Disciple whom Jesus loved
Encyclopedia
The phrase the disciple whom Jesus loved or, in John 20:2
, the Beloved Disciple is used five times in the Gospel of John
, but in no other New Testament
accounts of Jesus
. claims that the Gospel of John is based on the written testimony of the "Beloved Disciple".
Since the end of the 2nd century, the Beloved Disciple has been considered to be John the Evangelist
. Scholars have debated the authorship of the Johannine works (the Gospel of John, First, Second, and Third epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation) since at least the 3rd century, but especially since the Enlightenment
. Many modern scholars now believe that he wrote none of them. Opinions continue to be divided, however, and other renowned theological scholars continue to accept the traditional authorship. Since John the Evangelist has been named consistently in the writings of early church fathers, "it is hard to pass by this conclusion, despite widespread reluctance to accept it by many, but by no means all, modern scholars." Thus, the true identity of the author of the Gospel of John
remains a subject of considerable debate.
None of the other Gospels has anyone in the parallel scenes that could be directly understood as the Beloved Disciple. For example, in , Peter alone runs to the tomb. Mark, Matthew and Luke do not mention any one of the twelve disciples having witnessed the crucifixion.
There are also two references to an unnamed "other disciple" in and , which may be to the same person based on the wording in .
which Matthew and Mark state that Jesus ate with the Twelve. Thus the most frequent identification is with John the Apostle
, thought by many to be the same as John the Evangelist
. Merril F. Unger presents the prima facie case that the "Beloved Disciple" actually is John the author of the gospel, essentially by using a process of elimination. Unger writes:
The closing words of John's Gospel state explicitly concerning the Beloved Disciple that "It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true."
As for early Church opinions on the disciple's identification, a 2nd century quote of Polycrates of Ephesus
(c. 130s - 196), recorded by Eusebius
in his Church History
, supports the classical identification of the Beloved Disciple, who reclined beside Jesus at the Last Supper, with John.
Modern scholarly opinions on all these interrelated questions vary considerably. A popular scholarly opinion is that that John the Apostle did not write the Gospel of John or any of the other New Testament works traditionally ascribed to him, making this linkage of a 'John' to the beloved disciple difficult to sustain. Yet, other contemporary Christian scholars consider it plausible or even likely that the Apostle John authored the gospel attributed to him.
Some interpreters have suggested a homoerotic interpretation of Christ's relationship with the Beloved Disciple, but the majority of mainstream Biblical scholars find no hard scriptural evidence to this effect. That such an interpretation of a physical erotic relationship did exist as early as the 16th century (albeit in a heretical context) is documented for example in the trial for blasphemy
of Christopher Marlowe
accused of claiming that "St. John the Evangelist was bedfellow to Christ and leaned always in his bosom, that he used him as the sinners of Sodoma". In accusing Marlowe of the "sinful nature" of homosexual acts, James I of England
drew comparisons between his own erotic relationship with the Duke of Buckingham
. Finally Calcagno, a citizen of Venice
faced trial in 1550 for claiming that "St. John was Christ's catamite
".
, based on . Michael Baigent
and Richard Leigh
expanded this theory; they said that Jesus was married to Lazarus's sister Mary, whom they identified as Mary Magdalene
, and so loved Lazarus as a brother-in-law. They suggested it was because of the family tie that, on the cross, Jesus told the Beloved Disciple to take care of his mother with the words, "Behold your mother" . The same verse says that the disciple "took her to his own home." Baigent and Leigh make the point that the other disciples had no home, having left their homes to follow Jesus, but Lazarus had a home in Bethany.
. In order to make this claim and maintain consistency with scriptures, the theory is suggested that Mary's separate existence in the two common scenes with the Beloved Disciple and were later modifications, hastily done to authorize the gospel in the late 2nd century. Both scenes are claimed to have inconsistencies both internally and in reference to the synoptic Gospels, possibly coming from rough editing to make Mary Magdalene and the Beloved Disciple appear as different persons.
