Who Was The Disciple That Jesus Loved?

Care to take a stab at this?
I'm going to state up front, that it is NOT John.
Now who do you think it is.
 
Actually it is not consistent with the style of John in his epistles or Revelation.
It is however someone who is ONLY in the book of John, but whose namesake is also in Luke.
 
Why did John live so long and die of old age and was head of the Eastern Church, when all the other apostles died young and by horrendous martyr deaths? He was blessed to this as he was the only apostle to remain with Christ while he died on the cross, at the same time all the others went scurrying off and most notably Peter denied he was the apostle of Christ not once but three times. This is evidence enough to show that John was indeed the most loved of all.
 
Care to take a stab at this?
I'm going to state up front, that it is NOT John.
Now who do you think it is.

I have heard it debated that it was Mary Magdalene, Lazarus and others. But the point is that it was John himself who called attention to himself as the disciple Jesus loved.

John 13:23 tells us, "One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to Him."

John 19:26declares, "When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, 'Dear woman, here is your son.'"

John 21:7says, “Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’” This disciple is never specifically identified, but the identity of the disciple whom Jesus loved is clear. The disciple whom Jesus loved is John, the son of Zebedee and brother of James.
 
I have heard it debated that it was Mary Magdalene, Lazarus and others. But the point is that it was John himself who called attention to himself as the disciple Jesus loved.

John 13:23 tells us, "One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to Him."

John 19:26declares, "When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, 'Dear woman, here is your son.'"

John 21:7says, “Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’” This disciple is never specifically identified, but the identity of the disciple whom Jesus loved is clear. The disciple whom Jesus loved is John, the son of Zebedee and brother of James.

and just how clear is it? Like I said the style of John is not the same as John the Apostle's Epistles nor Revelation.
There are at least two principal arguments for this view. The first is that the epistle often uses a demonstrative pronoun at the beginning of a sentence, then a particle or conjunction, followed by an explanation or definition of the demonstrative at the end of the sentence, a stylistic technique which is not used in the gospel. The second is that the author of the epistle, "uses the conditional sentence in a variety of rhetorical figures which are unknown to the gospel."

John identifies himself in his epsitles and Revelation but does not do so in The Book of John.
 
and just how clear is it? Like I said the style of John is not the same as John the Apostle's Epistles nor Revelation.
There are at least two principal arguments for this view. The first is that the epistle often uses a demonstrative pronoun at the beginning of a sentence, then a particle or conjunction, followed by an explanation or definition of the demonstrative at the end of the sentence, a stylistic technique which is not used in the gospel. The second is that the author of the epistle, "uses the conditional sentence in a variety of rhetorical figures which are unknown to the gospel."

John identifies himself in his epsitles and Revelation but does not do so in The Book of John.

TO me! It is clear to ME. Others may not agree and that is no problem for me either.
 
I asked HOW Major...no need getting all defensive. Why bother coming on a thread like this if you're not willing to look at possibilities? Many people don't think it was John the Apostle, and I am one of them. That is why I posted the OP.
 
Why did John live so long and die of old age and was head of the Eastern Church, when all the other apostles died young and by horrendous martyr deaths? He was blessed to this as he was the only apostle to remain with Christ while he died on the cross, at the same time all the others went scurrying off and most notably Peter denied he was the apostle of Christ not once but three times. This is evidence enough to show that John was indeed the most loved of all.

As to John's longevity, that would be up to GOD and only Him. I don't know. As to who was at the cross when Jesus was crucified, the synoptic gospels all say women watched. Only John says the disciple who Jesus loved was nearby. We are left to figure out who that disciple was. Why is it that people automatically think John was the disciple that Jesus loved? Was he? Where is that written in the NT?
I'm afraid there is NO evidence in ANY of the gospels that John the Apostle, was the one who stood nearby when Jesus was dying on the cross.
 
John 15:13. was there ever a disciple whom Jesus died more for than he did for me?

It seems to me that the original twelve had real problems with this issue, but Jesus taught them otherwise.
Mark 9:34. Luke 9:46. Sigh...they just didn't learn. Luke 22:24. Seems that this issue of who Jesus loved (above all others) was one that was born out of extreme carnality, and just wouldn't go away.
We need to keep our focus on Jesus, and our own personal walk with Him.
I see a line of reasoning that the greater a disciple I am, the more Jesus will love me. That of course is a load of rubbish, it is without justification, it is devoid of righteousness, it is carnal.
 
Yes Calvin and the point with this issue had more to do with family than who was closer to Jesus. Not any one of the Apostles were any more important to Jesus. He was always thankful for all of them and praised His Father for them, even for Judas. I think we all probably feel the better we do as a disciple, the more Jesus will love us, when as you said, that is rubbish. Jesus loves us ALL as much as He possibly can. After all He died for us.
The issue still remains though, who is the disciple that Jesus loved and stood nearby at His crucifixion?
 
