One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. [John 13:23 (NIV)]
While Matthew, Mark, and Luke mention the Apostle John several times in their gospels, the gospel that bears John’s name doesn’t mention his name once. Instead, the author refers to an unnamed witness and a disciple described only as the one “whom Jesus loved.” Since John is conspicuously absent from his gospel, it would seem that he was both the witness and this much loved disciple.
While the gospel of John may have been written any time between 55 and 95 AD (with 80 to 85 AD most likely), there isn’t much dispute about its author. We might wonder why the Apostle hid himself in the gospel by referring to himself simply as another unnamed disciple or as that specially loved one. John may have chosen to remain incognito simply because he knew the good news wasn’t about him and his relationship with a man named Jesus. It was about the Messiah Jesus and His relationship with mankind. By remaining nameless, the story stayed centered on Jesus as opposed to its author.
But why would John choose to designate this unnamed disciple as especially beloved by Jesus? Did he want to point out (possibly even flaunt) the special relationship he enjoyed with Christ—a relationship not enjoyed by the other disciples? In a gospel filled with examples of Christ’s love, integrity, righteousness, humility, and sacrifice, a Messiah who blatantly favored one over others seems unlikely and a disciple who would boast of his special status seems equally implausible.
Perhaps John was simply engaging some word play. In Hebrew, the disciple’s name was Johanan. The first part of his name was Yah, a shortened version of YHWH, the name of the Lord. The last part was from the verb hanan which meant to be gracious. John’s name literally meant Yahweh is Gracious (or the one whom Jehovah loves)!
The five times this nameless disciple is mentioned as being so loved by Jesus all occur during the events surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection—a time it became abundantly clear to all of the disciples just how much Jesus loved not just them but all of mankind! Perhaps John used this designation because it represented what is true of all of Christ’s disciples: each person who follows Jesus is a disciple loved by Jesus!
If you were asked, “Who are you?” how would you answer? While you might provide your name, marital status, profession, or background, any one of those could be changed and you would still be you (slightly different but still you). Regardless of circumstances, or even whether you’re alive or dead, the one thing about you that won’t change is your identity as a child of God and, if you are a believer, that you are a disciple of Christ. The highest honor John could claim was that Jesus loved him and yet it is an honor to which we all can lay claim! Who are you? As for me, I am the disciple Jesus loves!
Every year, Jesus and His family went to Jerusalem to celebrate the pilgrimage festival of Passover. Entire villages would travel together and the city was jam packed with worshipers when they departed for Nazareth. The men probably traveled apart from the women and children. Jesus, being twelve and no longer a little boy but not yet a man, could have been with either group. Perhaps Mary thought Him with the men while Joseph thought He was with the children. They didn’t know Jesus wasn’t there until they stopped that night. Moving with the crowd, his parents had mistakenly presumed His presence.
Although God passed along some very detailed commands, the people of Israel frequently refused to obey them and, in Judges 17-18, we see what happens when people do whatever seems right in their own eyes. After stealing 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother, Micah hears her curse the thief. Fearful of her curse, he confesses and returns the money. After blessing Micah to remove the curse, his mother dedicates the money to the Lord. In honor of her thieving son, however, she gives 200 of those coins to a silversmith for the fashioning of an image (a figure carved from wood overlaid with silver) and an idol (a figure cast from molten silver). Micah then sets up a shrine for the prohibited items, adds some household idols of his own, makes an ephod (a priestly garment), and installs his son as his own personal priest. This was wrong in so many ways: not only were people expressly forbidden from making either carved images or molten idols but only a Levite could serve as a priest!
A friend told of reading her Bible in a coffee shop when a stranger came up and made a disparaging comment about her belief in God and Scripture. Identifying himself as Jewish, he said he no longer believed the Bible, adding “There are just too many laws in the Torah.” Observant Jews have even more than the 613 laws found in Scripture. The words of Exodus 24:12 were construed to mean that, along with the written commands in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, God gave Moses additional explanations and examples that he was to teach. Believing these oral explanations were passed from Moses to Joshua and on down to the following generations, Deuteronomy 17:8-11 was understood to mean that, along with declaring verdicts in disputes, the priests or sages could further clarify and interpret the law.
Devotions of the Heart 