The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved

"Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved." 

(John 13:23)

Besides Jesus, if you had to pick one favorite hero from the pages of scripture, who would it be?

Over the years, I've consistently heard the apostle Paul singled out and glorified as if he were superman.  "He's an animal!"  "He's a man's man!" "He's intense!"  "He was a maniac for Christ!" "He did more than any of the other apostles ever did!" They say.

And I suppose that's all true. 

But even though God used him to write much of the New Testament, I doubt Paul would say the same of himself were he here today to answer to such glorification.

But is that really why God sent His Son to die on the Cross? and save and call us..."To be maniacs and do more for Him than anyone else ever did?"

Somehow I doubt it.

I don't know about you, but I am not an "intense, maniac, " as some have labeled Paul.

So who is your favorite bible hero, and why?

Mine is the apostle John..."The disciple whom Jesus loved."

I know... Jesus loves all His disciples equally. He doesn't play favorites. 

But just like King David is the only man specifically called, "The man after God's own heart" in scripture, so, too, is John the only one given the title "The disciple whom Jesus loved." (See John chapters 13, 19, 20, 21).

Looking at the passage quoted at the beginning of this post, John was the only one said to have been leaning against the bosom of Jesus.  Apparently, John  so loved his Lord, Savior, and Friend, he didn't care what the rest of the group thought of him as he leaned upon his Savior.  

Intimacy with God was obviously more important to John than maintaining a macho image.

Men, can that be said for the rest of us?

Out of the original twelve disciples, John was the only man standing at the foot of the Cross when Jesus was being crucified. His only other followers there were His mother Mary and her sister, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the wife of Clopas. (See John 19:25-26)

Make a close study of the gospel of John and you will find it's not about rules, it's about relationship.

Jesus sums it up by saying, 

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me." (John 14:21)

It's about love, not legalism.

I also find it fascinating that John was the one given the Revelation by Jesus. Paul was a great apostle, and without question, much wisdom and truth was revealed to him.  

But the "Revelation of Jesus Christ" was given to John;  "the disciple whom Jesus loved."

The book of Revelation is not primarily about knowing the nuances of the details of the end times. It's about the unveiling (revelation) of Jesus Christ to us; His servants. (See Revelation 1:1)

In Revelation chapter four we see John taken up in the Spirit into the presence of the glorified Lord Himself, on His throne in Heaven. In chapter five we see John in the presence of the risen Lamb of God—the Lion of the Tribe of Judah—who is the only one found worthy in heaven or earth, to open the scroll and its seals, and read the scroll.

For whatever reasons, I just don't relate to the "maniac, intense" A-type personality often attributed to Paul.

But I do relate to the relational disciple whom Jesus loved, who is all about intimacy with God and relationship with Him.

And though I am always blessed by reading through Paul's letters in the New Testament, I am always most drawn to the intimate, relational, loving Savior I see John tell me about, whom he loved and knew personally, in the gospel of John.

Jesus said in John's gospel:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1-3)

Jesus is revealed from Genesis to Revelation.

But it becomes most profoundly real and personal to me when reading John's gospel, that I am the disciple whom Jesus loved.

You... are the disciple whom Jesus loved.

—God Is Love and Love Never Fails.