Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist, known as the "Beloved Disciple" of Jesus, is celebrated for authoring the fourth Gospel, three Epistles, and the Book of Revelation, emphasizing themes of divine love and light.
Saint John, one of the Twelve Apostles, holds a unique place as the "Beloved Disciple" who reclined on Jesus' breast at the Last Supper and stood at the foot of the cross, where Jesus entrusted His mother, Mary, to John's care. He is traditionally credited with authoring the Gospel of John, three Epistles (1, 2, and 3 John), and the Book of Revelation, profoundly shaping Christian theology with his profound insights into the Incarnation, divine love, and eternal life. His writings are distinguished by their deeply theological and spiritual nature, portraying Jesus as the Word made flesh and calling believers to abide in love and truth, making him a foundational pillar in the early Church and a revered figure for his witness to Christ's divinity and charity.
Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist, often revered as the "Beloved Disciple," embarked on his sacred journey as a humble fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, alongside his elder brother James, under the watchful eye of their father, Zebedee. Their family business, which also included Simon Peter and Andrew as partners, provided a seemingly ordinary existence until the day Jesus called them. Leaving their nets and their father without hesitation, John and James immediately followed the Lord, becoming part of the initial core group of disciples. Their zealous temperament earned them the nickname "Boanerges," or "Sons of Thunder," from Jesus Himself, hinting at the fiery passion that would later fuel John's profound theological insights and unwavering devotion. This immediate and complete surrender marked the beginning of a life transformed, dedicating every fiber of his being to Christ's ministry and message.
In the twilight years of the first century, during the fierce persecutions under Emperor Domitian, the aged Apostle John, the very last of the Twelve, was brought to Rome. His steadfast preaching of Christ, the Divine Love, had become a thorn in the side of the pagan empire. Accused of defying the Roman gods and undermining imperial authority, John was condemned to a public and gruesome execution, intended to serve as a terrifying example to all who dared to follow the Nazarene. He was led to the Porta Latina, the Latin Gate, where a massive cauldron of boiling oil had been prepared, its surface bubbling furiously, steam rising ominously into the Roman air.
Throngs of citizens, soldiers, and officials gathered, eager or morbidly curious, to witness the demise of this venerable Christian leader. The air was thick with anticipation, the stench of the heated oil mingling with the murmur of the crowd. With solemn dignity, the beloved disciple, now a man of advanced years, was seized and plunged into the scalding depths. A gasp rippled through the onlookers, many expecting to see his flesh melt away, his life extinguished in agony.
But a profound silence fell as moments stretched into an eternity. To the utter astonishment of all present, John did not scream. He did not perish. Instead, he emerged from the cauldron, not only unharmed but seemingly refreshed, as if he had merely taken a warm bath. His skin was smooth, his countenance serene, radiating a light that seemed to defy the very laws of nature. The boiling oil, a instrument of torture and death, had been transformed into a font of rejuvenation by divine power.
The miraculous survival sent shockwaves through the crowd. The executioners, dumbfounded, could not proceed. This was no ordinary man; he was clearly under the protection of a higher power. Domitian, thwarted in his attempt to eliminate the apostle, and perhaps unnerved by the divine intervention, could only resort to banishment. John was exiled to the desolate island of Patmos, a place of harsh labor and isolation.
Yet, even in exile, God's plan for John continued to unfold. It was on Patmos that the "Beloved Disciple" received the awe-inspiring visions that would form the Book of Revelation, the final testament to Christ's ultimate triumph. This extraordinary event at the Latin Gate stands as a powerful testament to John's unwavering faith, his divine election, and the impenetrable shield of God's love that protected His chosen servant, ensuring that the message of the Gospel would continue to echo through the ages, even in the face of the fiercest persecution.
late 1st century AD
Before the feast of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the mind of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had put all power into his hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God. So he got up from the meal and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Master, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing, you do not understand now, but later you will understand." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you will have no inheritance with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well." Jesus said to him, "Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all." For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason, he said, "Not all of you are clean." So when he had washed their feet and put on his garments, he reclined at table again and said to them, "Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me 'teacher' and 'master,' and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do. Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.
"I am not speaking of all of you. I know those whom I have chosen. But so that the scripture might be fulfilled, 'The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me.' From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives anyone I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." When Jesus had said this, he was deeply troubled and testified, "Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus' side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus' chest and said to him, "Master, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it." So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After he took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him, "Buy what we need for the feast," or to give something to the poor. So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.
When he had left, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, 'Where I go you cannot come,' so now I say it to you. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Simon Peter said to him, "Master, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later." Peter said to him, "Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times."
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way." Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him." Philip said to him, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him." Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, "Master, [then] what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
"I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me. Get up, let us go.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.
"If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, 'No slave is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me also hates my Father. If I had not done works among them that no one else ever did, they would not have sin; but as it is, they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But this happened so that the word written in their law might be fulfilled, 'They hated me without cause.'
