twelve common men

TWELVE COMMON MENTWELVE COMMON MENJohnJohn

The Apostle Whom Jesus LovedThe Apostle Whom Jesus Loved

TTHE HE IINNER NNER CCIRCLEIRCLE

Peter

James

JohnAndrew

Transfiguration; Resurrection of the Little Girl; In the Garden

JJOHNOHN THETHE S SONON OFOF ZZEBEDEEEBEDEE

• Witness of the New Testament- the Synoptic Gospels - Acts - Galatians- the Apostle’s own writings:

- His Gospel- His Epistles- The Revelation

John – the Apostle Whom Jesus Loved

JJOHN’SOHN’S C CHARACTERHARACTER

• Intense

• Passionate

• Loved and Loving

• Able to Learn


WWHATHAT J JOHNOHN L LEARNEDEARNED

• To Balance Love and Truth

• His commitment to truth can be seen:- in his readiness to leave the Baptist and follow Jesus.- in all of his writings, using the word for truth 45 times.

(3 Jn 4, 1 Jn 2:4; 1:6,8)




• In his early years his zeal for truth lacked love and compassion.

• We see a display of intolerance, elitism and lack of agape.

• Compare to the incident of Mk. 9:38.

• Jesus must have been disappointed in John, since he barely had a strong lesson on agape out of his mouth (vv. 35-37; 1 Cor. 13:4,5)

• Perhaps this was John confessing his mistake. If so, this could be a turning point in his attitude.




• Courage, ambition, drive, passion, boldness and a zeal for the truth without love and compassion will not let a man reach his full potential in Christ.

• Truth without love has no decency; it is just brutality. Love without truth has no character; it is just hypocrisy.

• Many are unbalanced by disregarding truth and only emphasizing love. (1 Cor. 13:6)

• We must know the truth and uphold it in love. (Eph. 4:13-15)




• In his maturity we know John had learned this lesson of balance. (2 Jn 1-5)

• There is no greater truth than love. (Mt. 22:37-39)

• Our love cannot be allowed to be compromised by false teaching. (2 Jn 7-11)

• Our “love” must stop short of aiding and abetting false teaching. (Lk. 6:27-28)



• To Balance Ambition and Humility

• John had ambitious plans for himself. But his ambition lacked humility. (Mk. 10:35 ff.)

• Ironically, this came of the heels of Mk. 10:31

• Jesus’ response (Mk. 10:42-45)

• Those who wish greatness must first learn humility. Advancement in Christ’s kingdom will not come through politics, status, power, or dominion. (Lk. 18:14; 14:8-11)

• Greatness in the kingdom will only come through service. (Jn. 13:1-17)




• It is through his writings that we learn that John eventually achieved this balance.

• He does not mention his own name in the Gospel he wrote, choosing to identify himself in relation to Jesus, the disciple whom Jesus loved. Only John recorded the foot washing incident.

• In his epistles he refers to his readers as “my little children, beloved; including himself as a brother and a fellow child of God.

• In Revelation he describes himself as “your brother and companion…” (Rev. 1:9)




• John lived to a ripe old age, outliving all the other Apostles, yet he remained courageous, confident, bold, and passionate…

• but tempered with humility.



• To Balance Suffering and Glory

• In his early years John had a thirst for glory and an aversion for suffering as seen in his desire for a chief throne and the fact that he forsook Jesus on the night of His arrest (Mk. 14:20)

• There is nothing inherently wrong with a desire to partake in eternal glory; we should all be striving for that, but heavenly glory will only come after earthly suffering. (Phil. 3:10)




• Suffering is the price of glory (Rom. 8:17; Mt. 16:24,25; Jn. 12:24,25).

• Suffering is the prelude to glory (1 Pet. 1:6,7; Rom. 8:18)

• A thirst for glory must be balanced with a willingness to suffer.




• To drink the cup that Jesus drank and endure His baptism would require suffering and eventual death.

• Peter and John who followed Jesus to the house of the high priest. As far as we know only John witnessed the crucifixion.

• John had to suffer the martyrdom of his own brother James, followed by the deaths of the remaining Apostles.

• John had to suffer exile on the Isle of Patmos.


WWHATHAT W WEE L LEARNEARN F FROMROM J JOHNOHN• John grasped what the Christ-like character

entails.

• He willingly took Jesus’ mother home as his own mother; demonstrating himself as a humble loving servant of the faith.

• He was the disciple whom Jesus loved; the same disciple who wanted to rain fire down on the Samaritans; was obsessed with his status and fled with the rest at the betrayal.

• Jesus transformed John into a man who modeled Jesus in love. John used words meaning love over 80 times in his writings.


WWHATHAT W WEE L LEARNEARN F FROMROM J JOHNOHNThe disciple whom Jesus loved became the disciple of The disciple whom Jesus loved became the disciple of

love.love. • God is Love

• God loved His own Son

• God loved the world

• Christ loved the Father

• Christ loved the disciples

• The Disciples loved Christ

• All men should love Christ

• All men should love each other


WWHATHAT W WEE L LEARNEARN F FROMROM J JOHNOHN• This love is not indulgent sentimentality; it will

not tolerate false teaching concerning Christ or the church, sin, or immorality. Against these things he remained a Son of Thunder, who never compromised the truth.

• Another word used by John was “witness” (70 times).

• The witness of: John the Baptist, of Scripture, of the Father, of Christ, of miracles, of the Holy Spirit, of the Apostles and all to what end? Truth!


TTHEHE F FOUROUR F FISHERMANISHERMAN OFOF GGALILEEALILEE

• They became fishers of men; gathering souls into the church.

• They continue to fish today through their words, their writings, and their examples.

• What an uncommon calling for four common men.


twelve common men

Documents

jesus response

emphasizing love

lesson of balance

disregarding truth

greater truth

common menjohnthe apostle

false teaching

incident of