First John-Introduction-First John: The Apostle John After Pentecost
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday February 8, 2017
First John: The Apostle John After Pentecost
Lesson # 6
Following the ascension of Jesus, John continued in a prominent position of leadership among the disciples (Acts 1:13).
He was present when Peter healed the lame man in the Temple.
Together with Peter he bore witness before the Sanhedrin to his faith in Jesus Christ.
The boldness of their testimony brought the hostility of the Sanhedrin (Acts 3-4).
When the apostles in Jerusalem received word of the evangelization of Samaria, they sent Peter and John to investigate whether the conversions were genuine (Acts 8:14-25).
This was a curious thing to do.
The Samaritans had long been suspect in the eyes of the Jews (John 4:9).
John himself had once favored the destruction of a Samaritan village (Luke 9:51-56).
That he was present on this mission suggests he had experienced a remarkable change.
In these episodes, Peter appears as the leader and spokesman for the pair, but John’s presence on such errands indicates his esteem by the growing circle of disciples.
After the execution of his brother James by Herod Agrippa I, between A.D. 42-44 (Acts 12:1-2), John is not heard of again in Acts.
Paul’s testimony to John as one of the “pillars,” along with Peter and James (the Lord's brother, Gal 2:9), however, reveals that John continued to hold a position of respect and leadership in the early church.
Notwithstanding the denial of Peter, he and John continued to be friends and are afterward often mentioned together.
To them Mary Magdalene first ran with the news of the empty tomb (John 20:2).
They were the first to reach the tomb and look inside (20:4-8).
For at least eight days they remained in Jerusalem (20:26), after which they returned to the Sea of Galilee, pursuing their old trade (21:1).
John was the first to recognize the risen Lord.
Peter was the first to plunge into the water and swim toward the shore where Jesus stood (21:7).
Peter’s affection and anxiety for John are shown in his question, “Lord, and what about this man?” (21:21).
The same union continues in Scripture between Peter and John.
Together they witnessed the ascension and shared in the election of Matthias and the baptism at Pentecost.
Together they entered the Temple as worshipers (Acts 3:1), were imprisoned, and protested against the threats of the Sanhedrin (4:3-21).
They were also sent together to preach to the Samaritans (8:14).
John and the rest of the apostles remained at their post despite the persecution of Saul (cf. 8:1).
He did not meet Paul when the latter came back to Jerusalem as a convert (Gal 1:19); but this, of course, does not make the inference necessary that he had left Jerusalem.
During the persecution under Herod Agrippa he lost his brother, James, by martyrdom (Acts 12:2), while his friend Peter sought safety in flight (12:18-19).
Fifteen years after Paul’s first visit he was still at Jerusalem (Conybeare and Howson, Life and epistles of Paul).
He took part in settling the controversy between the Jewish and Gentile Christians (15:6-13; 2:9).
We have only the slightest trace of the work of the apostle during this period.
As might be expected of one of Jesus’ three closest disciples, John became the subject of an active and varied church tradition.
Tertullian (about A.D. 160-220) said that John ended up in Rome, where he was “plunged, unhurt, into boiling oil.”
A much later tradition believed that both James and John were martyred.
The dominant tradition, however, was that the apostle John moved to Ephesus in Asia Minor, and that from there he was banished to the Island of Patmos (during Domitian's reign, A.D. 81-96).
Tradition also held that he returned later to Ephesus, where he died sometime after Trajan became emperor in A.D. 98.
Stories that John reclaimed a juvenile delinquent, raised a dead man, and opposed the Gnostic heretic Cerinthus survive from this era in his life.
It was also the general opinion of the time that from Ephesus John composed the five writings, which bear his name in the New Testament (Gospel of John; 1, 2, and 3 John; and Revelation).
Only Revelation identifies its author as John (1:1,9).
The second and third epistles of John identify the author as “the elder” (2 John; 3 John 1).
Although 1 John and the Gospel of John do not name their author, he can be none other than “the elder,” because style and content in these writings are unmistakably related.
It could very well be, as tradition asserts, that the apostle John wrote all five documents.
John probably remained in Judea till the death of Mary released him from his promise.
When this took place we can only speculate.
There are no signs of his being at Jerusalem at the time of Paul’s last visit (Acts 21).
Assuming the authorship of the epistles and Revelation to be his, the facts which the New Testament writings assert or imply are that, having come to Ephesus, some persecution drove him to Patmos (Rev 1:9).
The seven churches in Asia Minor were the special objects of his affectionate solicitude (1:11).
In his work, he had to encounter men who denied the truth on which his faith rested (1 John 4:1; 2 John 7), and others who disputed his authority (3 John 9-10).
If we add to this that he must have outlived all, or nearly all, of those who had been the friends and companions of even his mature years.
This advanced age gave rise to an old impression that his Lord had promised him immortality (John 21:23), which John refutes.
Tradition tells us that he was shipwrecked off Ephesus and arrived there in time to check the progress of the heresies that sprang up after Paul’s departure.
In the persecution under Domitian he was taken to Rome and that the boiling oil into which he was thrown had no power to hurt him.
He returned to Ephesus and attested to the truth of the first three gospels, writing the fourth to supply what was needed.
Tradition also states that he introduced the Jewish mode of celebrating the Easter feast.
It also says that when he was so feeble with no strength even to stand, he would direct others to carry him to the assembly of Christians and say to them with a feeble voice, “Little children, love one another.”