In the Gospel of Mary
, part of the New Testament apocrypha
- specifically the Gnostic gospels
uncovered at Nag Hammadi
- a certain Mary who is commonly identified as Mary Magdalene, is constantly referred to as being loved by Jesus more than the others. In the Gospel of Philip
, another Gnostic Nag Hammadi text, the same is specifically said about Mary Magdalene. For example, compare these passages from the Gospel of John and the apocryphal Gospel of Philip:
discovered in 1980 is postulated by some to be the tomb of Jesus and his family. It contained 10 sets of remains, and one of a child with the inscription "Judah, son of Jesus". The Discovery Channel documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, speculated that the "Beloved Disciple" was Judah.
imagined the Disciple to be a highly placed priest in the Temple and unavailable to follow Jesus in his ministry in the north. Schonfield uses this theory to account for the Beloved Disciple's absence in the north and accounts of Jesus' ministry in the Temple during the week before the Crucifixion.
Brian J. Capper argues that the Beloved Disciple was an aristocratic, priestly member of an 'ascetic quarter', located on Jerusalem's prestigious southwest hill, who had hosted Jesus' last supper in that location. This ascetic group owed its origins to the political manoeuvrings of Herod the Great and consequent friendliness of the Herodian house to the Essenes from the height of Herod the Great's reign to the demise of his son Archelaus in AD 10. This group was no longer connected with nor allegiant to the 'council of the community' of the Qumran Essene community by the time of Jesus' interactions with the Beloved Disciple, who may himself, by taking an interest in the preaching and activity of John the Baptist, have formed a link between Jesus, Jerusalem aristocratic asceticism and the disciples of John the Baptist. Capper cites the Oxford scholar D.E.H. Whiteley, who 'engagingly deduced' that the Beloved Disciple was the host at the last supper from the seating arrangements at Jewish meals:
'...at a formal meal the host reclined on his left arm, as they [the guests] all did, in the centre of a rough horse-shoe. The guest of honour, in this case Jesus, reclined to the left of the host, and the guest next in precedence to the right of his host. Because the 'placings' overlapped, each reclined in the 'bosom' (kolpon) of the person on his left. In [Gospel of John] 13:23 we read that in the kolpon there reclined one of his disciples whom he loved, presumably his host. Peter, reclining to the right of his host, beckoned to him to to ask Jesus who it was that was going to betray him as Jesus had prophesied in 13:21 above. In answer to his host's question, presumably whispered, Jesus answered that it was the disciple to whom he would give the sop, pswmion, which he would dip, bapsw. It would be much easier for Jesus to do so without attracting attention if Judas, being treasurer of the twelve, and therefore counting as third in precedence, after Jesus and Peter, were reclining in the third most honourable place, to the left of his master.'
This explanation of the conversation of John 13:21-23 rules out the possibility that Jesus himself had occupied, as host, the central position at table. In this case, Peter would have been seated to Jesus' left, but the Beloved Disciple to Jesus' right, lying into Jesus' chest. In that arrangement, Peter, absurdly, would have to lean forward, across Jesus, to convey the Beloved Disciple's question to Jesus. Conversely, the seating arrangement suggested by Whiteley works very well for passing on the question at low volume. Peter leant back into the Beloved Disciple's chest, to whisper his question to the Beloved Disciple, in the position of host, who in turn leant back to put quietly the question to Jesus. The answer was passed back, quietly and so out of the hearing of others at table, by the same means in reverse, Jesus leaning forward to whisper to the Beloved Disciple, and the Beloved Disciple leaning forward to whisper quietly to Peter. Whiteley's explanation also fits well with the other data in the Gospel which connect the Beloved Disciple to Jerusalem, most especially the fact that Jesus could, in chapter 19, from the cross pass his mother into the care of the Beloved Disciple, which would make most sense if the Beloved Disciple had charge of premises in Jerusalem (unlike the Galilean disciples, who do not figure in this transfer).
The British scholar Richard Bauckham reaches the similar conclusion that the beloved disciple, who also authored the gospel attributed to John, was probably a literally sophisticated member of the (surprisingly extensive) high priestly family clan.
The author may also have been a lesser known disciple, perhaps from Jerusalem.
