John the Disciple

John’s name means “Yahweh has been gracious”.

John’s brother was James and the pair of them were famously named “sons of thunder.”¹ His mother was most likely Salome which can be deduced from Matthew 27:56 where it describes that “the mother of Zebedee’s sons” was at the foot of the cross while Mark 15:40 identifies one of the women as Salome. John 19:25 also mentions that the “Lord’s sister” was at the cross and does not include the name of Salome while the other records generally do. Salome could therefore have been the aunt of Jesus, making James and John his cousins.

His father was Zebedee and he was a fisherman like his brother and father.² He, along with his family, worked with another fisherman who would become a disciple: Peter³. The business seemed to be reasonably large as it also included hired servants.⁴

John’s most famous claim to fame was probably that he was the disciple “who Jesus loved”⁵ and although Jesus loved all of his disciples⁶ Jesus seemed to have a special place for John. In John 13 it records that John had the seat next to Jesus at the Last Supper where it says he was leaning on Jesus. As Jesus was dying on the cross, he commanded John that he was effectively to adopt his mother Mary in to his family, as Mary was to adopt him as her son.⁷

John was also included along with Peter and James in a number of events where only the three of them were present including:

• The resurrection of Jairus’ daughter⁸
• The Transfiguration⁹
• The Olivet Prophecy¹⁰
• Closer to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane¹¹

John wrote a significant portion of the new testament include:

• The Gospel of John
• Three epistles (1 John, 2 John , 3 John)
• He recevied a revelation from Jesus while on the island of Patmos that was recorded as the Book of Revelation

John appears to have been quite well connected. He was known to the High Priest and had some sway in his household despite being a disciple of Jesus¹².

The Personality of John

John, like his brother, appears to have been a very passionate person, at least initially. His nickname “Son of Thunder” suggest a fierce temperament which may have been inspired by the events recorded in Luke 9:54. Here Jesus sent messengers to a village of Samaritans who rejected him due to his destination of Jerusalem (the Samaritans objected to the worship in Jersualem, preferring Mount Gerizim.)¹³ When John and his brother James learnt of this, they ask whether they should call down fire on the village as Elijah destroyed the messengers from the evil king Ahaziah¹⁴. John (along with his mother and brother¹⁵) asked to be given the left and right hand seats of Jesus after he came into his glory¹⁶. Jesus rebuked them for this request and used the event to teach that true leadership is not the exercise of authority over others but in serving them¹⁷.

1. Mark 3:17 ↩︎
2. Matthew 4:21 ↩︎
3. Luke 5:10 ↩︎
4. Mark 1:20 ↩︎
5. John 21:7 ↩︎
6. John 13:1 ↩︎
7. John 19:26-27 ↩︎
8. Mark 5:37 ↩︎
9. Matthew 17:1 ↩︎
10. Mark 13:3 ↩︎
11. Mark 14:33 ↩︎
12. John 18:16 ↩︎
13. John 4:20 ↩︎
14. 2 Kings 1:10 ↩︎
15. Matthew 20:21 ↩︎
16. Mark 10:35-37 ↩︎
17. Matthew 20:27 ↩︎