The Beloved Disciple Series

Tom lowe

1/25/2022

The Beloved Disciple

There are many theories about who the beloved disciple was, and though none are conclusive, all are interesting. Now, I must reveal something to you; 'I have to know (must know) the identity of the person Jesus loves. The shadowy figure known as "the disciple whom Jesus loved," appears in five scenes in the Gospel of John (John 13:21-30, John 18:15-18, John 19:26-27, John 21:7 with John 21:20), though some also regard the unnamed disciple in John 1:35-39 as the beloved disciple. In these scenes, the beloved disciple stands in contrast to Simon Peter, characterized less positively. In each instance, the beloved disciple responds to Jesus so that the narrator considers his words praiseworthy. At the same time, Peter expresses confusion, doubt, and misunderstanding before denying that he knows Jesus. In a sense, the beloved disciple gets everything right: twice he is found in a location that indicates his loyalty to Jesus (John 18:15-18, John 19:26-27); he responds appropriately by believing at the empty tomb, even when he does not understand (John 20:3-8); he also recognizes the risen Jesus from afar while the other disciples do not (John 21:7). In what is probably the most critical comment about the beloved disciple, the narrator depicts him as "leaning back on the chest of Jesus" (John 13:25)—an English rendering of the exact Greek phrase used to describe the relationship between Jesus and God the Father ("close to the Father's heart," John 1:18). Each of these depictions reinforces the idea that the beloved disciple should be seen as an ideal follower of Jesus—one with whom any faithful reader can and should identify.

John's Gospel makes any reader who wishes to follow Jesus, a beloved disciple by following his lead. Perhaps a historical individual stood behind the figure of the beloved disciple. Nevertheless, the beloved disciple is anonymous in the text and must remain to fulfill his role in the story. From the pages of the story, the beloved disciple beckons the reader: "Follow Jesus as I have followed him, and you too can become a disciple whom Jesus loves."

The New Testament writings associated with John the Beloved present him as both a teacher and a model for our discipleship. Perhaps the first thing to observe is that whomever this disciple is — namely, the one who is identified five times in this Gospel as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" we know he was the one who wrote the Gospel.

"My most important identity is not my name but my being loved by Jesus the Son of God."

In John 21:20, the last chapter, it says, "Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them" — that is, following Peter and Jesus. And then four verses later, it says, "This is the disciple [namely, the one who was following Peter, the one whom Jesus loved] who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things" (John 21:24). So, there is an explicit claim in the Gospel that this particular disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, is the author of the Gospel.

Plenty of Love for All

Now, before we move toward the identification of who it is, let us be clear that when the author calls himself five times "the one whom Jesus loved," he is not saying that Jesus does not love the others.

• This very author says in John 11:5 that Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus.

• It is this very author who says in John 13:1, "Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end" — sometimes translated, "to the uttermost." That is all of them.

• Furthermore, in John 15:9, he quotes Jesus as saying, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you" — plural, all of you, my disciples.

• Moreover, in John 15:12, he says, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" — all of you.

In other words, this writer is not trying to claim for himself the love of Jesus while excluding others from it. Something else is going on. I will come back to that in a minute.

Peter and the Loved Disciple

However, back to the question of, Who is it? Whom are we talking about? We know from the other Gospels that Peter, James, and John were the closest associates of Jesus. For example, those three — Peter, James, and John — went up with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1–8).

From the way this Gospel presents this unnamed disciple, he had quite a close relationship with Peter. For example, John 13:23–24, at the Last Supper, says, "One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus' side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking," when Jesus mentioned that there is going to be a betrayer. So, the unnamed disciple is close at Jesus's side, and Peter has this communication exchange with him. Then on the morning of the Resurrection, Mary Magdalene runs to report what she has seen, and it says, "So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved" (John 20:2). So, there they are, apparently hanging out together, this unnamed disciple and Peter.