why was he the beloved disciple - wincam
Jesus loved His disciples:
“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. John 15:12
So why does John particularly identify himself as the disciple Jesus loved? One
theory suggests that John was very young and as such, Jesus had a special affection for him.
In his history Eusebius wrote the following about John:
1. At that time the apostle and
evangelist John, the one whom
Jesus loved, was still living in Asia, and governing the
churches of that region, having returned after the death of
Domitian from his exile on the island.
2. And that he was still alive at that time may be established by the testimony of two witnesses. They should be trustworthy who have maintained the
orthodoxy of the
Church; and such indeed were
Irenæus and Clement of Alexandria.
3. The former in the second book of his work Against Heresies [chapter XXI], writes as follows: And all the elders that associated with John the
disciple of the
Lord in Asia bear witness that John delivered it to them.
For he remained among them until the time of Trajan. Eusebius History of the Church Book III 23
Trajan was emperor from A. D. 98-117. If Irenaeus is accurate, John would have been an early to mid teen during Jesus’ ministry.
John’s young age may be implicit in the Gospels. Some examples:
John was the disciple leaning on Jesus’ breast and identified as the one Jesus loved (21:20-23 cf. 13:23-26). This would be very understandable if John was very young.
John and his brothers calling is described in Matthew 4:21:
Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother… It’s interesting that the two brothers weren’t listed as James and John the sons of Zebedee. Perhaps it was due to John’s age that James was listed first and identified as Zebedee’s son and then John was mentioned.
In Matthew 20:20 it was the sons of Zebedee’s mother that made a request for them to Jesus. Perhaps Mom stood up for her young boys?
After hearing from Mary Magdalene that Jesus’ tomb was empty, John out ran Peter to the tomb (20:2-10). It would make sense that a young John could out run an older Peter.
In John 21:3-8 the disciples were fishing 100 yards from shore when Jesus instructed them to cast their nets on the other side. It was John who identified the person speaking as Jesus. Perhaps John’s young eyes could identify Jesus from 100 yards while the vision of the older men couldn’t.
The above is an interesting theory and may explain why John was special in Jesus’ eyes—you decide whether it answers your question.
