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Last
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The
Orthodox Church: A Visual Journey
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Troparion - Tone 2
Beloved apostle of Christ our God,
hasten to deliver a defenseless people.
He who allowed you to recline on His breast,
receives you as you bow before Him.
Implore Him, John the Theologian,
to disperse the persistent threat from the heathens,
entreating for us peace and great mercy.
Kontakion - Tone 2
Who shall declare your greatness, O virgin
disciple,
for you pour forth wonders and are a source of healings,
and pray for our souls as Theologian and friend of
Christ.
John the Evangelist (? - c.
110; יוחנן "The
LORD is merciful",
Standard Hebrew Yoḥanan,
Tiberian Hebrew Yōḥānān) is the name used to
refer to the author of the
Gospel of John. Tradition has identified him with
John the Apostle and with
John of Patmos, the author of the
Book of Revelation. Tradition says that he was one
of Christ's disciples, the only one to live into old age
and not be martyred for his faith. John is associated
with Ephesus, where his reputed grave is, and in
Ephesus John lived with and cared for Mary, the mother
of Jesus. After a long life he was exiled to Patmos between
90-95,
where he wrote the Book of Revelation.
Numerous modern
scholars dispute that these were the same person (see
authorship of the Johannine works). The most widely
accepted view is that - whether or not the same man
wrote all the Johannine literature - it all came out of
the same community in Asia Minor, which had some
connection to John.
The author of the fourth Gospel never identifies
himself. He is generally assumed to be the "beloved
disciple" repeatedly referred to in the work. The author
of this Gospel is also sometimes presumed to be the
author of other books in the
New Testament:
1 John,
2 John, and
3 John. There are also schools of thought which
attribute some of these five works (always including The
Gospel of John) to John the Apostle and others (usually
including the 2nd and 3rd epistles) to another John.
Collectively, the Gospel, the three Epistles, and
Revelations are known as Johannine literature,
and there is some internal textual evidence to suggest
they may have been authored by the same person (see
textual criticism). Of the Johannine literature,
Revelations bears the least grammatical similarity to
the Gospel.
- For more information on the apostle of Jesus,
see
John the Apostle.
- For more information on the author of the
Book of Revelation, see
John of Patmos.
Born in Galilee, the son of Zebede and Salome and the
younger brother of James the Greater, John was a fisherman on Lake
Genesareth until he was called by Christ to follow him. He was the
youngest of the Apostles and was referred to as “John the Beloved.” That
he was one of the persons closest to Christ is demonstrated by the fact
that only he, Peter and James were present at important events such as
the Transfiguration. He was the only Apostle at the Crucifixion, when
Jesus placed Mary in his care. John, the author of the fourth Gospel, is
often surnamed “The Divine” because of his theological brilliance. St.
John is shown in his role as evangelist with the symbol of the Eagle
visible on the scroll in his left hand. His right hand is raised in the
gesture of blessing, the fingers forming the monogram of Christ (IC XC).
The original of this Icon was created in the traditional Russian manner
using ground stone pigments suspended in an egg yoke medium and 23K gold
leaf.
The Image of the Evangelist has always been a powerful one for they are
the bringers of the Word, something we are all called to do by how we
live in the world. In the Eastern tradition prayer begins by gazing, or
looking with fixed attention until one sees beyond the physical image to
what is truly there. In gazing upon the Image of the Evangelist, a human
vessel, the viewer opens him or herself to the presence and power of the
Divine in our midst.
-
Also known as
- Apostle of Charity; Beloved Apostle; Beloved Disciple; Giovanni
Evangelista; John the Divine; John the Evangelist
- Memorial
-
27 December (Roman Catholic);
8 May (Greek Orthodox);
6 May (before the Latin gate)
- Profile
- Son of Zebedee and Salome.
Fisherman. Brother of Saint
James the Great, and called one of the Sons of Thunder.
