Love for Jesus

Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist A-1 (December 27)

Entrance Antiphon This is John, who reclined on the Lord's breast at supper, the blessed Apostle, to whom celestial secrets were revealed and who spread the words of life through all the world.

Or: Sirach 15: 5 In the midst of the Church he opened his mouth, and the Lord filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding and clothed him in a robe of glory.

Collect O God, who through the blessed Apostle John have unlocked for us the secrets of your Word, grant, we pray, that we may grasp with proper understanding what he has so marvellously brought to our ears. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

(December 27) St. John the Apostle It is God who calls; human beings answer. The vocation of John and his brother James is stated very simply in the Gospels, along with that of Peter and his brother Andrew: Jesus called them; they followed. The absoluteness of their response is indicated by the account. James and John “were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him” (Matthew 4:21b-22). For the three former fishermen—Peter, James and John—that faith was to be rewarded by a special friendship with Jesus. They alone were privileged to be present at the Transfiguration, the raising of the daughter of Jairus and the agony in Gethsemane. But John’s friendship was even more special. Tradition assigns to him the Fourth Gospel, although most modern Scripture scholars think it unlikely that the apostle and the evangelist are the same person. John’s own Gospel refers to him as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (see John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2), the one who reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper, and the one to whom he gave the exquisite honour, as he stood beneath the cross, of caring for his mother. “Woman, behold your son....Behold, your mother” (John 19:26b, 27b). Because of the depth of his Gospel, John is usually thought of as the eagle of theology, soaring in high regions that other writers did not enter. But the ever-frank Gospels reveal some very human traits. Jesus gave James and John the nickname, “sons of thunder.” While it is difficult to know exactly what this meant, a clue is given in two incidents. In the first, as Matthew tells it, their mother asked that they might sit in the places of honour in Jesus’ kingdom—one on his right hand, one on his left. When Jesus asked them if they could drink the cup he would drink and be baptized with his baptism of pain, they blithely answered, “We can!” Jesus said that they would indeed share his cup, but that sitting at his right hand was not his to give. It was for those to whom it had been reserved by the Father. The other apostles were indignant at the mistaken ambition of the brothers, and Jesus took the occasion to teach them the true nature of authority: “...Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:27-28). On another occasion the “sons of thunder” asked Jesus if they should not call down fire from heaven upon the inhospitable Samaritans, who would not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. But Jesus “turned and rebuked them”(see Luke 9:51-55). On the first Easter, Mary Magdalene “ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, ‘They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him’” (John 20:2). John recalls, perhaps with a smile, that he and Peter ran side by side, but then “the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first” (John 20:4b). He did not enter, but waited for Peter and let him go in first. “Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed” (John 20:8). John was with Peter when the first great miracle after the Resurrection took place—the cure of the man crippled from birth—which led to their spending the night in jail together. The mysterious experience of the Resurrection is perhaps best contained in the words of Acts: “Observing the boldness of Peter and John and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men, they [the questioners] were amazed, and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus” (Acts 4:13). The evangelist wrote the great Gospel, the letters and the Book of Revelation. His Gospel is a very personal account. He sees the glorious and divine Jesus already in the incidents of his mortal life. At the Last Supper, John’s Jesus speaks as if he were already in heaven. It is the Gospel of Jesus’ glory.

Scripture today: 1 John 1:1-4; Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12; John 20:1a and 2-8

On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb when it was still dark, and she saw the stone taken away from the tomb. So she ran to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them: They have taken the Lord away from the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and they came to the tomb. And they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And when he stooped down he saw the linen cloths lying but did not immediately go in. Then Simon Peter, following him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying, as well as the cloth that had been about his head not lying with the linen cloths, but apart, wrapped up into one place. Then the other disciple who had arrived first also went in. He saw and believed. (John 20:1a and 2-8)

Love for Jesus It is generally agreed among most New Testament scholars that the Gospel of St John is the last written of the gospels, and perhaps put together in its final form near the end of the first century. I have seen this radically challenged by serious scholars who place it much earlier, their main evidence being internal to the Gospel itself. Whatever of that, it is remarkable how vivid is the impression of the person of Jesus in that Fourth Gospel and how fresh are the details so often given. An instance of this freshness and care in detail are the last two chapters which narrate the discovery of the empty tomb and the subsequent appearances of the risen Jesus. Our Gospel passage today clearly has for its source “the other disciple whom Jesus loved”, the companion of Simon Peter who ran ahead of Peter and reached the tomb first. Very significantly he saw the way the linen cloths were situated and folded, and as a result, “he saw and believed.” (John 20:1a and 2‑8) Three figures feature in the passage: Mary Magdalene who carried the news of the empty tomb, and Simon and the other disciple who saw the empty tomb for themselves. But let us notice something that distinguishes each of them: the burning love they had for Jesus. Mary Magdalene “ran” to the two Apostles, and they in turn “both ran” to the tomb, while the disciple Jesus loved “ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first.” Their running showed their love, and it is this which marks the disciple of Christ. He does not simply appreciate and accept the teaching of Jesus, although this of course is essential. He loves the very person of Jesus. The Christian religion involves a personal relationship with the person of Jesus, a relationship that is one of profound and ardent love. The first and foremost love, the love that is at work in the first instance is the love of Jesus for his disciple. “You did not choose me. I chose you, and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit,” our Lord said to his disciples. His love for us inspires in us an ardent love for him.

Moreover, the one whom the Christian loves is a very concrete person. He is not just an idea, a thought, an image. He is a real individual. He had terrible things happen to him and there are historical documents — the Gospels — which describe them. He actually died, he was buried, and the tomb was then discovered to be empty. There was a time when certain objectors to Christianity actually denied that Jesus even lived. They denied he was an historical personage, claiming instead that he was an invention of scheming or deluded groups of people. The absurdity of this scarcely needs mentioning, but even today significant groups deny basic facts about him. As far as I am aware, officially Islam denies that Christ actually died on the cross. Presumably this position issues from its refusal to accept the fact of the Resurrection, but it is entirely gratuitous. There is not the slightest historical support for any denial that Christ died on the Cross. Other persons deny that he rose from the dead. That is to say, they deny the credibility of those who witnessed the risen and living Jesus. There have been any number of interpretations of the historical figure of Jesus. Our Gospel passage today places before us the testimony of those who knew Christ personally and intimately. He died and was buried. They found his tomb empty except for his burial cloths, and, interestingly, even this empty tomb contained compelling evidence of his resurrection from the dead. Something about the very appearance and position of his burial cloths showed that he had risen. The “disciple Jesus loved” saw this and he believed. I remember years ago being at the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem, and an American tourist came in and wanted to know where the body of Christ was buried. The remains of Christ will never be found. That was where they laid him. But he is risen. He is our risen Lord, and is our joy for all ages.

Today is the feast of St John the evangelist, the disciple whom Jesus loved and the source of our Gospel narrative today. He is a vivid example of undying personal love for Jesus, a love that bore witness to the risen living Jesus. Every Christian is called to bear witness to the fact of Jesus, to his life and revelation, and to his death and his resurrection. Let us show our love for Jesus by bearing this daily witness to him before the world of our everyday life and work.

(E.J.Tyler)

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