Disciple whom Jesus loved
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The phrase the disciple whom Jesus loved ("ο μαθητης ον ηγαπα ο Ιησους" or, in John 20:2, "ον εφιλει ο Ιησους") is used five times in the Gospel of John,[1] but in no other New Testament accounts of Jesus. Today John the Apostle is often referred to as the Beloved Disciple.
- In the Gospel of John,[2] it is the Beloved Disciple who, reclining beside Jesus at the Last Supper, asks him who it is that will betray him.
- Later at the crucifixion. Jesus tells his mother, "Woman, here is your son", and to the Beloved Disciple he says, "Here is your mother."[3]
- When Mary Magdalene discovers the empty tomb, she runs to tell the Beloved Disciple and Simon Peter. The two men rush to the empty tomb and the Beloved Disciple is the first to reach the empty tomb. However, Simon Peter is the first to enter.[4]
Since the end of the 2nd century, the Beloved Disciple has been considered to be John the Evangelist. Modern scholars generally hold that the Apostle John did not write the gospel attributed to him.[5] The author may have been a lesser known disciple, perhaps from Jerusalem.[6]
In art, the Beloved Disciple is portrayed as a beardless youth, usually as one of the Twelve Apostles at the Last Supper or with Mary at the crucifixion. Many artists have given different interpretations of John 13:25 which has the disciple whom Jesus loved "reclining next to Jesus" (v. 23; more literally, "on/at his breast/bosom," en to kolpo).[7]
[edit] Identity of the Beloved Disciple
This anonymous and idealized disciple is often identified as John the Apostle, thought to be also the Evangelist; others have proposed Lazarus or Mark the Evangelist, or supposed him to be a fictitious character.[8] A major difficulty in supposing that the Beloved Disciple was not one of the Twelve is that he was present at the Last Supper which Matthew and Mark state that Jesus ate with the Twelve.[9]
Since the Beloved Disciple does not appear in any of the other New Testament gospels, it has been traditionally seen as a self-reference to John the Evangelist. An issue is the identification of the Evangelist with John the Apostle; that is, whether the apostle is the same man as the evangelist. Modern scholars generally hold that John the Apostle did not write the Gospel of John or any of the other New Testament works traditionally ascribed to him.[5] Some contemporary Christian scholars,[10] however, consider it plausible or even likely that the Apostle John authored the gospel attributed to him.[11]
In the appendix to the Gospel[12] there is an explicit testimony that the Beloved Disciple is testifying to the accounts told in John's gospel: "It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true."
Martin L. Smith, SSJE writes that the author of John's gospel may have deliberately obscured the identity of the Beloved Disciple in order that readers of the gospel may better identify with the disciple's relationship with Jesus:
"Perhaps the disciple is never named, never individualized, so that we can more easily accept that he bears witness to an intimacy that is meant for each one of us. The closeness that he enjoyed is a sign of the closeness that is mine and yours because we are in Christ and Christ is in us."[13]
A second century quote of Polycrates of Ephesus (c. 130s - 196), recorded by Eusebius in his Church History, supports the classical identification of Beloved Disciple, who reclined beside Jesus at the Last Supper, with John.
John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and, being a priest, wore the sacerdotal plate. He fell asleep at Ephesus.[14]
Some writers suggest that the Beloved Disciple in the Gospel of John really was originally Mary Magdalene, claiming that Mary's separate existence in a few common scenes with the Beloved Disciple, such as in John 20, were later modifications, hastily done to authorize the gospel in the late 2nd century. In the Gospel of Mary, part of the New Testament Apocrypha, a certain Mary who is commonly identified as Mary Magdalene, is constantly referred to as being loved by Jesus more than the others.[15] In the Gospel of Philip, also from Apocrypha, the same is specifically said about Mary Magdalene.[16] For example, compare these passages from the Gospel of John and the apocryphal Gospel of Philip:
Gospel of Philip: There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary his mother and her sister and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion. His sister and his mother and his companion were each a Mary[17]
Gospel of John: Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said… (John 19:25)
The idea of a beloved or special disciple is sometimes evoked in analysis of other texts from the New Testament Pseudepigrapha. In the Gospel of Thomas, Judas Thomas is the disciple taken aside by Jesus. In the Gospel of Judas, Judas Iscariot is favored with privy enlightening information and set apart from the other apostles. Another more recent interpretation draws from the Secret Gospel of Mark, existing only in fragments. In this interpretation, two scenes from Secret Mark and one at Mark 14:51-52 feature the same young man or youth who is unnamed but seems closely connected to Jesus. As the account in Secret Mark details a raising from the dead very similar to Jesus' raising of Lazarus in John 11:38-44, the young man is identified as Lazarus and associated with the Beloved Disciple.
Passover Plot author Hugh J. Schonfield imagined the Disciple to be a highly placed priest in the Temple and unavailable to follow Jesus in his ministry in the north. Schonfield uses this theory to account for the Beloved Disciple's absence in the north and accounts of Jesus' ministry in the Temple during the week before the Crucifixion. [18]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 21:20
- ^ John 13:23-25
- ^ John 19:26-27
- ^ John 20:1-10
- ^ a b "Although ancient traditions attributed to the Apostle John the Fourth Gospel, the Book of Revelation, and the three Epistles of John, modern scholars believe that he wrote none of them." Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible (Palo Alto: Mayfield, 1985) p. 355
- ^ Theissen, Gerd and Annette Merz. The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Fortress Press. 1998. translated from German (1996 edition). Chapter 2. Christian sources about Jesus.
- ^ Rodney A. Whitacre,"Jesus Predicts His Betrayal." IVP New Testament Commentaries, Intervarsity Press, 1999. ISBN-13: 978-0-8308-1800-6
- ^ "'beloved disciple.'" Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
- ^ Matthew 26:20 and Mark 14:17
- ^ as Hahn, Scott (2003). The Gospel of John: Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. p. 13. ISBN 9780898708202. http://books.google.com/books?id=aPldG0wUOxEC.
- ^ Morris, Leon (1995). The Gospel according to John. p. 12. ISBN 9780802825049. http://books.google.com/books?id=II-33dS9esAC.
- ^ John 21:24
- ^ Smith, Martin L., SSJE (1991). "Lying Close to the Breast of Jesus". A Season for the Spirit (Tenth anniversary edition ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cowley Publications. p. 190. ISBN 1-56101-026-X.
- ^ Eusebius. Church History. Book V, Chapter 24:2
- ^ King, Karen L. Why All the Controversy? Mary in the Gospel of Mary. “Which Mary? The Marys of Early Christian Tradition” p. 74. F. Stanley Jones, ed. Brill, 2003
- ^ See http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gop.html
- ^ NHC II.3.59.6-11 (Robinson 1988: 145)
- ^ Hugh J. Schonfield, The Passover Plot
[edit] References
- Charlesworth, James H. The Beloved Disciple: Whose Witness Validates the Gospel of John?. Trinity Press, 1995. ISBN 1-56338-135-4.
- Smith, Edward R. The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved: Unveiling the Author of John's Gospel. Steiner Books/Anthroposophic Press, 2000. ISBN 0-88010-486-4.