Disciple of Saint
John the Baptist. Friend of Saint
Peter the Apostle. Called by Jesus during the first year of His
ministry, and traveled everywhere with Him, becoming so close as to
be known as the beloved disciple. Took part in the Last
Supper. The only one of the Twelve not to forsake the Savior in the
hour of His Passion, standing at the foot of the cross. Made
guardian of
Our Lady by Jesus, he took her into his home. Upon hearing of
the Resurrection, he was the first to reach the tomb; when he met
the risen Lord at the lake of Tiberias, he was the first to
recognize Him.
During the era of the new Church, he worked in
Jerusalem and at
Ephesus. During Jesus' ministry, he tried to block a Samaritan
from their group, but Jesus explained the open nature of the new
Way, and he worked on that principle to found churches in
Asia Minor and baptizing
converts in Samaria.
Imprisoned with
Peter for preaching after Pentecost. Wrote the fourth Gospel,
three Epistles, and possibly the Book of Revelation. Survived all
his fellow apostles.
Traditional stories:
 | Emperor Dometian had him brought to
Rome, beaten, poisoned, and thrown into a cauldron of
boiling oil, but he stepped out unharmed and was banished to
Patmos instead.
|
| When John was en route to preach in Asia, his ship was
wrecked in a storm; all but John were cast ashore. John was
assumed dead, but 2 weeks later the waves cast him ashore alive
at the feet of his disciple Prochoros.
|
| When John denounced
idol worship as demonic, followers of Artemis stoned him;
the rocks turned and hit the throwers.
|
| He prayed in a temple of Artemis; fire from heaven killed
200 men who worshipped the
idol. When the remaining group begged for mercy, he raised
the 200 from the dead; they all converted and were baptized.
|
| Drove out a demon who had lived in a
pagan temple for 249 years.
|
| Aboard ship, he purified vessels of sea water for drinking.
|
| Ceonops, a magician, pretended to bring three dead people
come to life; the "people" were actually demons who mimicked
people so the magician could turn people away from Christ.
Through prayer, John caused the magician to drown and the demons
to vanish.
|
| Once a year his grave gave off a fragrant dust that cured
the sick.
|
Born
unknown
Died
c.101
at
Ephesus (modern Turkey); a church was built over his tomb, which
was later converted to a mosque
Name Meaning
God is gracious; gift of God
Patronage
against poison;
art dealers;
Asia Minor;
authors;
bookbinders;
booksellers;
burns;
diocese of
Cleveland, Ohio;
compositors;
editors;
engravers;
friendships;
lithographers;
diocese of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin;
painters;
papermakers;
poisoning;
printers;
publishers;
Sundern, Germany;
tanners;
Taos, New Mexico;
theologians;
typesetters;
Umbria, Italy;
writers
Prayers
Prayer to...,
Prayer
for the Enlightenment of...
Representation
book;
cauldron in allusion to his being a martyr in will but not in
deed;
chalice with a serpent in allusion to the cup of sorrow foretold
by Jesus;
chalice;
eagle in his role as evangelist; serpent
|
John was the son of Zebedee and
Salome,
and the brother of
James the
Greater. In the Gospels the two brothers are often called
after their father "the sons of Zebedee" and received from
Christ
the honourable title of Boanerges, i.e. "sons of thunder"
(Mark
3:17). Originally they were fishermen and fished with their
father in the Lake of Genesareth. According to the usual and
entirely probable explanation they became, however, for a time
disciples of John the Baptist, and were called by Christ from
the circle of John's followers, together with
Peter
and Andrew, to become His disciples (John
1:35-42). The first disciples returned with their new Master
from the Jordan to Galilee and apparently both John and the
others remained for some time with
Jesus
(cf. John ii, 12, 22; iv, 2, 8, 27 sqq.). Yet after the second
return from Judea, John and his companions went back again to
their trade of fishing until he and they were called by Christ
to definitive discipleship (Matthew
4:18-22;
Mark
1:16-20). In the lists of the Apostles John has the second
place (Acts
1:13), the third (Mark
3:17), and the fourth (Matthew
10:3;
Luke 6:14), yet always after James with the exception of a
few passages (Luke
8:51;
9:28 in the Greek text;
Acts 1:13).