"When the Advocate comes whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
"I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you. I did not tell you this from the beginning, because I was with you.
"But now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
"A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me." So some of his disciples said to one another, "What does this mean that he says to us, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while later and you will see me,' and 'because I am going to the Father'?" So they said, "What is this 'little while' of which he speaks? We do not know what he means." Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, "Are you discussing with one another what I said, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while later and you will see me'? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
"I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father." His disciples said, "Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God." Jesus answered them, "Do you believe now? Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world."
"When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all those you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. "I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those you gave me, because they belong to you, and all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. When I was with them, I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.
"I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."
c. 180-199 AD
John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned on His breast, himself published a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia. For that Cerinthus, who was among us, maintained that the world was not made by the primary God, but by a certain Power far separated from Him, and at a distance from that Principality who is over all, and ignorant of Him who is above all. He maintained, moreover, that Jesus was not born of a virgin, but was the son of Joseph and Mary, after the same manner in which all other men are born; and that He excelled all men in righteousness, prudence, and understanding; and that Christ descended upon him in the form of a dove from the Principality who is over all, and that then he proclaimed the unknown Father, and performed miracles; but that at last Christ departed from Jesus, and that then Jesus suffered and rose again; Cerinthus thus putting forth a separation between the Christ and Jesus. But, again, those who are called Nicolaitans are the disciples of that Nicolas who was one of the seven first ordained to the diaconate by the Apostles. They lead a life of unrestrained indulgence. The character of these men is very plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John, [when they are represented] as teaching that it is a matter of indifference to practice adultery, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. Wherefore the Lord also says regarding them: "But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." (Rev. ii. 6.)
For this reason was the Lord desirous of abiding the space of forty days with His disciples, that, having raised them up from the dead, He might be with them, and that they might be accustomed to hold intercourse with Him without any dread, and might be at once strengthened and instructed by Him, and might also learn that He is indeed the Christ, the Son of God, because He gave them power to perform signs and wonders, and to preach in all the world, and thus make them His own apostles, who, by His grace, should preach the Gospel to all nations. On this account also did the apostles, being sent throughout the whole world, preach the truth of God, and make known to us the order of the succession of the Churches.
Moreover, the Church in Ephesus, founded by Paul, and having John remaining among them permanently until the times of Trajan, is a true witness of the tradition of the apostles. Therefore, of course, John, the disciple of the Lord, wishing to put an end to such doctrines as were disseminated by Cerinthus, and a considerable time before by those who are called Nicolaitans, had this reason for writing his Gospel, to wit, that by the publication of the truth, he might remove that error which was being disseminated by men, and might thus show them that there is one God, who made all things by His Word; and one Lord Jesus Christ, who came by His incarnation; and one Spirit, who guides us into all truth. And therefore also does the Gospel of John, by its first beginning, set forth the generation of the Word, which is without beginning, and without end, showing that God made all things by Him, and without Him was nothing made. And then it goes on to point out His incarnation, and that He, the Word, became flesh, and dwelt among us. And this is the reason why he, the beloved disciple, who was present at the passion of the Lord, and who was familiar with His whole teaching, has recorded these things for us, lest, being deceived by those heretical doctrines, we should fall into error. For it was with a view to this, that he has in his Gospel related to us, that "the Word was God," and "the Word was with God"; and that "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made"; and that "the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not"; and that "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not"; and that "He came to His own, and His own received Him not"; and that "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
These things, therefore, John, the disciple of the Lord, and the beloved one, seeing that the other Apostles had already published their Gospels, and that they had related in them what the Lord had taught them, and what He had done, during His public ministry, and that they had omitted to speak of His divine and ineffable generation, and of His pre-existence with the Father, and of His creation of all things, and of His coming into the world, and of His incarnation, and of His passion, and of His resurrection, and of His ascension into heaven, and of His coming again in glory, he, John, I say, perceiving that these things had been omitted by the others, and that they were necessary for the instruction of those who should come after, and for the refutation of those who had arisen and were arising, who denied the Word, and the Son of God, and the Father, and the Spirit, and the Church, and all things that are, he, John, I say, being moved by the Holy Spirit, took up his pen, and wrote the Gospel, which is called according to John, in which he has set forth the generation of the Word, which is without beginning, and without end, showing that God made all things by Him, and without Him was nothing made. And then he goes on to point out His incarnation, and that He, the Word, became flesh, and dwelt among us. And this is the reason why he, the beloved disciple, who was present at the passion of the Lord, and who was familiar with His whole teaching, has recorded these things for us, lest, being deceived by those heretical doctrines, we should fall into error. For it was with a view to this, that he has in his Gospel related to us, that "the Word was God," and "the Word was with God"; and that "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made"; and that "the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not"; and that "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not"; and that "He came to His own, and His own received Him not"; and that "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