Suggestions accounting for this are numerous. One common proposal is that the author concealed his name due simply to modesty, even though calling him/herself the "beloved" disciple may not sound that humble. Another is that concealment served political or security reasons, made necessary by the threat of persecution or embarrassment during the time of the gospel's publication. The author may have been a highly placed person in Jerusalem who was hiding his affiliation with Christianity (see above reference to Richard Bauckham). Capper (see above reference) suggests that anonymity would have been appropriate for one living the withdrawn life of an ascetic, and that under the unnamed disciples of the Gospel may be present either the Beloved Disciple himself or others under his guidance who out of the humility of their ascetic commitment hid their identity or subsumed their witness under that of their spiritual master. In case the unnamed disciple was female, the purpose may have been to prevent the Gospel being labeled as heretical at a time when women's position in the 2nd century Church was in steep decline and any reference to a woman being beloved by Jesus would have had immediate sexual innuendos.
Martin L. Smith, a member of the Society of St. John the Evangelist
, writes that the author of John's gospel may have deliberately obscured the identity of the Beloved Disciple in order that readers of the gospel may better identify with the disciple's relationship with Jesus:
The idea of a beloved or special disciple is sometimes evoked in analysis of other texts from the New Testament Pseudepigrapha. In the Gospel of Thomas
, Judas Thomas
is the disciple taken aside by Jesus. In the Gospel of Judas
, Judas Iscariot
is favored with privy enlightening information and set apart from the other apostles. Another more recent interpretation draws from the Secret Gospel of Mark
, existing only in fragments. In this interpretation, two scenes from Secret Mark and one at feature the same young man or youth who is unnamed but seems closely connected to Jesus. As the account in Secret Mark details a raising from the dead very similar to Jesus' raising of Lazarus
in , the young man is identified as Lazarus and associated with the Beloved Disciple.
at the Last Supper
or with Mary at the crucifixion. In some medieval art, the Beloved Disciple is portrayed with his head in Christ's lap. Many artists have given different interpretations of which has the disciple whom Jesus loved "reclining next to Jesus" (v. 23; more literally, "on/at his breast/bosom," en to kolpo).
John 20:2
John 20:2 is the second verse of the twentieth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament. Mary Magdalene has just discovered that the tomb of Jesus has been opened. In this verse she seeks out and tells this news to Peter and the Beloved Disciple....
, the Beloved Disciple is used five times in the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
, but in no other New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
accounts of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. claims that the Gospel of John is based on the written testimony of the "Beloved Disciple".
Since the end of the 2nd century, the Beloved Disciple has been considered to be John the Evangelist
John the Evangelist
Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...
. Scholars have debated the authorship of the Johannine works (the Gospel of John, First, Second, and Third epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation) since at least the 3rd century, but especially since the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
. Many modern scholars now believe that he wrote none of them. Opinions continue to be divided, however, and other renowned theological scholars continue to accept the traditional authorship. Since John the Evangelist has been named consistently in the writings of early church fathers, "it is hard to pass by this conclusion, despite widespread reluctance to accept it by many, but by no means all, modern scholars." Thus, the true identity of the author of the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
remains a subject of considerable debate.
Sources
There are four references to the Beloved Disciple in the Gospel of John:- It is the Beloved Disciple who, while reclining beside Jesus at the Last SupperLast SupperThe Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
, asks Jesus, after being requested by PeterSaint PeterSaint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
to do so, who it is that will betray him.
- Later at the crucifixionCrucifixion of JesusThe crucifixion of Jesus and his ensuing death is an event that occurred during the 1st century AD. Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally executed on a cross...
, Jesus tells his motherMary (mother of Jesus)Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
, "Woman, here is your son", and to the Beloved Disciple he says, "Here is your mother."
- When Mary MagdaleneMary MagdaleneMary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
discovers the empty tomb, she runs to tell the Beloved Disciple and Peter. The two men rush to the empty tomb and the Beloved Disciple is the first to reach the empty tomb. However, Peter is the first to enter.
- In , the last chapter of the Gospel of JohnGospel of JohnThe Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
, the Beloved Disciple is one of seven fishermen involved in the miraculous catch of 153 fish.
None of the other Gospels has anyone in the parallel scenes that could be directly understood as the Beloved Disciple. For example, in , Peter alone runs to the tomb. Mark, Matthew and Luke do not mention any one of the twelve disciples having witnessed the crucifixion.
There are also two references to an unnamed "other disciple" in and , which may be to the same person based on the wording in .