From James being thus placed first, the conclusion is drawn
that John was the younger of the two brothers. In any case John
had a prominent position in the Apostolic body. Peter, James,
and he were the only witnesses of the raising of Jairus's
daughter (Mark
5:37), of the Transfiguration (Matthew
17:1), and of the
Agony in
Gethsemani (Matthew
26:37). Only he and Peter were sent into the city to make
the preparation for the
Last Supper
(Luke 22:8).
At the Supper itself his place was next to Christ on Whose
breast he leaned (John
13:23, 25). According to the general interpretation John was
also that "other disciple" who with Peter followed Christ after
the arrest into the palace of the
high-priest
(John
18:15). John alone remained near his beloved Master at the
foot of the Cross on Calvary with the Mother of Jesus and the
pious women, and took the desolate Mother into his care as the
last legacy of Christ (John
19:25-27). After the
Resurrection John with Peter was the first of the disciples
to hasten to the grave and he was the first to believe that
Christ had truly risen (John
20:2-10). When later Christ appeared at the Lake of
Genesareth John was also the first of the seven disciples
present who recognized his Master standing on the shore (John
21:7). The Fourth Evangelist has shown us most clearly how
close the relationship was in which he always stood to his Lord
and Master by the title with which he is accustomed to indicate
himself without giving his name: "the disciple whom
Jesus
loved". After
Christ's
Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, John took,
together with Peter, a prominent part in the founding and
guidance of the Church. We see him in the company of Peter at
the healing of the lame man in the Temple (Acts
3:1 sqq.). With Peter he is also thrown into prison (Acts
4:3). Again, we find him with the prince of the Apostles
visiting the newly converted in Samaria (Acts
8:14).
We have no positive information concerning the duration of
this activity in Palestine. Apparently John in common with the
other Apostles remained some twelve years in this first field of
labour, until the persecution of
Herod
Agrippa I led to the scattering of the Apostles through the
various provinces of the Roman Empire (cf.
Acts
12:1-17). Notwithstanding the opinion to the contrary of
many writers, it does not appear improbable that John then went
for the first time to Asia Minor and exercised his Apostolic
office in various provinces there. In any case a
Christian
community was already in existence at Ephesus before Paul's
first labours there (cf. "the brethren",
Acts
18:27, in addition to Priscilla and Aquila), and it is easy
to connect a sojourn of John in these provinces with the fact
that the Holy Ghost did not permit the Apostle Paul on his
second missionary journey to proclaim the Gospel in Asia, Mysia,
and Bithynia (Acts
16:6 sq.). There is just as little against such an
acceptation in the later account in Acts of St. Paul's third
missionary journey. But in any case such a sojourn by John in
Asia in this first period was neither long nor uninterrupted. He
returned with the other disciples to Jerusalem for the Apostolic
Council (about A.D. 51). St. Paul in opposing his enemies in
Galatia names John explicitly along with Peter and James the
Less as a "pillar of the Church", and refers to the recognition
which his Apostolic preaching of a Gospel free from the law
received from these three, the most prominent men of the old
Mother-Church at Jerusalem (Galatians
2:9). When Paul came again to Jerusalem after the second and
after the third journey (Acts
18:22;
21:17 sq.)
he seems no longer to have met John there. Some wish to draw the
conclusion from this that John left Palestine between the years
52 and 55.
Of the other New-Testament writings, it is only from the
three Epistles of John and the Apocalypse that anything further
is learned concerning the person of the Apostle. We may be
permitted here to take as proven the unity of the author of
these three writings handed down under the name of John and his
identity with the Evangelist. Both the Epistles and the
Apocalypse, however, presuppose that their author John belonged
to the multitude of personal eyewitnesses of the life and work
of Christ (cf. especially
1 John
1:1-5;
4:14),
that he had lived for a long time in Asia Minor, was thoroughly
acquainted with the conditions existing in the various
Christian
communities there, and that he had a position of authority
recognized by all
Christian
communities as leader of this part of the Church. Moreover, the
Apocalypse tells us that its author was on the island of Patmos
"for the word of
God and
for the testimony of
Jesus",
when he was honoured with the heavenly Revelation contained in
the Apocalypse (Revelation
1:9).
