Jerome (331-420 A.D.), the early
"church father" famed for his Latin "Vulgate" translation of
the Bible, has left an account of the aged apostle, John. The story was
presumably passed down by one of John’s disciples, Polycarp or Ignatius. John,
well past his 90th year, was "carried into a church and, unable to speak
at any length, would say, ‘Little children, love one another.’"
John was probably the youngest of
the Lord’s disciples. We think of him (and rightly so) as gentle and loving,
resembling his Master. But it was not always so. He and his brother James were
fishermen, the sons of Zebedee. But the Lord Jesus "surnamed them
Boanerges, which is, the sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17).
Without mentioning his own name,
John often described himself as the "disciple whom Jesus loved" (John
13:23; 20:2; 21:7,20) and as the one who leaned on Jesus’ bosom at the last
supper (John 13:23). He identified Himself only at the end of the Gospel
bearing his name (John 21:24).
This disciple whom we think of as
kind and forbearing wanted, along with his brother James, to "command fire
to come down from heaven and consume" a village of inhospitable
Samaritans. For this rashness, the Lord Jesus had to rebuke them (Luke
9:51-56).
John displayed his intolerance by
forbidding a man who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Again, the Lord had
to reprove and correct him (Luke 9:49,50). Misplaced pride and ambition caused
John and James to make a vain request of the Lord:"And James and John, the
sons of Zebedee, come unto Him, saying, Master, we would that Thou shouldest do
for us whatsoever we shall desire. And He said unto them, What would you that I
should do for you? They said unto Him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on
Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left hand, in Thy glory" (Mark
10:35-37).
This presumption on their part
displeased the other ten disciples and they were moved with indignation against
them. The Lord told them, "To sit on My right hand, and on My left, is not
mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of My
Father." He added, "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be
your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to
give His life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:23-28).
It was John’s nearness to the Lord
Jesus that eventually effected the change in John’s behavior and manner of
life. In an earlier age, King David wrote a psalm "in the day that the
Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand
of Saul." In that psalm David praised the Lord:"Thou savest me from
violence." David recognized that not he but "The LORD thundered
from heaven … He delivered me, because He delighted in me… Thy
gentleness has made me great" (2 Sam. 22:1,3,14,20,36; Psa. 18).
Another "Saul" came
violently out of Tarsus, making "havoc of the church … and … breathing
out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts
8:3; 9:1). This fanatic dogmatist was also a young man. As he "beyond
measure … persecuted the church of God and wasted it" (Gal. 1:13), he
was confronted on the Damascus Road by the Lord Jesus. There Saul ("asked
for") became Paul ("little")—a new creation in Christ Jesus. He
who had been "a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee" (Acts 23:6) was
transformed, becoming not only a disciple, but an apostle of Christ, even one
who was "not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles" (2 Cor. 11:5;
12:11).
The lesson of his namesake was not
lost on him. King Saul put his own proud, rebellious will ahead of God’s clear
command. When his disobedience was discovered, the prophet Samuel said,
"When you were little in your own sight, were you not made the head
of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed you king over Israel? … Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying
the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:17,22).
About 25 years after his
conversion, Paul recounted the experience to King Agrippa in which he "was
not disobedient unto the heavenly vision" (Acts 26:19). Paul’s
basis for exhorting the carnal Corinthians was not by his former
"threatenings," but rather beseeching "by the meekness and
gentleness of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:1).
Thus did John, a "son of
thunder," become that "disciple whom He loved" to whom
the Lord Jesus on the cross entrusted His mother (John 19:26,27). Thus did
Saul, the "persecutor" of the Lord Jesus, become "our beloved
brother Paul (2 Pet. 3:15) and "such an one as Paul the aged … a
prisoner of Jesus Christ" (Philem. 9). To John was committed the writing
of the last book of the Bible:"The things that you have seen, and the
things that are, and the things that shall be hereafter" (Rev. 1:19). To
Paul’s trust was committed the "glorious Gospel of the blessed God,"
a "chosen vessel" to bear the name of Jesus Christ "before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel" (1 Tim. 1:11; Acts 9:15).
The Lord Jesus invites all who
labor and are heavy laden to come unto Him. He can transform even the chief of
sinners into a servant, not striving, but "gentle unto all men, apt to
teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God
peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and
that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken
captive by him for his will" (2 Tim. 2:24-26).
I know not the song of Thy praises,
Till Thou teach it, my God, to
me.
Till I hear the still voice of Thy Spirit,
Who speaketh for ever of Thee—
Till I hear the celestial singing,
And learn the new song of Thy
grace,
And then shall I tell forth the marvels
I learnt in Thy secret place.
Thy marvels, not mine, far surpassing
All thoughts of my heart must
they be—
I can but declare the glad tidings,
As Thou has declared them to
me.
Richard Rolle, 1349
Every believer on the Lord Jesus
Christ is "beloved of the Lord," just as the apostle Paul addressed
the Thessalonian saints:"But we ought to give thanks to God always for
you, brethren beloved of the Lord that God has chosen you to salvation
in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:whereto He has called
you by our glad tidings, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. So then, brethren, stand firm, and hold fast the instructions which you
have been taught, whether by word or by our letter. But our Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
and our God and Father, who has loved us, and given us eternal
consolation and good hope by grace, encourage your hearts, and establish you in
every good work and word" (2 Thess. 2:13-17, JND).
"To the praise of the glory
of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the Beloved"
(Eph. 1:6).