Chapter 3

The Life of St. John the Evangelist

ONCE, when our Lord Jesus Christ walked by the shores of the sea of Tiberias, He saw two brothers, James and John, who, with their father, Zebedee, were mending nets for they were fishermen. He called them, and they leaving all, immediately went after Him. The Lord foretold that they would possess special zeal for His law, by naming them the sons of thunder — “Boanerges.” From that time they did not leave Him. They, together with Peter, were present at the raising of the dead daughter of Jairus; they were with the Lord at the time of His transfiguration on Mount Tabor; previous to the passions of the Lord they were with Him in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus Christ loved John especially. During the mystic supper John occupied a place near Him, and when Jesus mentioned that one of His disciples shall betray Him, John leaned upon His breast and asked to be told of whom He spoke. Finally, when the Lord Jesus saw the most pure Virgin Mary and the beloved disciple stand by His cross before His death, He recommended one to the other by saying to His dear mother, “Behold thy son”; then to John He said, “Behold thy mother.” John took the Most Holy Mother of God to his home, and from that time served her as his own mother — up to the time of her holy assumption. After the ascension of the Lord, John lived together with the Apostles in Jerusalem, prayed in the temple, and received the gracious gift of the Holy Ghost and the understanding of languages. Henceforth he earnestly preached the Gospel and converted both Jews and Gentiles, notwithstanding the constant persecutions he underwent for the same. After the Blessed and Ever-Virgin Mary was taken unto Her Son and God, John — in company with his disciple Prochoros — went into Asia Minor. The ship on which they took passage was wrecked. But John and Prochoros were miraculously spared, and so they came to Ephesus. But here, being without means they hired themselves as servants in the house of a certain land-owner. The master and his house-people were pagans. And the servants were obliged to labor hard, and to put up with much, while no mercy was shown to them. The apostle and his fellow worker bore all with patience. It happened that in the same house a young man died, who was the son of one of the city rulers, and the boy’s father, Dioscoridus, stricken with grief at his loss, quite suddenly died himself of a broken heart. The whole community became troubled. But it was in this instance that God showed His favor to His servants. John prayed, and God returned Dioscoridus and his son to life. All became stricken with fear, and they looked upon John as upon a divine being. But the preacher of the Gospel explained to them, that it was done by God’s power, and that he was sent to them to tell them of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who had revealed Himself and come to save mankind. They listened with much attention, and took the apostle and his attendant into their good keeping. In this way the Church of Ephesus had its birth. And the Word spread and became confirmed in that country. St. John continued to teach, but his words were not as effective as was his life, by which he showed what a Christian should be. The change of religion by so many people in a city like Ephesus could not escape the notice of the emperor of Rome, who at that time was Domitian. The disciple of Jesus Christ suffered much from the tyrant. But when John remained whole after being thrown into a vessel of boiling oil, the emperor gave up the task of killing him, and ordered that the apostle be exiled to the island named Patmos.

Here St. John lived and worked for several years. He was not successful immediately, but the Lord Jesus finally rewarded him for his patience. The inhabitants of Patmos gradually came to Christ by John, and this was the cause of much trouble to the preacher on the part of jealous leaders in the religion of idols. Yet the apostle persevered, and also subdued these foes by prayer and love.

After the death of Domitian, Emperor Nerva came to the throne of Rome. This was a good man, for he did not take delight in the suffering of his fellow-beings. Now John was free to go withersoever he desired. He decided to return to Ephesus. On hearing this, the whole population of the island were grieved, for they loved their teacher. To console them he promised to write for them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He therefore ordered them to pray and fast, while he took himself with his assistant up into a mountain. He remained in prayer and fasting for three days, when suddenly the earth quaked, and a violent thunder-storm seemed to disturb all the heavens. Prochoros fell on his face in fear, but the elder took him by the arm and told him to sit and write down what he dictated. John lifted his eyes to heaven, and being inspired with the Holy Ghost, he commenced the Gospel with these words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Thus was written the Gospel of St. John. For the high theology for which this Gospel is especially noted, its writer was surnamed “the Divine.” It was also on Patmos that John put in writing the revelations given him from heaven. The Book of Revelations in a mystical way tells of the destination of mankind and of the terrible last judgment. The Gospel of St. John is supposed to have been written in A. D. 102.

On the return of St. John to Ephesus the Christians of all Asia Minor were made very happy. By this time the venerable apostle was an old man. Still he took delight in going all over the country, through cities and villages, comforting the faithful, and strengthening the new converts. In one of the cities of Asia Minor St. John selected a certain young man, whom he desired to take into his special guidance. The favored young man was carefully taught while the apostle abode in that place; but when he was obliged to go farther on his mission, St. John delivered him to the care of the bishop of the city. On another occasion this messenger of Jesus Christ happened to visit this city again. When St. John inquired of the bishop about his charge, and he had lost the young man given him, it was a sad story to be told. The young man having made the acquaintance of bad associates, wandered off with them to the mountains, and became himself the captain of a band of robbers. Notwithstanding his old age, the apostle went himself to the mountains to seek the bandits. The chief on seeing his men lead an old man toward himself, recognized the apostle and the disciple of love. This meeting was too much for his reproaching conscience. He turned to run; but the white-haired apostle followed him as best he could, calling out in a pitiful voice, “Come, my son, my son, come back to your father; I will take your sins upon myself; the merciful Lord had sent me Himself.” The young man was taken with emotion; he stopped, but dared not look up; he fell at the feet of the saint. John kissed him as a loving father, and brought him back rejoicing, as does a shepherd who had found his lost sheep.

St. John lived more than a hundred years. He died quietly, being surrounded with the love of many faithful ones. After him, his beloved disciple Prochoros became the chief pastor of the Christians in Asia Minor. This apostle’s memory is kept by the Church on two days in the year, namely, the 8th of May and the 26th of September. Besides the two books mentioned before, there are also three general epistles which belong to St. John the Divine. During his last days upon earth, when he was too weak to do much service, he continually kept saying, “My little children, love ye one another.” In the epistles of St. John we find these passages: “He that saith I know the Lord, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whosoever keepeth His word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. . . . Whosoever hath the goods of this world, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him? . . . Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.”

*The words in italics throughout the book are taken from the Holy Bible.