St. John the Evangelist Biography
by
Nick Culafi (Niko)
by
Nick Culafi (Niko)
St. John the Evangelist was one of the original twelve apostles, and has written many religious works that include the fourth gospel and three epistles. He is the favorite apostle of Jesus, and was with him when he died on the crucifix and was asked by him to take care of the Virgin Mary. He has had the Book of Revelations assigned to him, and had a lot of power in the church after the resurrection of Christ.
St. John was born to a Galilean fisherman named Zebedee, and his mother Salome. St. John was considered to have three mothers, his birth mother Salome, the Virgin Mary, and Boanegres, known as Thunder; thus John became the Son of Thunder because he requested Jesus to punish those who did not believe Jesus as well as himself so that he could be a suffering witness to see Jesus suffering. This act made them seem valiant and to show no fear to make the law of God. St. John also had a brother, St. James, who was an apostle as well. Not much is known about St. Johns early life as a child, but he is considered one of the most important of apostles because of his commitment to Jesus and being at his side in tense situations.
When St. John was 25, he was fishing with his brother James and his father Zebedee when Jesus came to them after Simon (St. Peter) and Andrew became his disciples. Jesus told them that he would teach them how to catch men. John is considered by most to be Jesus favorite disciple because John had in excess of love towards Jesus and had tried to be in Christs image through peacefulness, his privileges of chastity, and that he kept himself a virgin to show his devotion to Christ.
In his calling with being in the life with Christ, St. John the Evangelist had a lot of impotence in the development of the Christian faith. He went with Christ to go with Him to Mt. Tabor where Jesus learned he was truly the Son of God, he was there when Peters mother-in-law was healed, and he was there when Jesus revived Jarius daughter. He endured through the conflict of Jesus life and stayed with him through the extensive crucifixion and made a promise to Jesus to take care of Mary. When Jesus had died and ascended into heaven, he was devoted to his promise and took care of Mary for the rest of Marys life. When Mary died years later, St. John buried her in the Garden of Gethsemane and 40 days later, he returned to the tomb where he discovered that Mary was not there, and had been assumed into heaven. After his promise had been fulfilled, he dedicated the rest of his life to spreading the word of God.
Through his life as a missionary, he was amazingly the only apostle that was not martyred. John had met with St. Paul on a few occasions and confirmed Paul that it was his purpose in life to convert the Gentiles. He first converted the Jews of Parthia by himself, and then went to Ephesus where he made churches and was in charge of the congregations in his area. One of the best stories about John came from Saint Clement of Alexandria. It was said that he chose a man in Ephesus to take his place as a leader in the congregations around him. That man became a priest who John had especially liked, but later John returned and supposedly said "Restore to me the trust which Jesus Christ and I committed to you in the presence of your congregation." They then said he had died. John responded by asking what he had died of, but they responded only by saying He is dead to God. He had become low and wicked and lead a band of robbers. John later met him and said he must repent for his sins, and that John would give his life for the man like Jesus gave his life for the world. The man began to cry, and he was forgiven, which was a great example of St. Johns tremendous charity. In year 92 A.D., John was banished by the cruel emperor Domitian to the island of Patmos where John had a vision and made the sacred book known as Revelations, which is traditionally the last book in the bible. When Domitian died a year later, he returned to Ephesus where he wrote the fourth gospel. When he was too weak to preach, he would be with the Faithful and he would tell them simply Love one another. He died not long after, known to be at least over 90, but no one is sure.
Overall, St. John the Evangelist is an amazing saint. He has shown courage where others have failed; he has sacrificed much to keep himself faithful to Christ, and has been the only apostle who has not been martyred for the faith. If we did not have St. John, Mary might have not been taken care of, Paul might not have been the man that he is, and the Christian faith may not have developed or developed as well as it is today. He has been possibly the closest human to Jesus, and shows that people can be in Christs image.
Citations
http://www.scborromeo.org/saints/johnapos.htm
http://home.it.net.au/~jgrapsas/pages/stJon_ev.htm
http://users.erols.com/saintpat/ss/1227.htm
http://www.mcmorran.org/sjdk/stjohn.shtml