And not only so, but he has also in his Gospel related to us, that "the Word was God," and "the Word was with God"; and that "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made"; and that "the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not"; and that "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not"; and that "He came to His own, and His own received Him not"; and that "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
Moreover, he has also in his Gospel related to us, that "the Word was God," and "the Word was with God"; and that "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made"; and that "the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not"; and that "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not"; and that "He came to His own, and His own received Him not"; and that "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
These things, therefore, John, the disciple of the Lord, and the beloved one, seeing that the other Apostles had already published their Gospels, and that they had related in them what the Lord had taught them, and what He had done, during His public ministry, and that they had omitted to speak of His divine and ineffable generation, and of His pre-existence with the Father, and of His creation of all things, and of His coming into the world, and of His incarnation, and of His passion, and of His resurrection, and of His ascension into heaven, and of His coming again in glory, he, John, I say, perceiving that these things had been omitted by the others, and that they were necessary for the instruction of those who should come after, and for the refutation of those who had arisen and were arising, who denied the Word, and the Son of God, and the Father, and the Spirit, and the Church, and all things that are, he, John, I say, being moved by the Holy Spirit, took up his pen, and wrote the Gospel, which is called according to John, in which he has set forth the generation of the Word, which is without beginning, and without end, showing that God made all things by Him, and without Him was nothing made. And then he goes on to point out His incarnation, and that He, the Word, became flesh, and dwelt among us. And this is the reason why he, the beloved disciple, who was present at the passion of the Lord, and who was familiar with His whole teaching, has recorded these things for us, lest, being deceived by those heretical doctrines, we should fall into error. For it was with a view to this, that he has in his Gospel related to us, that "the Word was God," and "the Word was with God"; and that "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made"; and that "the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not"; and that "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not"; and that "He came to His own, and His own received Him not"; and that "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
And not only so, but he has also in his Gospel related to us, that "the Word was God," and "the Word was with God"; and that "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made"; and that "the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not"; and that "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not"; and that "He came to His own, and His own received Him not"; and that "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
Moreover, he has also in his Gospel related to us, that "the Word was God," and "the Word was with God"; and that "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made"; and that "the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not"; and that "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not"; and that "He came to His own, and His own received Him not"; and that "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
These things, therefore, John, the disciple of the Lord, and the beloved one, seeing that the other Apostles had already published their Gospels, and that they had related in them what the Lord had taught them, and what He had done, during His public ministry, and that they had omitted to speak of His divine and ineffable generation, and of His pre-existence with the Father, and of His creation of all things, and of His coming into the world, and of His incarnation, and of His passion, and of His resurrection, and of His ascension into heaven, and of His coming again in glory, he, John, I say, perceiving that these things had been omitted by the others, and that they were necessary for the instruction of those who should come after, and for the refutation of those who had arisen and were arising, who denied the Word, and the Son of God, and the Father, and the Spirit, and the Church, and all things that are, he, John, I say, being moved by the Holy Spirit, took up his pen, and wrote the Gospel, which is called according to John, in which he has set forth the generation of the Word, which is without beginning, and without end, showing that God made all things by Him, and without Him was nothing made. And then he goes on to point out His incarnation, and that He, the Word, became flesh, and dwelt among us. And this is the reason why he, the beloved disciple, who was present at the passion of the Lord, and who was familiar with His whole teaching, has recorded these things for us, lest, being deceived by those heretical doctrines, we should fall into error. For it was with a view to this, that he has in his Gospel related to us, that "the Word was God," and "the Word was with God"; and that "all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made"; and that "the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not"; and that "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not"; and that "He came to His own, and His own received Him not"; and that "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
The Blessing of Wine is a widespread custom observed on Saint John's feast day. Wine is brought to churches to be blessed, and then often shared among family and friends as a symbol of health and divine protection.
This tradition is linked to a pious legend in which Saint John was offered a poisoned chalice. After he blessed it, the poison reportedly left the cup, often depicted as a serpent, and he drank it unharmed, signifying his immunity to poison and divine protection.
The liturgical celebration of Saint John's feast day on December 27 is unique, as it falls within the Octave of Christmas, immediately after the feast of Saint Stephen, the first martyr, and before the Holy Innocents. This placement highlights John's distinct status as the only Apostle who did not suffer martyrdom by shedding blood, often referred to as the 'Martyr of Love' or 'Martyr by Will'.
This liturgical positioning reflects his profound theological insights, particularly on divine love (as emphasized in his Gospel and Epistles), and his unique preservation by God through various persecutions, allowing him to die a natural death in old age.
Wine that is brought to churches on the Feast of Saint John, Apostle, Evangelist, to be blessed by a priest. This 'St. John's Wine' is then often consumed by families for health and protection throughout the year.
This tradition stems from a pious legend in which Saint John was presented with a cup of poisoned wine. After he blessed the cup, the poison reportedly departed from it, often depicted as a serpent, and he drank it without harm, symbolizing his divine protection against evil and illness.