While Jesus Christ was still on earth he had indicated that John would survive the other apostles. (Joh 21:20-22) And John did serve Jehovah faithfully for some 70 years. Toward the end of his life he was exiled on the isle of Patmos, where he came to be “for speaking about God and bearing witness to Jesus.” (Re 1:9) This proves that he was energetically active in preaching the good news, even at a very old age (in about 96 C.E.).
While on Patmos, John was favored with the marvelous vision of Revelation, which he faithfully wrote down. (Re 1:1, 2) It is generally believed that he was exiled by Emperor Domitian and was released by Domitian’s successor, Emperor Nerva (96-98 C.E.). According to tradition, he went to Ephesus, where he wrote his Gospel and his three letters entitled the First, Second, and Third of John, about 98 C.E. Traditionally, it is believed that he died at Ephesus in about 100 C.E. during the reign of Emperor Trajan. If such historical tradition and data is accurate John would continue his work of teaching and prophesying after his release from Patmos. Even today by means of inspired writings that bear his name in addition to the Bible book of Revelation the Apostle John continues to speak and prophesy.