The Apostle John: The Message and the Messenger

By Elaine Williams Hart

We are made in the image of God. Therefore, Jesus was born in the image of our Father God and His mother Mary, but he did not exhibit the glory of God. However, three of his apostles Peter, James, and John did see His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. Matthew, Mark, and Luke give us accounts of this glimpse of the divinity of Jesus, but John does not-- probably because it had already been included in the other gospels. John ended his account of the tiny timeline of the ministry of Jesus by saying, "There were so many other things that Jesus did, that if they were all written down I don't believe the world could contain the books. Amen" (John 21:25).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886857207

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The Apostle John

The Message and the Messenger

Elaine Williams Hart

ISBN 979-8-88685-719-1 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88685-720-7 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Elaine Williams Hart

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Rome

BC 46–43: Julius Caesar

BC 44: Octavian in all but name

BC 31–AD 14: Augustus Caesar proclaimed himself first emperor of Rome

AD 14–37: Tiberius

AD 37–41: Caligula

AD 41–54: Claudius

AD 54–68: Nero

AD 68–69: Galba

AD 69: Otho (January–April)

AD 69: Vitellius (July–December)

AD 69–79: Vespasian

AD 79–81: Titus

AD 81–96: Domitian

AD 96–98: Nerva

AD 98–117: Trajan

AD 117–138: Hadrian

AD 324–337: Constantine I

AD 337–340: Constantine II

Judea

(Appointed by Roman emperor)

BC 37–4: Herod the Great, Father, Edomite (Esau)/Mother, Nabataen; Birth of Jesus Christ.

BC 4–AD 6: Herod Archelaus, Ethnarch over Judea, Idumea, and Samaria.

BC 4–AD 39: Herod Antipas, Tetrarch over Galilee and Perea. Heard Jesus but did not judge.

AD 26–36: Pontius Pilate, Roman Governor, turned Jesus Christ over for crucifixion.

AD 41–44: Herod Agrippa I, King appointed by Rome. Executed James (brother of John).

AD 50–93: Herod Agrippa II, King appointed by Rome. Heard Paul's defense.

Bibliography

Josephus. The Complete Works (translated by William Whiston, AM). Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1988.

Maier, Paul. Eusebius—The Church History: A New Translation with Commentary. Kregel Publications, 1999.

Pietersma, Albert and Wright, Benjamin G., eds. A New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS). 

International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, Inc. Oxford University Press, 2007.

About the Author

The dictionary definition of the word apostle is messenger. A disciple is a student and follower. Jesus carefully picked His messengers, but actually, John found Jesus. After Jesus was baptized, John the Baptist pointed Him out to his own disciples, John and Andrew, and they followed the Lord and spent the day with Him. Andrew found his brother Peter, who joined them, so these three knew Jesus from the beginning of His ministry (John 1:29–40). John and Jesus were probably about the same age—about thirty years old. They were probably born around AD 1. Remember, even time changed for Jesus!

Matthew tells us that following His baptism, Jesus went through a forty-day fasting period when He was tempted by Satan. After His temptation, Matthew relates that Jesus lived in Capernaum for some time, fulfilling Isaiah's prophesy.

The gloom will end. He humbles the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali, but afterward those in darkness in Galilee and beyond the Jordan will see a great light. (Isaiah 9:1–2)

When the children of Israel returned to the Promised Land after four hundred years in Egypt, sections of land were assigned to each of the twelve tribes. Naphtali received the land north and west of the Sea of Galilee, and Capernaum is on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, in Naphtali's territory. Zebulun was landlocked and tucked into southwestern Naphtali, due west of the Sea of Galilee.

In Capernaum, Jesus began His ministry, preaching, Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Then He moved down to Galilee, fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy, and there He called His disciples. Andrew, Peter, John, and John's brother James were called first; and they immediately left their boats and followed Jesus. The Light of the World found them on their fishing boats on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 4:12–22).

Capernaum and Galilee were obscure little parts of the Roman Empire, and life was peaceful on the surface; Rome ruled with an iron hand. But politics created incredible undercurrents. Augustus Caesar was the Roman emperor in power when Jesus and John were born, and he was succeeded by Tiberius, who was emperor when Jesus was crucified.

Augustus appointed Herod the Great as king of Israel, although Herod was not an Israelite. Herod's father was an Edomite—a descendant of Esau (Jacob's twin brother). His mother was Nabataean. The Nabataeans were Arabian, and they built the ancient city of Petra. Herod the Great was told by the wise men that the King of the Jews had been born, and he ordered that all the male babies in Bethlehem who were two years or younger be killed (Matthew 2). Herod the Great was succeeded by Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist, who was king when Jesus Christ was crucified, and who killed John's brother, James.

And then there was Pontius Pilate. He was appointed governor of Judea by Emperor Tiberius. Pilate was a Roman knight, and he was imposed as another layer of control by Rome. He presided over the trial of Jesus Christ. Although the Jews stoned people to death for certain sins, the Sanhedrin did not have the authority to impose the death penalty, so they bowed to Pilate to get their way, and he accommodated them. World politics and national politics were of concern, but people were caught up in local politics as well. There were the priests, the Sanhedrin, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Essenes, all insisting that their way was the only way.

