The Flight of the Eagle

IN THE JANUARY 2005 issue of this magazine we began a series on the four Evangelists. The idea behind the articles stemmed from the realisation that very little is known about the authors of the four canonical Gospels, despite the fact that they are mentioned every day in church, and that it is impossible to underestimate their importance for Christianity.
In our articles on Saint Matthew, Saint Mark and Saint Luke, we were able to a certain extent to sift through the myriads of legends available and distinguish fact from fiction. Despite the lack of reliable information we were able to reconstruct a fairly good picture of the lives of these three Evangelists. The series was interrupted by the events in Rome, by Sister Lucia's death and other important events. It is now time to bring the series to completion with an article on the loftiest of the Evangelists - Saint John.

Born in Bethsaida

From reliable historical sources we know that John was the youngest of Jesus' apostles. He was born in Galilee, the leafy northern part of Palestine, and probably came from one of the coastal towns along the Sea of Galilee, perhaps from Bethsaida. The Evangelists Matthew and Mark write that he was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and the brother of James the Greater.
Zebedee was a fisherman, and the owner of a small fleet of fishing boats with various workers under him. He must have been a respected member of his community because he had connections high up in the religious hierarchy. It is perhaps for this reason that he had access to the Sanhedrin, the supreme council and court of justice among the Jews, when Jesus was arrested. We also know that his mother, Salome, was related to Jesus' mother. She was perhaps a cousin of the Blessed Virgin, and is often mentioned along with the pious women.
John probably spent a happy carefree childhood within the family household. He must have started working with his father at a relatively early age because he does not seem to have studied at any of the Rabbinical schools, which were usually attended by the male children of the most affluent families. Thus, despite his deeply religious, idealistic nature, he was regarded as an uneducated  man. Being largely self-taught in the Jewish Scriptures, he was able to fathom their contents in a living way, and avoid the external and intellectual method of learning used in the religious schools.

Jesus' call

From his living knowledge of Scripture John knew that he was living in a turning point of history - in the time when the long-awaited Messiah was finally due to come. Like all zealous Jews, he was constantly on the lookout for any indication, any 'sign', that would distinguish the real Messiah from all the charlatans who were then to be found in Palestine. One day he must have heard that a bold and fiery prophet called John the Baptist was preaching the remission of sins and proclaiming the beginning of  a new dispensation along the Jordan river. He could not let this opportunity slip him by and immediately set out to meet the prophet. The imposing figure of John the Baptist left an indelible mark in his soul, and he resolved to become his follower. However, the Precursor was constantly referring to another greater than himself, and it was through him that our Evangelist eventually encountered the Messiah - the teacher of teachers.
This is described in the first chapter of his Gospel. It was afternoon, and John the Baptist was teaching as usual, when an obscure man called Jesus of Nazareth approached the group. At this point John the Baptist received an extraordinary revelation from on high and proclaimed with the utmost solemnity and power, 'Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!' John the Baptist then added other important indications to dispel any doubts from those present that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah who was to come.
Following this episode, our Evangelist must have been burning with desire to meet that man, and his wildest dreams came true when, a few days later, Jesus himself approached him. Matthew, in chapter 4 of his gospel, writes, 'Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. He said to them, 'Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.' They immediately left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them. They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.'
John's new life with Christ began on that day. That life was distinguished by many a token indicating a special affinity with Jesus, a kinship which, however, did not confer upon him any sort of leadership over the other Apostles.

The youngest apostle

John was the disciple 'whom Jesus loved' (Jn. 13,23); the one who enjoyed special privileges. He was the youngest of the apostles, and, along with James, his brother, and Peter, the chief of the apostles, he was with Jesus in the most important moments of His ministry. They were present when Jesus brought back to life the daughter of Jairus; they were the sole witnesses of Jesus' Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, and, during the Last Supper, John was the only apostle to 'recline next to Him'. In that poignant moment Jesus disclosed the identity of the traitor to him alone.
Then, when the Last Supper was over, Jesus retired with the apostles to the Mount of Olives. The apostles were overcome by sleep, and Jesus was left to endure the last distressing moments before his arrest alone. His agony was so intense that he began to sweat blood. Feeling the need of human comfort, Jesus sought the assistance of his three closest associates, and with them repaired to an even more remote corner of that mountain, the Garden of Gethsemane, to pray undisturbed.
When Jesus was arrested, John fled like all the other apostles, but he then managed to muster enough strength to follow his divine teacher from afar, and even to enter the court-room of the Sanhedrin. He was therefore present during all the phases of the trial of his teacher. He then followed Him on His path to Mount Calvary, and was the only apostle to be present at the foot of the Cross along with the pious women.  It was there that Jesus, just before drawing His last breath, established the mysterious connection between His beloved mother and His beloved disciple, 'When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing beside her, He said to His mother, 'Woman here is your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Here is your mother'. And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.' (Jn 19, 26-27)
On Easter Sunday John and Peter were told by Mary of Magdalene that Jesus' tomb was empty. John immediately hastened to the tomb with Peter. Being younger, John arrived earlier, and was therefore the first to see the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not enter the tomb. Why? Perhaps out of deference for Peter, the disciple whom Jesus had chosen as the rock on which to build his Church. He therefore entered after Peter. John was also present at all the manifestations of the Risen Christ right up to His ascension in heaven.