II. THE ALLEGED PRESBYTER JOHN
The author of the Second and Third Epistles of John
designates himself in the superscription of each by the name (ho
presbyteros), "the ancient", "the old". Papias, Bishop of
Hierapolis, also uses the same name to designate the "Presbyter
John" as in addition to Aristion, his particular authority,
directly after he has named the presbyters Andrew, Peter,
Philip, Thomas, James, John, and Matthew (in Eusebius, "Hist.
eccl.", III, xxxix, 4).
Eusebius
was the first to draw, on account of these words of Papias, the
distinction between a Presbyter John and the Apostle John, and
this distinction was also spread in Western Europe by St. Jerome
on the authority of
Eusebius.
The opinion of
Eusebius
has been frequently revived by modern writers, chiefly to
support the denial of the Apostolic origin of the
Fourth
Gospel. The distinction, however, has no historical basis.
First, the testimony of
Eusebius
in this matter is not worthy of belief. He contradicts himself,
as in his "Chronicle" he expressly calls the Apostle John the
teacher of Papias ("ad annum Abrah 2114"), as does Jerome also
in Ep. lxxv, "Ad Theodoram", iii, and in "De viris illustribus",
xviii.
Eusebius was also influenced by his erroneous doctrinal
opinions as he denied the Apostolic origin of the Apocalypse and
ascribed this writing to an author differing from St. John but
of the same name. St. Irenaeus also positively designates the
Apostle and Evangelist John as the teacher of Papias, and
neither he nor any other writer before
Eusebius
had any idea of a second John in Asia (Adv. haer., V, xxxiii,
4). In what Papias himself says the connection plainly shows
that in this passage by the word presbyters only Apostles
can be understood. If John is mentioned twice the explanation
lies in the peculiar relationship in which Papias stood to this,
his most eminent teacher. By inquiring of others he had learned
some things indirectly from John, just as he had from the other
Apostles referred to. In addition he had received information
concerning the teachings and acts of
Jesus
directly, without the intervention of others, from the still
living "Presbyter John", as he also had from Aristion. Thus the
teaching of Papias casts absolutely no doubt upon what the
New-Testament writings presuppose and expressly mention
concerning the residence of the Evangelist John in Asia.
III. THE LATER ACCOUNTS OF JOHN
The
Christian writers of the second and third centuries testify
to us as a tradition universally recognized and doubted by no
one that the Apostle and Evangelist John lived in Asia Minor in
the last decades of the first century and from Ephesus had
guided the Churches of that province. In his "Dialogue with
Tryphon" (Chapter 81)
St. Justin
Martyr refers to "John, one of the Apostles of Christ" as a
witness who had lived "with us", that is, at Ephesus. St.
Irenęus speaks in very many places of the Apostle John and his
residence in Asia and expressly declares that he wrote his
Gospel at Ephesus (Adv. haer., III, i, 1), and that he had lived
there until the reign of
Trajan
(loc. cit., II, xxii, 5). With
Eusebius
(Hist. eccl., III, xiii, 1) and others we are obliged to place
the Apostle's banishment to Patmos in the reign of the
Emperor
Domitian (81-96). Previous to this, according to
Tertullian's testimony (De praescript., xxxvi), John had
been thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil before the Porta
Latina at Rome without suffering injury. After
Domitian's
death the Apostle returned to Ephesus during the reign of
Trajan,
and at Ephesus he died about A.D. 100 at a great age. Tradition
reports many beautiful traits of the last years of his life:
that he refused to remain under the same roof with
Cerinthus
(Irenaeus "Ad. haer.", III, iii, 4); his touching anxiety about
a youth who had become a robber (Clemens Alex., "Quis dives
salvetur", xiii); his constantly repeated words of exhortation
at the end of his life, "Little children, love one another"
(Jerome, "Comm. in ep. ad. Gal.", vi, 10). On the other hand the
stories told in the apocryphal Acts of John, which appeared as
early as the second century, are unhistorical invention.