I asked HOW Major...no need getting all defensive. Why bother coming on a thread like this if you're not willing to look at possibilities? Many people don't think it was John the Apostle, and I am one of them. That is why I posted the OP.

Why would you think I was defensive Stan??????

I simply said that in responce to your comment in posting #6......"and just how clear is it?"

To ME I said. To ME. I did that so as to NOT have any confrontational issues.

It seems to me that you are the one a little defensive on this question or you would not have stated what you did IMO.

Then you stated........."Why bother coming on a thread like this if you're not willing to look at possibilities"

Well, I guess the answer to that is the same one anyone would use......I WANTED TO.
I considered the possibilities and gave my thoughts.
Isn't that the reason you responded to the postings on this site as well??

I just simply do not agree with your thoughts on this and I said as much.

I really think that Calvin gave the definitive responce and I defer to his wisdom on this.
 
John 15:13. was there ever a disciple whom Jesus died more for than he did for me?

It seems to me that the original twelve had real problems with this issue, but Jesus taught them otherwise.
Mark 9:34. Luke 9:46. Sigh...they just didn't learn. Luke 22:24. Seems that this issue of who Jesus loved (above all others) was one that was born out of extreme carnality, and just wouldn't go away.
We need to keep our focus on Jesus, and our own personal walk with Him.
I see a line of reasoning that the greater a disciple I am, the more Jesus will love me. That of course is a load of rubbish, it is without justification, it is devoid of righteousness, it is carnal.

AMEN calvin!
 
John 13: 23 -
Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

John 19: 26 - When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

John 20:2 -
Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the LORD out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

John 21:7,20 -
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.

Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
 
Why would you think I was defensive Stan??????

I simply said that in responce to your comment in posting #6......"and just how clear is it?"

To ME I said. To ME. I did that so as to NOT have any confrontational issues.

It seems to me that you are the one a little defensive on this question or you would not have stated what you did IMO.

Then you stated........."Why bother coming on a thread like this if you're not willing to look at possibilities"

Well, I guess the answer to that is the same one anyone would use......I WANTED TO.
I considered the possibilities and gave my thoughts.
Isn't that the reason you responded to the postings on this site as well??

I just simply do not agree with your thoughts on this and I said as much.

I really think that Calvin gave the definitive responce and I defer to his wisdom on this.

Based on the way you responded and highlighted/capitalized certain words. I know what I said and all this response does is serve to enforce in my mind your uneasyness with the subject. But hye I'm not a moderator so feel free to say WHATEVER you want.
I guess in future I'll just address your thoughts with the same kind of attitude as you have, as you seem to feel our personal convictions outweigh the need to "give a reason for the hope in us."
 
John 13: 23 -
Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

John 19: 26 - When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

John 20:2 -
Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the LORD out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

John 21:7,20 -
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.

Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

and exactly where is this disciple identified as the Apostle John?
 
Based on the way you responded and highlighted/capitalized certain words. I know what I said and all this response does is serve to enforce in my mind your uneasyness with the subject. But hye I'm not a moderator so feel free to say WHATEVER you want.
I guess in future I'll just address your thoughts with the same kind of attitude as you have, as you seem to feel our personal convictions outweigh the need to "give a reason for the hope in us."

Good grief Stan. Are you only doing this for an argument???

I think I have seen enough. You have a good day now!
 
Really, I'm thinking that there are a few points for interpretative discipline that should not be ignored here.
Assuming that all five works were penned by the same person, we are confronted with three very different document types.
One is Gospel narrative, three are pastoral Epistles and lastly, one is Apocalyptic.
Gospel narrative would hardly be written as a letter or apocalypse. Nor would pastoral letters be written as either of the other forms. Same thing about apocalypse.
There is even some conjecture that the John of Revelation was some other different person than the John who wrote the Gospel. But either way, it is not surprising that there would be differing writing styles in evidence.
Next, there is the needful discipline of applying the principle of Two or Three Witnesses.
John's gospel seems to be the only place where we find reference to this disciple who Jesus loved.
Repeating something over and over does not establish fact. We need the testimony of others to support the claim......we don't have it!
We only have John's belief that there was that one special disciple.

It is probably a bit dangerous to take the obvious line that John was referring to himself and used that particular phrase out of a sense of false modesty.
I think for one to do so, would speak of a pride and arrogance that we would not expect from a post Pentecost disciple.

Since the matter is only raised in John's gospel, is without supporting testimony and is not crucial to salvation, it is really not something to go to war over.
 
It is obviouse to me that John used the second person to describe himself instead of saying "Me or I".

But you think as you wish.

It can only be obvious IF the writer identified himself as John in the first place.
 
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