John the Apostle
A major difficulty in supposing that the Beloved Disciple was not one of the Twelve Apostles is that the Beloved Disciple was apparently present at the Last SupperLast Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
which Matthew and Mark state that Jesus ate with the Twelve. Thus the most frequent identification is with John the Apostle
John the Apostle
John the Apostle, John the Apostle, John the Apostle, (Aramaic Yoħanna, (c. 6 - c. 100) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James, another of the Twelve Apostles...
, thought by many to be the same as John the Evangelist
John the Evangelist
Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...
. Merril F. Unger presents the prima facie case that the "Beloved Disciple" actually is John the author of the gospel, essentially by using a process of elimination. Unger writes:
[John's identification and authorship]...can be deduced in a general sense from the [following] facts. He indicates the precise hours when particular events took place . He records quotations of the disciple Philip , Thomas , Judas , and Andrew . He leaned on the breast of Jesus at supper on the night of the betrayal and was among the three 'inner circle' apostles, Peter, James, and John. Peter is distinguished from this author by name in ; and James had become a martyr very early, long before the Gospel was written . He has a particular way of introducing himself . These facts cumulatively make it difficult to come to any other conclusion, but that John was the author of the Gospel which bears his name."
The closing words of John's Gospel state explicitly concerning the Beloved Disciple that "It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true."
As for early Church opinions on the disciple's identification, a 2nd century quote of Polycrates of Ephesus
Polycrates of Ephesus
Polycrates of Ephesus was an Early Christian bishop who resided in Ephesus.Roberts and Donaldson noted that Polycrates "belonged to a family in which he was the eighth Christian bishop; and he presided over the church of Ephesus, in which the traditions of St. John were yet fresh in men's minds at...
(c. 130s - 196), recorded by Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...
in his Church History
Church History (Eusebius)
The Church History of Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea was a 4th-century pioneer work giving a chronological account of the development of Early Christianity from the 1st century to the 4th century. It was written in Koine Greek, and survives also in Latin, Syriac and Armenian manuscripts...
, supports the classical identification of the Beloved Disciple, who reclined beside Jesus at the Last Supper, with John.
John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and, being a priest, wore the sacerdotal plate. He fell asleep at EphesusEphesusEphesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
.
Modern scholarly opinions on all these interrelated questions vary considerably. A popular scholarly opinion is that that John the Apostle did not write the Gospel of John or any of the other New Testament works traditionally ascribed to him, making this linkage of a 'John' to the beloved disciple difficult to sustain. Yet, other contemporary Christian scholars consider it plausible or even likely that the Apostle John authored the gospel attributed to him.
Some interpreters have suggested a homoerotic interpretation of Christ's relationship with the Beloved Disciple, but the majority of mainstream Biblical scholars find no hard scriptural evidence to this effect. That such an interpretation of a physical erotic relationship did exist as early as the 16th century (albeit in a heretical context) is documented for example in the trial for blasphemy
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
of Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
accused of claiming that "St. John the Evangelist was bedfellow to Christ and leaned always in his bosom, that he used him as the sinners of Sodoma". In accusing Marlowe of the "sinful nature" of homosexual acts, James I of England
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
drew comparisons between his own erotic relationship with the Duke of Buckingham
Duke of Buckingham
The titles Marquess and Duke of Buckingham, referring to Buckingham, have been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been Earls of Buckingham.-1444 creation:...
. Finally Calcagno, a citizen of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
faced trial in 1550 for claiming that "St. John was Christ's catamite
Catamite
A catamite was a handsome youth kept as a sexual companion in ancient Rome, usually in a pederastic relationship. The word derives from the proper noun Catamitus, the Latinized form of Ganymede, the beautiful Trojan youth abducted by Zeus to be his companion and cupbearer...
".
Lazarus
The Beloved Disciple has also been identified with Lazarus of BethanyLazarus of Bethany
Lazarus of Bethany, also known as Saint Lazarus or Lazarus of the Four Days, is the subject of a prominent miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus restores him to life four days after his death...