IV. FEASTS OF ST. JOHN
St. John is commemorated on 27 December, which he originally
shared with St. James the Greater. At Rome the feast was
reserved to St. John alone at an early date, though both names
are found in the Carthage Calendar, the Hieronymian Martyrology,
and the Gallican liturgical books. The "departure" or
"assumption" of the Apostle is noted in the Menology of
Constantinople and the Calendar of Naples (26 September), which
seems to have been regarded as the date of his death. The feast
of St. John before the Latin Gate, supposed to commemorate the
dedication of the church near the Porta Latina, is first
mentioned in the Sacramentary of
Adrian I
(772-95).
V. ST. JOHN IN CHRISTIAN ART
Early
Christian
art usually represents St. John with an eagle, symbolizing
the heights to which he rises in the first chapter of his
Gospel. The chalice as symbolic of St. John, which, according to
some authorities, was not adopted until the thirteenth century,
is sometimes interpreted with reference to the
Last Supper,
again as connected with the legend according to which St. John
was handed a cup of poisoned wine, from which, at his blessing,
the poison rose in the shape of a serpent. Perhaps the most
natural explanation is to be found in the words of Christ to
John and James "My chalice indeed you shall drink" (Matthew
20:23). |
The Holy, Glorious All-laudable Apostle and Evangelist, Virgin, and
Beloved Friend of Christ, John the Theologian was the son of Zebedee and
Salome, a daughter of St Joseph the Betrothed. He was called by our Lord
Jesus Christ to be one of His Apostles at the same time as his elder
brother James. This took place at Lake Gennesareth (i.e. the Sea of
Galilee). Leaving behind their father, both brothers followed the Lord.
The Apostle John was especially loved by the Savior for his sacrificial
love and his virginal purity. After his calling, the Apostle John did
not part from the Lord, and he was one of the three apostles who were
particularly close to Him. St John the Theologian was present when the
Lord restored the daughter of Jairus to life, and he was a witness to
the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor.
During the Last Supper, he reclined next to the Lord, and laid his head
upon His breast. He also asked the name of the Savior's betrayer. The
Apostle John followed after the Lord when they led Him bound from the
Garden of Gethsemane to the court of the iniquitous High Priests Annas
and Caiphas. He was there in the courtyard of the High Priest during the
interrogations of his Teacher and he resolutely followed after him on
the way to Golgotha, grieving with all his heart.
At the foot of the Cross he stood with the Mother of God and heard the
words of the Crucified Lord addressed to Her from the Cross: "Woman,
behold Thy son." Then the Lord said to him, "Behold thy Mother" (John
19:26-27). From that moment the Apostle John, like a loving son,
concerned himself over the Most Holy Virgin Mary, and he served Her
until Her Dormition.
After the Dormition of the Mother of God the Apostle John went to
Ephesus and other cities of Asia Minor to preach the Gospel, taking with
him his own disciple Prochorus. They boarded a ship, which floundered
during a terrible tempest. All the travellers were cast up upon dry
ground, and only the Apostle John remained in the depths of the sea.
Prochorus wept bitterly, bereft of his spiritual father and guide, and
he went on towards Ephesus alone.
On the fourteenth day of his journey he stood at the shore of the sea
and saw that the waves had cast a man ashore. Going up to him, he
recognized the Apostle John, whom the Lord had preserved alive for
fourteen days in the sea. Teacher and disciple went to Ephesus, where
the Apostle John preached incessantly to the pagans about Christ. His
preaching was accompanied by such numerous and great miracles, that the
number of believers increased with each day.
