September: Day 26: Teaching 2: The Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

 

September: Day 26: Teaching 2:
The Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
 
(Lessons to Follow From His Life: 
a. Zeal for the Salvation of Others; 
b. Love for the Lord and Others; 
c. Virginity)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, celebrated today, was the son of the Galilean fisherman Zebedee and his wife Salome. Before his conversion to Christ, he was a disciple of Saint John the Baptist and, together with Saint Andrew, followed the Lord at the direction of the Forerunner, as he himself recounts in the first chapter of his Gospel, without, however, indicating his own name. During the Lord's earthly life, John, along with Saint Peter and his brother James, was among the Lord's three beloved disciples: he was honored to witness the appearance of Divine glory on Mount Tabor, was present at the resurrection of Jairus's daughter; at the Secret Supper, the Lord revealed Judas the traitor to him. Filled with love for the heavenly Teacher, John followed the Lord to the trial and stood at the Lord's cross with a few persons, His relatives according to the flesh. In his dying moments, the Lord entrusted him with the care of His Most Pure Mother. Appearing to him after the Resurrection at Lake Tiberias, the Lord hinted at his long life and peaceful end. Fulfilling his sacred duty to guard the Most Pure Mother of the Lord, John lived in Jerusalem until her Dormition. Here he was tried and scourged before the Sanhedrin; he left Jerusalem only once, to join Peter in bringing the Holy Spirit upon the Samaritans baptized by the deacon Philip.

After the Dormition of the Mother of God, John went to preach in Asia Minor and, having established himself in Ephesus, founded Christian churches in the seven cities mentioned in the Apocalypse.

During the persecution of Domitian, John was taken to Rome for torture. But when neither poison nor boiling oil harmed him, Domitian exiled him to the island of Patmos, where the Lord revealed to him, in mysterious images, the future destiny of the seven churches of Asia Minor and the entire Christian world. He set forth these revelations in the book of Revelation. Under Domitian's good successor, Nerva, John returned to Ephesus and lived there until his old age, serving God and neighbor to the last of his strength.

The following story is related of his zeal for the salvation of his neighbors: John took a Christian youth into his care, and when he was forced to leave Ephesus for a long time, the Apostle entrusted the youth to the city's bishop. But the bishop did not live up to Saint John's trust. The youth was carried away by bad companions and indulged in vices, and then, becoming the leader of a band of robbers, he devoted himself to robbery and murder. John, once near the city where the bishop lived, inquired about the youth and, learning of his sad fate, went to the mountains and there, after a long search, found him. With tears and exhortations, he converted him to repentance and again set him on the path of virtue.

Toward the end of Saint John's life, heretics emerged in the Church who denied the divinity of the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. In rebuke of these heretics, John wrote a Gospel that recounts in particular detail those conversations and deeds of the Lord that particularly revealed the doctrine of the divinity of the Son of God and the Holy Spirit. For this, Saint John the Evangelist is called the Theologian.

In addition to the Apocalypse and the Gospel, John wrote three Epistles, in which he spoke primarily of Christian love. 

Saint John lived for over 100 years. Sensing the approach of death, he took with him his beloved disciple Prochoros and his other disciples, left the city with them, ordered a grave dug for himself, and, after giving his disciples his final instructions, surrendered his soul to God. After his death, a fine dust emanated from his grave annually on May 8th, possessing the power to heal illnesses. Therefore, Saint John's memory began to be celebrated on May 8th.

II. The Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian teaches us much through his life.

a) He was the beloved disciple of Jesus Christ. Why was he beloved? Because John himself deeply loved the Lord. Behold, not a single apostle is at the cross, but John is here. What stronger proof of love could be needed? We, brethren, often complain and say: "The Lord has forgotten us, does not give us what we ask of Him." But rather than say such words, it is better to ask ourselves: do we ourselves remember Him? How do we prove our love for Him? Often this love is only in words, but in reality we do no sacrifice, no ascetic feat, not even the slightest good deed in His name. We cannot fast, we have no desire to pray, we have no time to go to church, we are in need of alms, and it is hard to bear an insult... We ourselves do not remember the Lord, yet we wish that the Lord would remember us; we ourselves are cold towards Him, yet we want Him to shower us with all earthly blessings. Why then? The Lord does so much for us that it's impossible to count His mercies. His longsuffering toward us alone — what a powerful proof of His ardent love for us! No, we must not despair when it seems as if God has forgotten us — because it is not true: would He forget His creation? Rather, we ourselves must strive to love Him — our Creator and Benefactor — with all our hearts.