, based on . Michael Baigent
Michael Baigent
Michael Baigent is an author and speculative theorist who co-wrote a number of books that question mainstream perceptions of history and the life of Jesus. He is best known as co-writer of the book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail....
and Richard Leigh
Richard Leigh (author)
Richard Harris Leigh was a novelist and short story writer born in New Jersey, USA to a British father and an American mother, who spent most of his life in the UK. Leigh earned a BA from Tufts University, a Master's degree from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D...
expanded this theory; they said that Jesus was married to Lazarus's sister Mary, whom they identified as Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
, and so loved Lazarus as a brother-in-law. They suggested it was because of the family tie that, on the cross, Jesus told the Beloved Disciple to take care of his mother with the words, "Behold your mother" . The same verse says that the disciple "took her to his own home." Baigent and Leigh make the point that the other disciples had no home, having left their homes to follow Jesus, but Lazarus had a home in Bethany.
Mary Magdalene
Another school of thought has proposed that the Beloved Disciple in the Gospel of John really was originally Mary MagdaleneMary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
. In order to make this claim and maintain consistency with scriptures, the theory is suggested that Mary's separate existence in the two common scenes with the Beloved Disciple and were later modifications, hastily done to authorize the gospel in the late 2nd century. Both scenes are claimed to have inconsistencies both internally and in reference to the synoptic Gospels, possibly coming from rough editing to make Mary Magdalene and the Beloved Disciple appear as different persons.
In the Gospel of Mary
Gospel of Mary
The Gospel of Mary is an apocryphal book discovered in 1896 in a 5th-century papyrus codex. The codex Papyrus Berolinensis 8502 was purchased in Cairo by German scholar Karl Reinhardt....
, part of the New Testament apocrypha
New Testament apocrypha
The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that claim to be accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. These writings often have links with books regarded as "canonical"...
- specifically the Gnostic gospels
Gnostic Gospels
The Gnostic Gospels are a collection of about fifty-two texts supposedly based upon the ancient wisdom teachings of several prophets and spiritual leaders including Jesus, written from the 2nd to the 4th century AD. These gospels are not part of the standard Biblical canon of any major Christian...
uncovered at Nag Hammadi
Nag Hammâdi
Nag Hammadi , is a city in Upper Egypt. Nag Hammadi was known as Chenoboskion in classical antiquity, meaning "geese grazing grounds". It is located on the west bank of the Nile in the Qena Governorate, about 80 kilometres north-west of Luxor....
- a certain Mary who is commonly identified as Mary Magdalene, is constantly referred to as being loved by Jesus more than the others. In the Gospel of Philip
Gospel of Philip
The Gospel of Philip is one of the Gnostic Gospels, a text of New Testament apocrypha, dating back to around the third century but lost to modern researchers until an Egyptian peasant rediscovered it by accident, buried in a cave near Nag Hammadi, in 1945...
, another Gnostic Nag Hammadi text, the same is specifically said about Mary Magdalene. For example, compare these passages from the Gospel of John and the apocryphal Gospel of Philip:
Gospel of Philip: There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary his mother and her sister and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion. His sister and his mother and his companion were each a Mary.
Gospel of John: 25Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," 27and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Judah
The Talpiot TombTalpiot Tomb
The Talpiot Tomb is a rock-cut tomb discovered in 1980 in the East Talpiot neighborhood, five kilometers south of the Old City in East Jerusalem. It contained ten ossuaries, six of them with epigraphs, including one with the inscription that has been interpreted as "Jesus, son of Joseph", though...
discovered in 1980 is postulated by some to be the tomb of Jesus and his family. It contained 10 sets of remains, and one of a child with the inscription "Judah, son of Jesus". The Discovery Channel documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, speculated that the "Beloved Disciple" was Judah.
Unknown priest or disciple
Passover Plot author Hugh J. SchonfieldHugh J. Schonfield
Hugh Joseph Schonfield was a British Bible scholar specializing in the New Testament and the early development of the Christian religion and church. He was born in London, and educated there at St Paul's School and King's College, doing postgraduate religious studies in Glasgow, Doctor of Sacred...
imagined the Disciple to be a highly placed priest in the Temple and unavailable to follow Jesus in his ministry in the north. Schonfield uses this theory to account for the Beloved Disciple's absence in the north and accounts of Jesus' ministry in the Temple during the week before the Crucifixion.