During this time there had begun a persecution of Christians under the
emperor Nero (56-68). They took the Apostle John for trial at Rome. St
John was sentenced to death for his confession of faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, but the Lord preserved His chosen one. The apostle drank a
cup of deadly poison, but he remained alive. Later, he emerged unharmed
from a cauldron of boiling oil into which he had been thrown on orders
from the torturer.
After this, they sent the Apostle John off to imprisonment to the island
of Patmos, where he spent many years. Proceeding along on his way to the
place of exile, St John worked many miracles. On the island of Patmos,
his preaching and miracles attracted to him all the inhabitants of the
island, and he enlightened them with the light of the Gospel. He cast
out many devils from the pagan temples, and he healed a great multitude
of the sick.
Sorcerers with demonic powers showed great hostility to the preaching of
the holy apostle. He especially frightened the chief sorcerer of them
all, named Kinops, who boasted that they would destroy the apostle. But
the great John, by the grace of God acting through him, destroyed all
the demonic artifices to which Kinops resorted, and the haughty sorcerer
perished in the depths of the sea.
The Apostle John withdrew with his disciple Prochorus to a desolate
height, where he imposed upon himself a three-day fast. As St John
prayed the earth quaked and thunder rumbled. Prochorus fell to the
ground in fright. The Apostle John lifted him up and told him to write
down what he was about to say. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end, saith the Lord, Who is and Who was and Who is to
come, the Almighty" (Rev 1:8), proclaimed the Spirit of God through the
Apostle John. Thus in about the year 67 the Book of Revelation was
written, known also as the "Apocalypse," of the holy Apostle John the
Theologian. In this Book were predictions of the tribulations of the
Church and of the end of the world.
After his prolonged exile, the Apostle John received his freedom and
returned to Ephesus, where he continued with his activity, instructing
Christians to guard against false teachers and their erroneous
teachings. In the year 95, the Apostle John wrote his Gospel at Ephesus.
He called for all Christians to love the Lord and one another, and by
this to fulfill the commands of Christ. The Church calls St John the
"Apostle of Love", since he constantly taught that without love man
cannot come near to God.
In his three Epistles, St John speaks of the significance of love for
God and for neighbor. Already in his old age, he learned of a youth who
had strayed from the true path to follow the leader of a band of
robbers, so St John went out into the wilderness to seek him. Seeing the
holy Elder, the guilty one tried to hide himself, but the Apostle John
ran after him and besought him to stop. He promised to take the sins of
the youth upon himself, if only he would repent and not bring ruin upon
his soul. Shaken by the intense love of the holy Elder, the youth
actually did repent and turn his life around.
St John when he was more than a hundred years old. he far outlived the
other eyewitnesses of the Lord, and for a long time he remained the only
remaining eyewitness of the earthly life of the Savior.
When it was time for the departure of the Apostle John, he went out
beyond the city limits of Ephesus with the families of his disciples. He
bade them prepare for him a cross-shaped grave, in which he lay, telling
his disciples that they should cover him over with the soil. The
disciples tearfully kissed their beloved teacher, but not wanting to be
disobedient, they fulfilled his bidding. They covered the face of the
saint with a cloth and filled in the grave. Learning of this, other
disciples of St John came to the place of his burial. When they opened
the grave, they found it empty.
Each year from the grave of the holy Apostle John on May 8 came forth a
fine dust, which believers gathered up and were healed of sicknesses by
it. Therefore, the Church also celebrates the memory of the holy Apostle
John the Theologian on May 8.
The Lord bestowed on His beloved disciple John and John's brother James
the name "Sons of Thunder" as an awesome messenger in its cleansing
power of the heavenly fire. And precisely by this the Savior pointed out
the flaming, fiery, sacrificial character of Christian love, the
preacher of which was the Apostle John the Theologian. The eagle, symbol
of the lofty heights of his theological thought, is the iconographic
symbol of the Evangelist John the Theologian. The appellation
"Theologian" is bestown by Holy Church only to St John among the
immediate disciples and Apostles of Christ, as being the seer of the
mysterious Judgments of God.
|
Saint John
the Theologian
and Evangelist |
|