b) John the Theologian was a virgin — and look at the reward for preserving virginity! Christ the Savior entrusts His Most Pure Mother, the Ever-Virgin Mother, to his care. See, brethren, how pleasing to the Lord is virginity — the preservation of purity of soul and body, how pleasing to Him is chastity! But where are these chaste youths today? How few there are! How many of them long ago lost their innocence, long ago defiled the garment of purity they received in baptism! But you who have lost the purity of your virginity, consider how you will approach in prayer the Mother of the Lord, more honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim? How will you approach the Most Holy and Most Honorable Lord, your Redeemer and Benefactor, more than the sun? How will you finally stand before His Dread Judgment? It is impossible to appear before an earthly king in poor, unclean clothing; how much more terrifying is it to appear before the Heavenly King with soul and body defiled. Think about this, all you who know of yourselves to be guilty of carnal impurity; come to your senses, repent, and learn to serve the Holy God in purity and holiness.

c) Saint John was one of the most zealous preachers of the gospel. He dedicated his entire life to this work, proclaiming Christ everywhere, on ships and in prison, both in chains and free. He knew only one thing — preaching the gospel. But how could it be otherwise? It was his duty, his calling, his immediate obligation. How could the apostle fail to speak of that which filled his soul — of the truth of which he was sincerely and deeply convinced? How can one who loves Him fail to speak of the Beloved?

And we, brethren, are we not so zealous for the spread of the Christian faith, for the establishment of piety everywhere, because we ourselves are weak in faith and not imbued with the spirit of piety and Christian love? They call upon us to make feasible sacrifices for the spread of the Christian faith — and how lazily, slowly, with what reluctance we respond to this task! We are obligated by our position to be mentors, guides on the path of good for others — and yet how lazily we instill this good, Christian spirit in others! No — if a father himself is filled with Christian faith and love, he will not refrain from instilling this faith and love in his children — he will speak to them incessantly of the love of Christ, of life according to His holy commandments, and of the duties of a Christian. If any leader or boss is himself a deeply religious and sincerely pious person, he will strive by all means to instill this faith and piety in his subordinates. His sweetest conversation with them will be about life in Christ. His greatest and holiest joy will come from seeing his loved ones living in Christ. His deepest sorrow will come from seeing a decline in faith, a lack of piety and the fear of God in his subordinates. Such holy zeal would be very useful in these times, when faith is declining so much and vice and impiety are on the rise everywhere!

d) Finally, Saint John the Theologian was a great teacher of love for one’s neighbors.

How deeply the Apostle John was imbued with love for the Christians living in his time, and with the desire that peace and love, rather than enmity and hatred, should spread among them, is evident from the tradition which says that when he was in his old age and could not travel to different countries to preach the gospel and govern churches, then, sitting in his house, he constantly repeated to those who came to him: "Children, love one another." When asked why he repeated these words so often, he answered: "Whoever fulfills the commandment of love will fulfill all the commandments." And in his epistles to Christians, which have come down to us in the Holy Scriptures, he often repeats: "Let us love God, because He first loved us." "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." "Whoever loves God, let him love his brother (i.e., neighbors) also, because whoever does not love his brother shows by this that he does not love God." "As Christ laid down His life for us, so we must lay down our lives for our brothers." "Whoever loves his brother is in the light, but whoever hates him is in darkness." "I truly love you and your children," he writes to one woman, "therefore I command you: love one another." Likewise, in his Gospel, he focused primarily on those incidents from the life of the Savior that primarily expressed His love for people and that primarily arouse in us affection for Christ the Savior. For example, he recounts the gracious conversation of the Lord Jesus with the Samaritan woman, His forgiveness of the sins of the repentant woman, Jesus' tears at the tomb of His friend Lazarus, His farewell conversation with the disciples, and so on.

III. What then shall we say to you in conclusion, brethren, if we do not repeat the words of the celebrated today Evangelist John the Theologian, which he repeated so often in his life: "Brethren, love one another!" What shall we say if we do not remind ourselves that John the Theologian must always be a model for us of true love for God and people! 

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.