appears from the fact that he was one of the three who were especialliy close to the Master, who were selected to be with Him on some great occasions.
St. John is not mentioned by name in the fourth Gospel, but there are passages that refer to "the disciple Jesus Loved" (Jn. 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20). We are not told who this was, but the evidence seems to indicate that the apostle John is meant.
If St. John may be identified with the beloved disciple, we learn more about the apostle. We should not, of course, press the words as though they meant that Jesus did not love his other disciples. He loved them all. Yet St. John was indeed beloved, and also recognized that he owed all he had and all he was to that love. That he was specially close to Jesus is indicated by the fact that he leaned on Jesus' breast at the last supper (Jn. 13:23). It tells us something of his relationship to the Master that he ws there when the crucifixion took place, and that it was to him that Jesus gave charge to look after His mother (Jn. 19:26, 27). One would have expected that Jesus would have selected one of the family for this responsibility. The charge certainly shows that a close relationship existed between Jesus and the disciple He loved.
On the first Easter morning this disciple raced St. Peter to the tomb when St. Mary Magdalene told them it was empty. He won the race but stood outside the tomb until St. Peter came. St. John followed St. Peter in, and he "saw, and believed" (Jn. 20:8). In the next chapter we read of the beloved disciple on a fishing trip. It was he who recognized that it was Jesus who stood on the shore and told them where to cast the net (Jn. 21:7).
Such appears to be the New Testament portrait of St. John. Clearly he was an important figure in the little band of the early Christians. On almost every occasion on which he comes before us he is in the company of someone else, and usually the speaking is done by his companion, not St. John. But we may justly conclude that he stood very close to the Lord Jesus. Perhaps he had entered into the mind of the Lord Jesus more than any of the others had. The best evidence of this is the fourth Gospel. Clearly the man who wrote this had great spiritual insight. St. John may have been more the thinker than the man of action and the leader of men.
There is a tradition that St. John lived at Ephasus and died a very old man. The author of Revelation was on the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9), which is usually understood to mean that he had been exiled for his work as a preacher of the gospel. If this is so, he may well have died there. But there is little that such speculations can tell us. For the rest, we are dependent on what the writings associated with the apostle's name reveal about their author. We have seen reason for thinking that the fourth Gospel was written by St. John. The letters of St. John probably came from him also. Revelation claims to have been written by an author named John (Rev. 1:1, 2, 9).
Theology of St. John's Gospel — This Gospel opens with some statement about the Logos (Word) and goes on to say that the Logos became flesh and lived among us. It is not too much to say that the life and work of the incarnate Logos is what the fourth Gospel is all about. From start to finish St. John is concerned witht eh great divine actio of salvation, which Jesus Christ accomplished.
Christology: St. John speaks of the Lord Jesus as "the Savior of the World" (Jn 4:42), and his Gospel brings this out clearly. Indeed, he tells us that his purpose was to show that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, so that men might believe in him and have eternal life (Jn. 20:31). "Christ" is the transliteration of a Greek word meaning "anointed," just as "Messiah" transliterates the corresponding Hebrew word. Thus, "Christ," "Messiah," and "anointed" all mean the same thing. Certain important Old Testament people were anointed, notably kings, priests, and sometimes prophets. But the men of the Old Testament looked for a day when God would send not simply "an" anointed one but the anointed one (Ps. 455:6, 7; Is. 61:1, 2), someone who would do the will of God in a special way (Acts 10:38). By New Testament times this longing for the Messiah had increased, and St. John is able to tell his readers that the Lord Jesus is this long-expected one. Not only does he do this in set terms (Jn. 1:41; 4:25, 26), but he brings out the truth by drawing attention to aspects of the Lord's ministry that show Him to be the Messiah.