Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/263

* JOHN. 237 JOHN. with Andrew, brother of Simon Peter, at the suggestion of the Baptist, left him and made the acquaintance of Jesus. They immediately sought out their brothers and became companions of Jesus, remaining with Him during His early ministry in Judea (John i.-iv. passim). They re- turned to their home and usual occujmtion, from which Jesus formallj' summoned them when He opened His ministry in Galilee (Mark i. 19, 20). Obeying the summons, they became dis- ciples in the full sense of the word, remaining with Jesus to the end. John, James, and I'eter were the three disciples with whom Jesus was most intimate. With Andrew they make up the group of four which heads each of the three lists of the Twelve Apostles (Mark iii. 14-19; Matt. X. 2-4; Luke vi. 13-16). These three alone witnessed the raising of Jairus's daughter, the Transfiguration, and the agony in Gethsemane (Mark v. 37; i.x. 2; xiv. 33, and parallels). It was John whose devotion to Jesus was so zealous that lie rebuked one who, though not of the com- jiany of Jesus' disciples, was found casting out demons in His name (Mark ix. 38 sqq. ; Luke ix. 49, 50). The trait of character thus revealed gives us a hint, possibly, of the reason for Jesus' designation of James and Jo)m as Boanerges (Sons of Thunder). The same fiery zeal showed itself in the desire (Luke ix. 54) to call down fire from heaven upon the Samaritans who did not welcome Jesus. Near the close of Jesus' ministry .James and John, prompted by their mother, asked to be given the seats of honor in the coming Messianic kingdom. Jesus' reply promised them only the cup of sacrificial service as their future portion (Matt. xx. 20 .sqq.; Mark x. 35 sqq. ) . At the Last Supper John had the seat nearest the Master, and to him Jesus indicated privately which one was the traitor (John xiii. 23). He followed Jesus to the scene of the trial (.John xviii. 15), and as he stood near the cross Jesus committed His mother to his care (John xix. 25 sqq.). He lingered long enough to see the piercing of Jesus' side (John xix. 35), and then returned to the city, where he appears to have had acquaintances or rela- tives (.John xviii. 15: xix. 27). At the news of the resurrection he visited the tomb with Peter, and entering in and observing how the grave clothes were arranged, 'he believed' (.John xx. 1-10). A few days later he returned to Galilee, where on a certain morning he and other dis- ciples had a vision of the risen .Jesus and were given anew the commission to carry on His work (John xxi. ; cf. Matt, xxviii. 16-20). In the rec- ord of the earlv Church (in Acts), John appears mainly in company with Peter, who, however, seems to have been the chief speaker. Though no words of his during these years are recorded, he was evidentlv prominent and influential (cf. Acts iii. 1-4, I'l: iv. 13. 19; viii. 14). Paul speaks of him (Gal. ii. 9) as one of the 'pillars' of the Church in .Jerusalem, who at the time of the Council of Jerusalem (.cts xv. ; Gal. ii. 1-10). with .James (the .Just) and Peter, gave Paul the right hand of fellowship and recognized the value of his work among the Gentiles. This was about a.d. 49-50. about twenty years after the crucifixion. Henceforth the New Testament record is silent as to .John's career. Whether he was present in Jerusalem at Paul's last visit (.cts xxi. 17) is unknown. The Apocalypse (see ReveL/Vtion), supposed to have been written by him (cf. i. 1, 4, 9; xxii. 8), gives us no cer- tain clew as to its date or his circumstances at the time. ith the Gospel (q.v. ) it presupposes a circle of hearers among whom the Apostle was inlluential, and locates them in Asia Minor. The Apocalypse itself was written from Patmos, where the writer was "on account of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus." Ancient tradition has interpreted this as an experience of sufl'ering due to persecution, but this is not certain. To fill in the gap between the state- n)ents in Acts and Galatians, and the conditions presupposed in the Gospel, Epistles, and .Apoca- lypse, we must suppose that at some time be- tween A.D. 50 and 70 John left Jerusalem to labor elsewhere, and finally, probably after Paul's death, came to the Province of Asia, where he spent the remainder of his life, residing chiefly at Ephesus. During his residence in .sia he wrote his Gospel, Epistles, and the Apocalypse, all addressed to readers belonging to the same general circle of churches. John is said by Eusebius {Hist. Eccles., III., xviii., xx., xxiii., partly based on Irenaeus) to have been banished to Patmos bj' Doniitian (a.d. 81-96), then to have removed to Ephesus by permission of Nerva ( 90-98 ), and to have lived on until some time in Trajan's reign (98-117). At Ephesus he was widely known and loved. Among his disciples was Polycarp, afterwards Bishop of Smyrna, who greatly influenced Irenaeus in his youth (Ircn. ad Florinum, in Euseb., Eist. Eccles., V., xx.). Here he also had to oppose the heretical teach- ings of C'erinthus (Iren.. Contra Bwres., 111., iii. 4). The presence of dangerous heresy led him to write the Ciospel. According to the old legend in the Muratorian Canon, he did this in con- junction with fellow-disciples, all contributing of their reminiscences, but John alone doing the writing. In extreme old age his oft-repeated exhortation was, "Little children, love one an- other" (so Jerome, Com. in Gal., vi. 10). An- other story is told by Clement of Alexandria of his reclaiming the chief of a robber band from his evil life. According to Pol.ycrates, Bishop of Ephesus (c.190), he died and was buried at Ephesus. Later legend aflirmed that he was not really dead, but that the earth above his body rose and fell with his breathing. For litera- ture, see article .John, Gospel of. JOHN THE Baptist. The forerunner of Jesus Christ. The sources on which we depend for our knowledge of the man and his work are: (1) The sections of the Gospels especially devot- ed to a description of him and his ministry. Of these the accounts in the Synoptic Gospels relate chiefly to his career up to the baptism of Jesus, while the account of the fourth Gospel is con- cerned mainly with John's relation to .Jesus after the baptism of the latter. (2) The inci- dental notices of the Baptist in the Gospels, either by the Evangelists themselves or in their reports of .Jesus' words. (3) The account of Josephus {.Int., xviii. 5, 2). From these various sources we learn that .John the Baptist was bom about six months before Jesus, in a town in the hill country of Judea. The name of the town is not given. The parents were of priestly stock, and full of anxious thought and earnest expectation concerning the future of Israel. To this only child, born in their old age and looked upon as a gift of .Jehovah, they gave the name John