Brian J. Capper argues that the Beloved Disciple was an aristocratic, priestly member of an 'ascetic quarter', located on Jerusalem's prestigious southwest hill, who had hosted Jesus' last supper in that location. This ascetic group owed its origins to the political manoeuvrings of Herod the Great and consequent friendliness of the Herodian house to the Essenes from the height of Herod the Great's reign to the demise of his son Archelaus in AD 10. This group was no longer connected with nor allegiant to the 'council of the community' of the Qumran Essene community by the time of Jesus' interactions with the Beloved Disciple, who may himself, by taking an interest in the preaching and activity of John the Baptist, have formed a link between Jesus, Jerusalem aristocratic asceticism and the disciples of John the Baptist. Capper cites the Oxford scholar D.E.H. Whiteley, who 'engagingly deduced' that the Beloved Disciple was the host at the last supper from the seating arrangements at Jewish meals:
'...at a formal meal the host reclined on his left arm, as they [the guests] all did, in the centre of a rough horse-shoe. The guest of honour, in this case Jesus, reclined to the left of the host, and the guest next in precedence to the right of his host. Because the 'placings' overlapped, each reclined in the 'bosom' (kolpon) of the person on his left. In [Gospel of John] 13:23 we read that in the kolpon there reclined one of his disciples whom he loved, presumably his host. Peter, reclining to the right of his host, beckoned to him to to ask Jesus who it was that was going to betray him as Jesus had prophesied in 13:21 above. In answer to his host's question, presumably whispered, Jesus answered that it was the disciple to whom he would give the sop, pswmion, which he would dip, bapsw. It would be much easier for Jesus to do so without attracting attention if Judas, being treasurer of the twelve, and therefore counting as third in precedence, after Jesus and Peter, were reclining in the third most honourable place, to the left of his master.'
This explanation of the conversation of John 13:21-23 rules out the possibility that Jesus himself had occupied, as host, the central position at table. In this case, Peter would have been seated to Jesus' left, but the Beloved Disciple to Jesus' right, lying into Jesus' chest. In that arrangement, Peter, absurdly, would have to lean forward, across Jesus, to convey the Beloved Disciple's question to Jesus. Conversely, the seating arrangement suggested by Whiteley works very well for passing on the question at low volume. Peter leant back into the Beloved Disciple's chest, to whisper his question to the Beloved Disciple, in the position of host, who in turn leant back to put quietly the question to Jesus. The answer was passed back, quietly and so out of the hearing of others at table, by the same means in reverse, Jesus leaning forward to whisper to the Beloved Disciple, and the Beloved Disciple leaning forward to whisper quietly to Peter. Whiteley's explanation also fits well with the other data in the Gospel which connect the Beloved Disciple to Jerusalem, most especially the fact that Jesus could, in chapter 19, from the cross pass his mother into the care of the Beloved Disciple, which would make most sense if the Beloved Disciple had charge of premises in Jerusalem (unlike the Galilean disciples, who do not figure in this transfer).
The British scholar Richard Bauckham reaches the similar conclusion that the beloved disciple, who also authored the gospel attributed to John, was probably a literally sophisticated member of the (surprisingly extensive) high priestly family clan.
The author may also have been a lesser known disciple, perhaps from Jerusalem.
