Apostle John of Love1 / Paul's Bible Characters

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Apostle John of Love1

/ Paul's Bible Characters 

 

/ By Paul

 

1. Personal information

 

 

John is called 'Johannes' in Greek,

which means 'the LORD is gracious'.

 

 

The apostle John was from

Bethsaida in Galilee, the second

son of Zebedee and Salome,

and his older brother was James.

 

 

The Lord was his maternal

cousin because his mother Salome

was the sister of Jesus' mother.

 

 

He became a disciple of John

the Baptist at the age of 25, but

he was called by Jesus while

fishing in the Sea of ​​Galilee

 

 

and became a disciple of the

Lord along with his brother James.

 

 

He was one of the 12 disciples,

along with Peter and James.

 

 

As a close follower, he 

always served Jesus.

 

 

Because

he was quick-tempered

and hot-tempered,

Jesus even nicknamed him

 

 

and his brother James,

'Boanerges' (Sons of Thunder). 

 

 

However, through the experience

of the coming of the Holy Spirit

on the day of Pentecost,

his personality changed,

 

 

and he became

an 'Apostle of Love'.

 

He was the only one among

the 12 disciples who did not

suffer martyrdom and survived

to the end of suffering

 

 

and became an apostle

who was deeply inspired

by the Holy Spirit

 

 

and wrote the Book of 

Revelation,  1.2.3 John 

and the Gospel of John.

 

 

2. Major Life

 

 

John was born as the son

of Zebedee, a fisherman

in the Sea of ​​Galilee,

 

 

and lived as a fisherman

with his father until the age of 24.

 

 

Thanks to a wealthy family,

John and his older brother James

were educated and raised in

the synagogue, an official

educational institution,

 

 

and it seems that he had a distant

relationship with the high priest

Caiaphas' family, considering

that John also lived in Jerusalem.

 

 

He was called by the Lord

in A.D. 27 and served the Lord

as a disciple for 3 years until

A.D. 30 (John 18:15, Acts 4:6).

 

His father Zebedee seems

to have died around that time

 

 

(He did not appear since

Matthew 20:20), so 'Salome'

was able to focus on

serving Jesus. 

 

 

(She asked for

his two sons to succeed,

was at the spot of the Calvary

cross, and went to the

tomb with spices)

 

 

Unlike Peter, John escaped

the scene on the night that

Jesus was arrested, but 

followed Jesus to the end

 

 

and let Peter in, who had

not been able to enter Caiaphas

the priest's courtyard.

(John 18:15)

 

 

Also, when Jesus was crucified,

he was present with his

mother and his aunt, Mary.

 

 

The Lord saw this and asked John,

not even his own brothers, to

take care of his mother Mary.

 

 

After that, he took Mary,

the mother of Jesus, to

his house in Jerusalem,

 

 

took care of her until she died,

and kept the church without

leaving Jerusalem for 20 years,

 

 

so the apostle Paul called him

the pillar of the church. 

(Gal 2:9)

 

 

After the death of the Lord's mother,

he traveled to the surrounding areas

to do missionary work,

 

 

and chose Ephesus as a  suitable 

place to supervise the churches 

established in each area. 

(After A.D. 65-66)

 

 

Considering that this was

a city where many people from

all over the world gathered

at that time, it could be the

center of the Gospel.

 

 

He wrote the Gospel of John

around A.D. 85, followed

by 1.2.3 John around A.D. 90 

 

 

and was exiled to the island 

of Patmos in A.D. 95 to write 

the book of Revelation.

 

 

After spending a year on the

island of Patmos due to the

persecution of the Domitian

emperor,

 

 

he returned to Ephesus during 

the reign of Emperor Nerva. 

(A.D. 96)

 

 

It is said that he enjoyed

heavenly blessings while caring

for the disciples in Ephesus,

 

 

and died at the age of 94 during

the reign of Emperor Traianus

(AD 98-117) and was buried

in Ephesus.

 

 

3. Characteristics of the

Apostle John's Christian Life

 

 

It was Jesus who changed

the reed-like heart of Peter,

who was a fisherman, into an

apostle who was like a rock.

 

 

Likewise, it was because

of Jesus' special care that '

a radical youth like a thunder

was turned into an Apostle of Love'.

 

 

The tender love of the Lord

is taking care of me, even today,

so that I can become a precious

child of faith and love.

 

 

Nevertheless, we feel disappointed

and burdened by not being able to

change ourselves as quickly

as we would like.

 

 

Today, through the life

of the Apostle John, let's try to

become Christians who imitate

the Lord by realizing how John

was able to change himself

 

 

and what the driving force is

and applying it to our lives.

 

 

1) The Apostle John humbly

accepted the position of

the second leader.

 

 

Jesus nicknamed James

and John the 'Sons of Thunder'. 

(Mark 3:17)

 

 

The reason was that they

had a quick temper and 

were hot-tempered,

 

 

and they were so-called 

competitive people

who did not want to

lose to others.

 

 

They became disciples of Jesus

because John and Andrew,

who were originally disciples

of John the Baptist, preached

to their brothers James and Peter.

 

 

In fact, in the order of discipleship,

it seems that it should be the order

of the apostle John, Andrew,

James, and Peter.

 

 

However, Jesus went around

calling them in the order of Peter,

Apostle John, and James.

 

 

So, through his mother Salome,

John asked the Lord to appoint

himself and his brother to

the right and left in the 

Lord's kingdom.

