St. John

Oversimplified

• The Apostle and Evangelist John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved," author of the Fourth Gospel, three epistles, and Revelation.
• The Church names him "the Theologian" for the heights of his Gospel — "In the beginning was the Word."

His Story

St. John, son of Zebedee and brother of James, is a Galilean fisherman called from his nets to follow Christ. Among the inner circle of the Apostles, he is present at the Transfiguration, leans on the Lord's breast at the Last Supper, and stands at the Cross, where Christ entrusts His mother to him (John 19.26-27). After Pentecost he preaches with Peter in Jerusalem, and tradition places his later ministry at Ephesus, his exile on the island of Patmos under persecution, and his return to Ephesus in extreme old age. He is the only one of the Twelve not martyred, dying peacefully as an old man; his disciples included St. Polycarp of Smyrna, a living link back to the apostolic age.[^1]

The Theologian

John's Gospel opens with the eternal Word made flesh (John 1.1-14) and gives the Church its deepest language for the Incarnation, love, and abiding in Christ. His epistles insist that Christ came "in the flesh" and that "God is love." Revelation unveils the worship of heaven and the Lamb's victory. See The Incarnation, St. John the Baptist.

[^1]: Tradition places John's later ministry and death at Ephesus, with a period of exile on the island of Patmos.