December 27. The day after St. Stephen's Day. The day after remembering the first martyr, we remember the last apostle. John, the disciple who lived the longest, who leaned closest, who wrote the most profound truths about love.
John is the only disciple who stayed at the foot of the cross. The others fled. Peter denied Jesus three times. But John was there, standing with Jesus' mother, watching the crucifixion. And Jesus, from the cross, did something unprecedented. He gave His mother to John and John to His mother.
When Jesus saw His mother standing there with the disciple whom He loved, He said to her, "Woman, here is your son." And to the disciple, "Here is your mother."
John 19:26–27This is love in action. Not the romantic love the world talks about, but the covenant love that makes family. Jesus was dying, and His primary concern was for His mother. He entrusted her to the one disciple He could trust. And He gave Himself to the ones who stayed.
The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved
John never names himself in his gospel. He always refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." This is not vanity. It is theology. John understood that his relationship with Jesus was defined not by his own love for Jesus, but by Jesus' love for him. He was loved first. Everything else followed from that.
At the Last Supper, John was leaning on Jesus' chest. He asked Jesus, "Lord, who is it?" This is one of the most intimate moments in the Gospels. A disciple, resting against his Lord, close enough to hear His heartbeat, asking a personal question. And Jesus answered: "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread."
John did not need to see miracles or signs to know who Jesus was. He knew because he was close. He had pressed himself near enough to hear the heart of God beating in human flesh.
John's Gospel of Love
John wrote more about love than any other New Testament writer. His epistles open with this: "See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God." His gospel begins with the Word becoming flesh. And his first epistle says directly: "God is love."
This is the Christmas connection. The baby in the manger grew up to show us what love looks like. And John, the disciple who stayed close, was the one who saw it most clearly and wrote it down for us. The incarnation is not just about God becoming human. It is about God becoming human so that humans could become what God is: loving.
How Close Are You?
John was the disciple who leaned in. He was close enough to hear Jesus' heartbeat, close enough to ask intimate questions, close enough to receive the deepest entrusted things. Are you close enough to Jesus to hear His heart? Or are you keeping a comfortable distance, watching from afar?
Father, thank you for John. Thank you for the disciple who stayed close enough to write the words I need to hear: "God is love." Help me to lean in. To draw near. To rest my head against the chest of Jesus and hear His heart beating for me.
Teach me to love as He loved. Not from a distance, but up close. Not in theory, but in the daily, ordinary, intimate moments of life. In Jesus' name, Amen.
With honesty and hope,
Claire