Visiting Asia Minor

When the first great missionary journeys began, John, according to tradition, went to Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), and became the head of the Church in Ephesus. Tradition does not ascribe a martyr's death to him. However, he experienced his own fair share of persecution. Legend has it that he was in Rome when Domitian was emperor, and that he was sentenced to be submerged in a cauldron of boiling oil only to re-emerge unscathed. He was then exiled to the island of Patmos, where he composed the last book contained in the bible, the Book of Revelations. After the emperor's death he returned to Ephesus, where he died during Trajan's reign, perhaps in the year 104. He was then more than a hundred years old.
Saint John is the apostle and the evangelist who, more than any other, emphasised the importance of love. The celebrated expression, God is love, occurs in the first of his three letters. That epistle is suffused with sweetness and intimacy. However, we must not assume that this apostle was merely a soft, starry-eyed romantic. He was first and foremost a theologian of the highest order. He was able to find the most poetical expressions to define Christ's ineffable but unapproachable divinity. It is for this reason that he is associated with the eagle; thus signifying that his theological speculations come closest to the majesty of God, like the eagle, which flies closest to the sun. Besides the Gospel, he is also the author of the Book of Revelations (the Apocalypse), the most complex and hermetic text in the whole Bible. This work is a collection of impressive prophesies on the future of the world and of humanity. Finally, John is also the author of three pastoral letters.

Truth and Love

The early Church Fathers saw his Gospel as the most spiritual and mystical of the four Gospels. However, he was also a scrupulous historian, and was keen to chronicle events as they actually occurred, and to fill in any gaps left by his predecessors.
Most biographers define John as the Evangelist of love. Saint Jerome tells us that John, at the end of his life, being unable to walk, could only attend meetings if carried by other people. At such meetings he would often repeat, 'Little children, love one another'. To anyone who ventured to ask the reason for this frequent repetition, our Evangelist would answer, 'Because this is the Lord's commandment, and, if we were able to fulfil this sole commandment, that would be enough!'
Clement of Alexandria recounts that, one day, one of John's disciples lapsed from his faith and became a brigand. John was, by now, a very old man. Despite this, he followed him into the mountains and was able to bring him back to Christ. 'If it were necessary,' John told him, 'I would gladly die for you, just like Our Saviour did for all of us. I would give my life to save yours.'
Love was for John the greatest commandment, just like Jesus had taught him. However, it is also important to note that his writings are also concerned with the problem of Truth, and identify God as the substance, the essence, of Truth itself. The central idea in his works and deeds is that Love itself is Truth, and that it can be nothing other than Truth in order that it may be the same thing as God. John is the only Evangelist who reports the monumental words of Christ: I am the Way the Truth and the Life. (Jn. 14, 6)
John's life was a continuous search and service of the Truth, and however sweet he may have been as a person, his goodness is not to be identified as weakness. This is proved by his uncompromising stance on issues regarding the fundamental precepts of the Christian faith. In his second letter he writes, 'If anyone comes to you and doesn't bring Christ's doctrine, don't receive him into your house, and don't welcome him, for he who welcomes him participates in his evil works'.

In Ephesus

Saint Irenaeus speaks in many places of the apostle John and of his life in Asia Minor, and expressly declares that he wrote his gospel in Ephesus. Irenaeus had collected much information from his teacher, Saint Polycarp, who had himself been a disciple of  our Evangelist. Polycarp died in 155, when he was almost ninety, and thus had had the occasion to know John well.
Irenaeus writes that one day John saw Cerinthus, the leader of a Gnostic sect, in the baths at Ephesus. Cerinthus' heretical doctrines were causing havoc in the Church. As soon as he saw him, John fled the place, saying, 'Let's get out of here before the building falls down; it is housing Cerinthus, the enemy of Truth.'
Irenaeus also tells us that Polycarp had acquired his fervent love of truth from his teacher, and was thus furious at anyone who twisted the truth for his own ends. One day Polycarp met Marcion, a former bishop turned heretic. Polycarp knew Marcion well, but refused to acknowledge him. When Marcion replied, 'Don't you recognise me?' Polycarp retorted, 'I do indeed know you; you are the first-born of Satan!' Irenaeus commented this episode by writing, 'This shows how great a fear the apostles or their disciples had of having anything to do, even if only a sole word, with anyone who twisted the truth.'