St. John the Evengelist

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life;"  (1 John 1:1)

            Our Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of the departure of St. John on the 4^th of the blessed Coptic month of Tubah. He departed in the year 100 AD.

            He was the son of a wealthy fisherman called Zebedee from Bethsaida, his mother, Salome was one of the righteous women who followed The Lord till the Cross, then went to the tomb early on the morning of his resurrection. He was also the brother of St. James Son of Zebedee the disciple.

            As a child, St. John was educated in a school for the rich Jews, where he studied and learned the Old Testament. When he grew up He worked as a fisherman and at the age of 22, he became a disciple of St. John the Baptist. He was with St. Andrew when St. John the Baptist "Behold the Baptist referred to The Lord saying

“Behold The Lamb of God!"" (John 1:36)

            St. John met The Lord again at the time of the miracle of the plentiful fish. The Lord Himself called St. John to be His Disciple, and surnamed him and his brother James as Boanarges, or “Sons of Thunder”, indicating their firm faith and their fiery personality.

He greatly loved The Lord and longed to remain with Him all the time. His mother asked for him and his brother James to sit one on His right hand and the other on His left in His Kingdom, but The Lord taught them a lesson in humility and self-denial.

St. John was one of closest disciple to The Lord Jesus Christ, which made him worthy of the title “The disciple whom Jesus loved”. He was also present in various occasions such as the wedding of Cana, the transfiguration, and The Lord’s prayer at Gathsemane. He also witnessed various miracles as restoring Jairus’ daughter to life. The Lord also sent him to prepare for the Passover and he used to lean on The Lord’s bosom, and also was the one who asked The Lord at the time of the Last Supper about the disciple that was going to betray Him (John13: 23-25, John 21: 20).

            St John followed The Lord till the Crucifixion, while others left Him; there The Lord gave him the honor of looking after His Mother the Virgin St. Mary

"When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son”.

Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home."  (John 19:26-27)

St. Mary lived there with the Saint’s family till she departed in peace.

St. John went with St. Peter to the Lord’s tomb when they heard from St. Mary Magdalene, that The Lord’s Body had disappeared.

After The Lord’s Ascension, and receiving The Holy Spirit, St. John accompanied St. Peter to preach the word. Later on, he remained in Jerusalem till after the Virgin’s departure to heaven.

            He was present with the Disciples when choosing the one to replace Judas Iscariot then he was arrested with St. Peter when he (St. Peter) healed the lame man with the power of the Name of The Lord Jesus (Acts 3). After that the Sudducees put them in custody.

He preached in Samaria and attended the first council to discuss the issue of accepting the Gentiles in the fellowship.

St. John was one of the three Pillars

"And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised."  (Gal 2:9)

 They gave St. Paul and St. Barnabas the right hand of fellowship to go to the Gentiles. He went to Asia Minor where he stayed for years at Ephisus. Through his prayers, God restored a dead man to life. During this period, he wrote his three epistles (69-70 AD.)

After establishing many Churches in Asia, the Emperor Domitian heard about St. John and sent him handcuffed to Rome. There he was flogged and thrown into boiling oil, but The Lord saved him. He was then exiled to the island of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation about 95 AD.

            After the death of Domitian St. john returned to Ephisus where he continued his preaching and wrote his Gospel, in the year 98 AD. In which he concentrated on the Divinity of The Lord Jesus Christ, refusing all the heresies that spread at that time. He also wrote the liturgy named after him, which he used to pray with his congregation.

St. John’s sermons are well known for being mainly about love and when he became old, his only sermon was ”My sons, love one another.”

            St. John departed in peace on 4^th Toubah, 101 AD. When he was about 100 years old and lived a life of chastity till the end as he never got married.

May the prayers and blessings of this great Saint be with us all. Amen

Glory be to our Lord, god and Savior Jesus Christ now and forever. Amen