DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint John 19:25-27; 21:14-25 (9/26-10/9) Repose of the John the Apostle and
Theologian
The Beloved Disciple: Saint John 19:25-27; 21:14-25,
especially vs. 21:20: “...Peter,
turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had
leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, ‘Lord, who is the one who
betrays You?’” God’s
love is without bias or favor and is not subject to influence. He loves each person He has created
without taint of partiality such as exists among men and women. What, then, is the meaning of the phrase
that four times appears in Saint John’s Gospel, “...the disciple
whom Jesus loved...” (Jn. 19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20)? The Holy Fathers understood it as an
expression used humbly by the Evangelist John to refer to himself. They never entertained the possibility
that the phrase might hint at Divine favoritism.
However, the phrase provides occasion for us to celebrate
our personal distinctiveness, for each of us was created unique and is loved by
God in a special manner, appropriate to our nature. Each one of us is a ‘beloved
disciple’ of Christ, who ‘exhibits the peculiarities of our
temper,’ to borrow an expression from Saint John Chrysostom when he spoke
of the personality differences between Saint Peter and Saint John: “The
one was more fervent, the other more lofty; the one more keen, the other more
clear-sighted.” What special
traits does Saint John exhibit in today’s reading that we, fellow
‘beloved disciples,’ought to cultivate so
that we too may become worthy of a portion of the love that our Lord showers
upon us?
Of the eleven who ultimately remained faithful to the Lord,
though all “...forsook Him and fled” (Mt. 26:56) when He was arrested,
it was Saint John who “...stood by the Cross of Jesus...” (Jn.
19:25-27). A ‘beloved
disciple’ surely continues in deep intimate love for the Master, both in
exalted moments of feasting and celebration when he “leans upon His
breast” (Jn. 13:23; 21:20), but also in the terrible moments of pain,
injustice, rejection, cruelty, and death.
Remember, true love for God knows that the Lord Jesus alone is the
Source of all authentic humanity and of all genuine love. To lose Him even for a moment is the greatest
of all possible threats to the disciple who knows he is beloved of the
Lord. Rightly did the blessed
Solomon say, “...love is as strong as death...” (SS. 8:6).
A ‘beloved disciple’ surely is one who honors
the Lord’s mother, who takes her into his own life and home as his own
mother. When the Theotokos prophesied that “...henceforth all
generations will call me blessed” (Lk. 1:48),
she meant all successive members of the faithful, who, like Saint John, would
receive her with honor as the Birthgiver of God - the
Theotokos.
The Crucified One asks of us, as He did of Saint John, that we receive
Mary His mother in the flesh, into our hearts and lives as our mother, as we
are united to Him in death and in life.
Thus, we become the Lord’s brethren and her children. May we not hesitate to embrace her, as
He asks us.
“The Theotokos and the Mother of the Light, let us honor and magnify in song!”
At the end of the reading, Saint John, or perhaps Saint Prochoros who served the Evangelist as his scribe on the
island of Patmos, remarks, “This is the disciple who testifies of these
things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is
true.” A beloved disciple
remains a steadfast witness to the truth of the Gospel from the first day he
chooses to follow the Lord Jesus (Jn. 1:37) to the very end of his earthly
life. Unlike the others of the
Twelve, the ‘Beloved Disciple,’ the one who humbly avoided even the
mention of his own name, lived to a very old age. Tradition suggests that he was over a
hundred years old when he reposed.
Let us, like him, remain steadfast all our years, faithfully witnessing
to Incarnate Truth through our lives.
O Apostle, speaker of divinity, the Beloved of Christ God,
hasten and deliver thy people powerless in argument; for He on Whose bosom thou
didst lean accepteth thee as an intercessor.
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