John the Beloved.
John is distinguished above the other apostles as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." John 21:20.He seems to have enjoyed to a pre-eminent degree the friendship of Christ, and he received many tokens of the Saviour's confidence and love.He was one of the three permitted to witness Christ's glory upon the mount of transfiguration and His agony in Gethsemane, and it was to his care that our Lord confided His mother in those last hours of anguish upon the cross.
The Saviour's affection for the beloved disciple was returned with all the strength of ardent devotion.John clung to Christ as the vine clings to the stately pillar.For his Master's sake he braved the dangers of the judgment hall and lingered about the cross, and at the tidings that Christ had risen, he hastened to the sepulcher, in his zeal out-stripping even the impetuous Peter.
The confiding love and unselfish devotion manifested in the life and character of John present lessons of untold value to the Christian church.John did not naturally possess the loveliness of character that his later experience revealed.By nature he had serious defects.He was not only proud, self-assertive, and ambitious for honor, but impetuous, and resentful under injury.He and his brother were called "sons of thunder." Evil temper, the desire for revenge, the spirit of criticism, were all in the beloved disciple.But beneath all this the divine Teacher discerned the ardent, sincere, loving heart.Jesus rebuked this self-seeking, disappointed his ambitions, tested his faith.But He revealed to him that for which his soul longed--the beauty of holiness, the transforming power of love.
The defects in John's character came strongly to the front on several occasions during his personal association with the Saviour.At one time Christ sent messengers before Him into a village of the Samaritans, requesting the people to prepare refreshments for Him and His disciples.But when the Saviour approached the town, He appeared to be desirous of passing on toward Jerusalem.This aroused the envy of the Samaritans, and instead of inviting Him to tarry with them, they withheld the courtesies which they would have given to a common wayfarer.Jesus never urges His presence upon any, and the Samaritans lost the blessing which would have been granted them had they solicited Him to be their guest.
The disciples knew that it was the purpose of Christ to bless the Samaritans by His presence; and the coldness, jealousy, and disrespect shown to their Master filled them with surprise and indignation.James and John especially were aroused.That He whom they so highly reverenced should be thus treated, seemed to them a wrong too great to be passed over without immediate punishment.In their zeal they said, "Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?" referring to the destruction of the Samaritan captains and their companies sent out to take the prophet Elijah.They were surprised to see that Jesus was pained by their words, and still more surprised as His rebuke fell upon their ears:
"Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Luke 9:54-56.
It is no part of Christ's mission to compel men to receive Him.It is Satan, and men actuated by his spirit, who seek to compel the conscience.Under a pretense of zeal for righteousness, men who are confederated with evil angels sometimes bring suffering upon their fellow men in order to convert them to their ideas of religion; but Christ is ever showing mercy, ever seeking to win by the revealing of His love.He can admit no rival in the soul, nor accept of partial service; but He desires only voluntary service, the willing surrender of the heart under the constraint of love.
On another occasion James and John presented through their mother a petition requesting that they might be permitted to occupy the highest positions of honor in Christ's kingdom.Notwithstanding Christ's repeated instruction concerning the nature of His kingdom, these young disciples still cherished the hope for a Messiah who would take His throne and kingly power in accordance with the desires of men.The mother, coveting with them the place of honor in this kingdom for her sons, asked, "Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other on the left, in Thy kingdom."But the Saviour answered, "Ye know not what ye ask.Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They recalled His mysterious words pointing to trial and suffering, yet answered confidently, "We are able." They would count it highest honor to prove their loyalty by sharing all that was to befall their Lord.
