DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
St. John 19:25-27; 21:24-25 (5/8)
Gospel, Feast of John the Evangelist & Theologian
The Beloved Disciple: St.
John 19:25-27; 21:24-25, especially vss. 26, 27:
“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.” With great
love, the dying Lord Jesus joined His all-pure Mother and His beloved disciple
in a familial bond, charging His cousin to protect the Holy Theotokos
as his own mother, a trust that the Lord Jesus Himself naturally had assumed earlier,
after the repose of St. Joseph,
her betrothed guardian. It was to
His beloved Disciple John (vs. 26), that the Lord Jesus gave over His Mother -
to a man many believe had proven his reliability by following the Lord from the
first preaching of the Forerunner (Jn. 1:35-40) and
who certainly had done so from the day that Jesus called him from mending his
fishing nets (Mk. 1:19-20). And, as
St. Nikolai of Zica observes, St. John fulfilled this solemn task
completely, “caring for her and serving her, looking after her right up
to her falling asleep.”
St. John Chrysostom characterizes the Beloved
Disciple John as one who “conceals himself in modesty,” as one for
whom the honor of caring for the Theotokos caused him
to receive “the reward of steadfastness” and one who lived, wrote,
taught, and was led in all that he did “by the Spirit.” By these virtues, the Evangelist reveals
how much he learned and received from Jesus his Lord; for Christ our God, the
archetype of modesty and steadfastness, as a man Himself and Bestower of the Spirit, was also led by the Spirit in all
things (Lk. 4:1; Rom. 8:14).
What was there concerning himself that St. John
“concealed” in modesty?
St. John of the Ladder helps us understand for he says of
“modesty” that it is a “casket” in which a humble mind
may repose securely, without fear of being plundered by the dark
“thieves” who knock and jeer, precisely because modesty keeps
humility as in “an inviolable safe.” The Apostle John humbly demurred even
from naming himself in his Gospel, although he is mentioned frequently by the
other Evangelists. Today’s
reading provides two examples of his modesty (vss.
19:26; 21:24).
St. John Chrysostom indicates why he
personally calls the Beloved Disciple “steadfast.” It was not to the volatile chief of the
Apostles, Peter, that the Lord entrusted His Mother. She was entrusted to the one Disciple
among them all who staunchly stood by with her in her grief, who watched with
her as her son, her only son, hung, inexorably dying upon a Roman cross. That perilous act of seeing her through
the worst of the suffering, well earned St. John the epithet
“steadfast” as an appropriate designation; “...he [was not]
afraid of evil tidings. His heart
[was] ready to hope in the Lord; his heart [was] established, he [was]
not...afraid...” (Ps. 111:6,7). In the Apostle Paul’s words, he
continued “...in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and [was] not moved
away from the hope of the gospel which [he] heard...” (Col. 1:23).
Be certain that the Beloved Disciple was
“led of the Spirit” even before the risen Lord breathed on him and
the others to give them the Spirit.
And He was so led always (Jn. 20:22)! It is St. John who teaches us so much about the
work of the Spirit in the Church.
He recorded the Lord’s promise that the Holy Spirit will abide
with us forever, “the Spirit of truth,” as the Lord Jesus pointed
out to His Disciples, saying “...you know Him, for He dwells with you and
will be in you” (Jn. 14:17). St. John certainly listened to
“...the Spirit of truth Who proceeds from the Father...” and
testifies of Christ (Jn. 15:26), for with the others
he bore witness to the Lord, having been with him from the beginning (Jn. 15:27), and even in this present passage he
“...testifies of these things, [and] wrote these things; and we know that
his testimony is true” (Jn. 21:24).
O Apostle, beloved of Christ, hasten and deliver thy people for He accepteth
Thy prayers.
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