John, the Braggard

If I tell you a story about what someone else said about me, is that bragging?

Jesus said to Peter, "Follow me." Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?" This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. - John 21:19b-24

John does a lot of bragging about himself.

He claims to be the one Jesus loved, as if Jesus didn't love all the apostles.  He sounds like a spoiled child saying Jesus loved him best.

Maybe I am being too harsh, but it doesn't seem like John got the message about humility.

We all knew people like John when we were growing up, didn't we?  

They were often referred to in yearbooks as the one mostly likely to run for office.

But John was the youngest of the apostles, and he lived a long time.  He didn't start writing the Gospel until he was in his 50s or 60s, which would have been about 40 years after Jesus was crucified.  It is believed that he was in his late seventies when he finished this work, and by then, rumors had spread that he was going to live forever.

So, he mentions it here.

And then over the next twenty years he writes the Revelation of John, when he was on Patmos.

He appears to have all his faculties for a man of about 100.

He never did run for office, not that it was an option in his day, but he did change the world with his writings.

And he was ahead of his time.  Much of his sayings have not only survived the generations, but have become popular verses in contemporary Christian music.

So, there is something special about John, and that is what we acknowledge today, on his feast day.

He was a young upstart who got people talking and thinking about Jesus.

Who could ask for anything more?

More to come...