Both Lazarus, and Martha’s Son
Frederick Baltz asserts that the Lazarus identification, the evidence suggesting that the Beloved Disciple was a priest, and the ancient John tradition are all correct. Baltz says the family of the children of Boethus, known from Josephus and Rabbinic literature, is the same family we meet in the eleventh chapter of the Gospel: Lazarus, Martha, and Mary of Bethany. This is a beloved family, according to John 11:5. The historical Lazarus was Eleazar son of Boethus, who was once Israel’s High Priest, and from a clan that produced several High Priests. The Gospel’s author, John, was not a member of the Twelve, but the son of Martha (Sukkah 52b). He closely matches the description given by Bishop Polycrates in his letter, a sacrificing priest who wore the petalon (i.e., emblem of the High Priest). This John "the Elder" was a follower of Jesus referred to by Papias, and an eyewitness to his ministry. He was the right age to have lived until the time of Trajan (according to Irenaeus). Baltz says John is probably the disciple ον ηγαπα ο Ιησους, and Eleazar is the disciple ον εφιλει ο Ιησους in the Gospel.Jesus' brother James
James D. Tabor argues that the beloved disciple is Jesus' brother James. One of several pieces of evidence Tabor offers is a literal interpretation of , "Then when Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, Woman, behold your son." However, elsewhere in that gospel [John 21:7], the beloved disciple refers to the risen Jesus as 'the Lord' rather than as 'my brother,' Additionally, many Christians, most notably the Roman Catholic Church, reject that Jesus even had siblings.Reasons for concealing the identity by name
Theories about the reference usually include an attempt to explain why this anonymizing idiom is used at all, rather than stating an identity.Suggestions accounting for this are numerous. One common proposal is that the author concealed his name due simply to modesty, even though calling him/herself the "beloved" disciple may not sound that humble. Another is that concealment served political or security reasons, made necessary by the threat of persecution or embarrassment during the time of the gospel's publication. The author may have been a highly placed person in Jerusalem who was hiding his affiliation with Christianity (see above reference to Richard Bauckham). Capper (see above reference) suggests that anonymity would have been appropriate for one living the withdrawn life of an ascetic, and that under the unnamed disciples of the Gospel may be present either the Beloved Disciple himself or others under his guidance who out of the humility of their ascetic commitment hid their identity or subsumed their witness under that of their spiritual master. In case the unnamed disciple was female, the purpose may have been to prevent the Gospel being labeled as heretical at a time when women's position in the 2nd century Church was in steep decline and any reference to a woman being beloved by Jesus would have had immediate sexual innuendos.
Martin L. Smith, a member of the Society of St. John the Evangelist
Society of St. John the Evangelist
The Society of St John the Evangelist is an Anglican religious order for men. The members live under a rule of life and, at profession, make monastic vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. The SSJE was founded in 1866 at Cowley, Oxford, England, by the Father Richard Meux Benson, a priest in the...
, writes that the author of John's gospel may have deliberately obscured the identity of the Beloved Disciple in order that readers of the gospel may better identify with the disciple's relationship with Jesus:
Perhaps the disciple is never named, never individualized, so that we can more easily accept that he bears witness to an intimacy that is meant for each one of us. The closeness that he enjoyed is a sign of the closeness that is mine and yours because we are in Christ and Christ is in us."
The idea of a beloved or special disciple is sometimes evoked in analysis of other texts from the New Testament Pseudepigrapha. In the Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel According to Thomas, commonly shortened to the Gospel of Thomas, is a well preserved early Christian, non-canonical sayings-gospel discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945, in one of a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library...
, Judas Thomas
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
is the disciple taken aside by Jesus. In the Gospel of Judas
Gospel of Judas
The Gospel of Judas is a Gnostic gospel that purportedly documents conversations between the Disciple Judas Iscariot and Jesus Christ.It is believed to have been written by Gnostic followers of Jesus, rather than by Judas himself, and probably dates from no earlier than the 2nd century, since it...
, Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
is favored with privy enlightening information and set apart from the other apostles. Another more recent interpretation draws from the Secret Gospel of Mark
Secret Gospel of Mark
The Secret Gospel of Mark is a putative non-canonical Christian gospel known exclusively from the Mar Saba letter, which describes Secret Mark as an expanded version of the canonical Gospel of Mark with some episodes elucidated, written for an initiated elite.In 1973 Morton Smith , professor of...
, existing only in fragments. In this interpretation, two scenes from Secret Mark and one at feature the same young man or youth who is unnamed but seems closely connected to Jesus. As the account in Secret Mark details a raising from the dead very similar to Jesus' raising of Lazarus
Lazarus of Bethany
Lazarus of Bethany, also known as Saint Lazarus or Lazarus of the Four Days, is the subject of a prominent miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus restores him to life four days after his death...
in , the young man is identified as Lazarus and associated with the Beloved Disciple.
Beloved Disciple in art
In art, the Beloved Disciple is often portrayed as a beardless youth, usually as one of the Twelve ApostlesApostle (Christian)
The term apostle is derived from Classical Greek ἀπόστολος , meaning one who is sent away, from στέλλω + από . The literal meaning in English is therefore an "emissary", from the Latin mitto + ex...
at the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
or with Mary at the crucifixion. In some medieval art, the Beloved Disciple is portrayed with his head in Christ's lap. Many artists have given different interpretations of which has the disciple whom Jesus loved "reclining next to Jesus" (v. 23; more literally, "on/at his breast/bosom," en to kolpo).