The Sanhedrin were assemblies of twenty-three rabbis or elders appointed in every city in Israel to hear complaints. The Great Sanhedrin was a supreme court assembly of seventy-one judges appointed to hear cases appealed from the lower courts. The Sadducees were priests and aristocrats in the Sanhedrin who wanted to only look at the written law literally interpreted. They only accepted the first five books of the Bible. They did not believe in the afterlife. The Pharisees were a more down-to-earth party in the Sanhedrin. They believed that they should also consider all the law given orally by God to Moses in the Sinai, and that God gave them the good sense to interpret it. They believed in the Messiah, and they believed in the afterlife. The Essenes held the Sadducees and the Pharisees with contempt, moved out of town, and lived strict celibate lives out in the desert.

From the cross, Jesus asked the apostle John to take care of His mother, Mary, and John did take care of her. At some point, John moved Mary to Ephesus in Greece (now Turkey), where they lived until her death. We do not know when she died, but there is a tradition that holds that she died in AD 41.

John outlived all the other apostles by more than twenty years. Many people think he died a peaceful death, but we know he was martyred because Jesus told him that he would drink of His cup.

James and John came to Jesus and asked, Let us sit at Your right and left hands when You come into Your glory. Jesus asked, Can you drink of the cup I will drink or be baptized with My baptism? They answered, We can. Jesus told them, You WILL drink the cup I drink, and be baptized with My baptism, but it is not for Me to grant that you sit at My right and left hands. (Mark 10:35–40)

Jesus told James and John that they would be martyred. All the apostles were martyred for preaching the Gospel, and half of them were crucified. John's brother James was the first apostle to die. He was arrested in Jerusalem in AD 44 on orders of King Herod, and he was killed by the sword (Acts 12:1–2).

When he was probably beyond ninety years old, the apostle John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos by Emperor Domitian. While on Patmos, Jesus Christ revealed the end times to him, and he wrote down the vision for us—The Revelation of Jesus Christ. After Nerva became emperor of Rome in AD 96, John was released from Patmos, and he returned to Ephesus. Polycrates (AD 130–196), second-century bishop of Ephesus, wrote that John was martyred. John was probably about one hundred years old when he died.

There is also John, who leaned on the Lord's breast and who became a priest wearing the miter, a martyr, and a teacher; he too sleeps in Ephesus.(Eusebius, The Church History, 3.31, 5.24)

Matthew was an apostle and was with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry. Matthew wrote the Gospel according to Matthew in Hebrew specifically for the Jews. Mark was a disciple of Peter, and the Gospel according to Mark is a record of the teaching and testimony of Peter. Luke was Paul's disciple and the Gospel according to Luke is a record of his research and the teachings of Paul. Toward the end of his life, John recognized that there was a need for the whole story. The Gospel according to John is the only one that begins at the very beginning, and he recounts the ministry of Jesus Christ in chronological order.

Chapter 1

In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth. The earth was a dark void. GOD's HOLY SPIRIT hovered over the waters. GOD's WORD said, Let there be LIGHT, and Behold: There was Light! God separated the light from the darkness. He called the light day and the darkness night. Evening and morning were the first day.

—Genesis 1:1–5

In the beginning of what? The beginning of the universe. Not the beginning of God; God was already there with His Word and His Spirit. Our little timeline is just a tiny anomaly—a deviation in the vastness of eternity.

We clearly see the Holy Trinity in the first words of the Bible: our Father God, His Spirit, and His spoken Word. God's Word was the force that gave the world its order. The Word was with God—not another name for God, but a function of God, just as His loving Spirit is a function of God. John wrote his gospel to give us the whole story, and he really began at the beginning!

John 1:1–5. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God! Through God's Word all things were made. Without God's Word nothing was made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, but darkness does not comprehend the Light.

God spoke everything into existence. I think this confirms the big bang theory—God said, and bang! There It was! John begins his gospel by pointing out to us that Jesus Christ is the Word of God and the Light of the World, and that God just spoke the universe into existence.

John the apostle introduces us to the preincarnate (preflesh) Word of God. John was not an ignorant fisherman; he was an educated businessman. He knew and understood the Scripture, and he recognized the fulfillment of that Scripture. He wanted to put it into perspective so that we could try to grasp the magnitude of it. He takes us from our finite little preexistence here into our existence in eternity! The Word of God had to become flesh so that He could die for us—so that His blood could cover our sins once and for all. John wanted all of us to believe and to receive eternal life.

It was not necessary for the apostle John to tell us about the conception of Jesus because God had already given us that information through His servant Luke. Luke also had introduced us to John the Baptist.

God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth to Mary, a virgin betrothed to Joseph who was a descendant of David. You have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a Son and will name Him Jesus. God will give Him the Throne of David and He will reign forever. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the Most High will overshadow you, and your child will be called the Son of God. Your relative, Elizabeth, is in her sixth month with a child, even though she was said to be barren. Nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:26–38)

Matthew had also already introduced us to John the Baptist. The father of John the Baptist was a Levite named Zechariah, who prophesied, "My child will be a prophet of the Most High. He will go