 

 

At this time, Jesus spoke to

the apostle John and his disciples.

 

 

'Whoever wants to become

great among you must be

your servant. (Matt 20:26)

 

 

(1) Jesus wanted his disciples

to have the heart of a leader

rather than a ruler.

 

 

A ruler is the one who wants

a position and has a heart to

fulfill his desires, whereas a leader

is the one who wants a role

and has a heart to achieve

the will of the whole.

 

 

A servant does not mean

the last person to serve,

but it means to be in the

second position. 

 

 

In other words, it is not the

end of the position, but the

most difficult position to serve.

 

 

(2) His position in the kingdom

of God is directly determined

by Him, which means obedience.

 

 

When the Apostle John met

the Lord on the shores of Tiberias

after the resurrection of Jesus,

the Lord asked Peter

- 'Feed my sheep'.

 

 

As a result, he gladly accepted

the second position.

 

 

Therefore,

in the Acts of the Apostles,

when John the Apostle went to

the temple with Peter to pray,

 

 

when they saw a lame man at

the temple gate called Beautiful

and Peter stood up and

took his hand.

 

 

The Apostle John was willingly

playing the role of a helper.

 

 

The second position is more

difficult than the position

of the subordinate.

 

 

This is because it is the most

difficult position to serve.

 

 

In other words, since it is the

position where someone gives up

their pride, it is the position that 

only those with humility

can accept.

 

 

2) The Apostle John is a person

who willingly accepted the

position of care. 

(John 19:26-27)

 

 

John was born as the second son

from birth, and he was the son

of a wealthy family, so he had

never  taken care of

anyone before.

 

 

But Jesus, who was crucified,

asked John to take care of

his mother, Mary.

 

 

Although Mary had several

sons and daughters, it was not

understood that Jesus

entrusted him with the

care of his mother.

 

 

However, he took care of Maria

for decades until she passed

away at the age of 90.

 

 

It is here that the source

of the love of 'John', who was

called as an Apostle of Love.

 

 

Self-standard love is to give

and take good and useful things.

In other words, he believed that

 

 

if he zealously served Jesus

with love, good places and

rewards would come to him.

 

 

However, what Jesus actually

gave was a heavy burden to him

and a burden that hindered

his ministry. 

 

 

Rather than giving him what

he wants for that person's purpose,

Jesus wants to give him what he

can do for his own purpose

 

 

and that's his most

precious thing.

 

 

The Apostle John realized that

Jesus did not entrust his mother,

who was his parent, but gave

him the most precious

object of love. 

 

 

John, who had never given

his most precious thing to others,

only regarded it for use rather

than receiving it as love when

it was given to him. 

 

 

When you realize love, you 

go slowly without rushing. 

 

 

There is peace because we go

by emotion rather than by will. 

 

 

John, who felt the true heart

of Jesus, did not go as a duty

but as a condition of thanksgiving.

 

 

The spirituality of the apostle

John is excellent, and the reason

why the Gospel of John described

the depth of divinity

 

 

and the attributes

of the Holy Spirit in more detail

than other Gospels is probably

because he learned the

depth of love. 

 

 

In other words, love is the best

ability to understand the Holy Spirit

and the optimal state to receive it.

 

 

3) The Apostle John is a man

who overcame the suffering

of exile through obedience. 

(Rev 1:9)

 

 

The fact that the apostle John

lived a long life without martyrdom

did not mean that he had a more

comfortable life than others.

 

 

According to tradition, in the

last years of his life, he was thrown

into a large pot of boiling oil,

but he was not hurt, and he drank

poison but was not harmed.

 

 

Eventually,

he was exiled to Patmos.

 

 

His aged body cutting stones

in the sun was very tired

and exhausted, 

 

 

John was already ready to

give his life for the Lord.

 

 

He confessed to

the Lord countless times. 

 

 

"Lord, you have taken everything

I have, so why don't you take my life?

The care of Mary has already ended,

and the bishop of Ephesus has

been handed over.

 

 

All I  want is to go to the Lord

myself, but at this old age,

why are you allowing me 

this period of exile

not martyrdom?"

 

 

Then, John hears

the voice of the Lord.

 

 

“Surely I will come soon.” 

John thought that his life

would be over if he gave

everything he had to the Lord.

 

 

However, the Lord did not want to

receive everything from him, but he

called him to Patmos to give

him more of his glory.

 

 

Even though human beings

are not worthy of such glory, the 

Lord wants to give it to them.

 

 

On this earth, he entrusted

his most precious mother,

and in heaven, he entrusted his

most important secret to John.

 

 

Through this, the Apostle John

became the one who received the

most love from Jesus and finally

became the apostle of love.

 

 

On this earth, he entrusted

his most precious mother,

and in heaven, he entrusted his

most important secret to John.

 

 

Through this, the Apostle John

became the one who received

the most love from Jesus and

finally became the Apostle of Love.

 

 

Love doesn't end with entrusting

precious things, but it's about

getting back and starting again.

 

 

Jesus is coming to us again.

 

 

Therefore, if we truly love the Lord,

let's sing 'Maranatha' (Come, Lord Jesus!)

every day like the Apostle John.  

 

 

Because 'maranatha' is an

expression of true love for the Lord.

 

 

 

- The End -

 

 

 

 

2009/01/02

 

 

/ By Paul