The Gospel of John or not?

Lazarus of Bethany And The Fourth Gospel - Trust The Bible

Lazarus Come Forth (LazarusComeForth.com) is intended as a site to present those who are searching for information on Lazarus of Bethany or the raising of Lazarus from the dead with some new insights about this unique Biblical character. The focus of this site has been on Lazarus, his relationship to Jesus, how being raised from the dead would have changed Lazarus and examining how all of these facts compare to the various facts in the Biblical record regarding the one whom "Jesus loved". However given the tradition that this was John, an idea which has been blindly believed without question by many for a long time, there is certainly another side to this issue of Who was the beloved disciple?

There is not even one verse that would justify teaching the John idea as a Biblical certainty and this alone should be sufficient reason to reconsider the man-made tradition that the "other disciple, whom Jesus loved" was John. But beyond this the Bible shows that this tradition cannot be true, because what the scriptures reveal about the Apostle John is able to prove that he cannot possibly be this unnamed "other disciple". Consider the following facts regarding the beloved disciple:

The evidence shows that the Apostle John was not the "other disciple" because:

• The other three Gospel writers treat these two very differently. They include John, but overtly omit the "other disciple". This suggests they were two different people.



• "The disciple whom Jesus loved" wrote his Gospel with the deliberate intent of remaining anonymous, yet the evidence indicates that the Apostle John did not attempt to hide his identity. In the Book of Revelation we see that the Apostle John was willing to openly identify himself, because he did so several times.



• "The disciple whom Jesus loved" enjoyed a one-of-a-kind bond with Jesus. This cannot be said of John, since not even his role in the inner circle suggests that John enjoyed a relationship that was equivalent to this.



• These two behaved differently on the evening Jesus was arrested. John let Jesus down by falling asleep three times at Gethsemane. But the "other disciple" went into the palace of the high priest with Jesus and we only see him leave when Jesus dismissed him -- at a time well into the next day.



• The idea that "the disciple whom Jesus loved" was John is based on the mistaken assumption that this author had to be one of "the twelve". Paintings of "the twelve" alone with Jesus at his last Passover help promote this notion. However, details in the Bible actually indicate that they were not alone (including the fact that they were guests in someone's home when this event occurred). Besides this, note the phrase "other disciple". "Other" suggests that the author was not one of "the twelve", but rather, that he was one of the additional disciples that were continually with Jesus.



• If "the disciple whom Jesus loved" joined Jesus and "the twelve" after the supper, then this person could not be John. Yet this is just what is indicated by the author's own record of events at that Passover -- which skips the Lord's Table and opens with the foot washing (after which Jesus sat down again).



• The "other disciple" was a known associate of Jesus and he was known to the high priest. But the high priest was not acquainted with John and he didn't learn that John was an associate of Jesus until after Pentecost.



• The author's aim of anonymity argues against this being John, because the author's record of the fishing trip cites "the sons of Zebedee" while leaving two disciples unnamed when "the disciple whom Jesus loved" is said to be present. This would seem to run counter to the author's effort to conceal his identity if this author had in fact been John.

The evidence indicates that Lazarus was the "other disciple" because:

• They had the identical relationship with Jesus. "Jesus loved" this "other disciple" and "Jesus loved" Lazarus. Moreover, Lazarus is unique in this regard. Only one man named in the Gospels is specifically singled out as being "loved" by Jesus (the key relationship) and that man was Lazarus.



• The other three Gospel writers treat these two alike. They don't tell us that Lazarus was a "friend" of Jesus or that he had supper with Jesus or even that Lazarus was raised from the dead! Likewise, they do not mention "the disciple whom Jesus loved" and they ignore the important role that this individual played in the life of Jesus.



• The anonymous author treats Lazarus and himself in a parallel manner in his Gospel. Lazarus suddenly appears late in the text and he is only referred to a few times. Soon thereafter "the disciple whom Jesus loved" also suddenly appears in the text and he too, is only referred to a few times.



• They never appear in the text at the same time. The last reference to Lazarus occurs just prior to the introduction of "the disciple whom Jesus loved". The author ceases all mention of Lazarus in the text and it is only at that point that the author begins to refer to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved".



• The suddenly famous one disappears and then the suddenly anonymous one appears. The author tells us about the public craving for Lazarus that springs up (but subsequently he never again mentions Lazarus). It is only after his report of this that the author begins to use a series of anonymous phrases to refer to himself -- the "other disciple", "one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved", etc.



• The experiences of Lazarus would produce the response we see in "the disciple whom Jesus loved". After Jesus exhibited his love for Lazarus by raising him from the dead, Lazarus was different from other human beings. And he would certainly be a different person than the man that he had been prior to this miracle. Both the relationship of the "other disciple" to Jesus and the behavior of this unnamed disciple/author befit what we would expect from a raised-from-the-dead Lazarus.



• The Bible reveals that both sat with Jesus. The last time Lazarus is seen in the Bible he is sitting at a table with Jesus. Similarly, the first time "the disciple whom Jesus loved" is seen he is leaning on Jesus at a table.



• When confronted with the "linen" evidence, the "other disciple" becomes the first to believe in Jesus' resurrection. This reaction befits Lazarus -- the one person in scripture most likely to be profoundly moved by the sight of "the linen clothes" and "the napkin" (since he had been wearing similar items at the time that he was raised from the dead).



• The rest of the disciples' mistaken belief that "the disciple whom Jesus loved" wouldn't die points to Lazarus. This false rumor, along with the manner in which the author handles this error, suggests that the disciples jumped to this conclusion because of something that they already knew about this person. [Jesus had given him a reprieve from death.]



• The "other disciple" was anonymous and Lazarus had a motive to become anonymous. The Jews came to see Lazarus after he was raised. Surely he knew the focus belonged on Jesus and not himself. Likewise, the author's stated goal was to lead people to believe in Jesus and yet he took the effort to hide his own identity, so he must have felt that this helped him to achieve this objective.



• When Jesus mentioned Peter's death, Peter turned from Jesus to "the disciple whom Jesus loved". Peter's response indicates that his mind associated "the disciple whom Jesus loved" with this subject. In the same way, Lazarus would be associated with this topic by all those who were acquainted with him.



• The "other disciple" was known to be an associate of Jesus and he was known to the high priest, both of which are true of Lazarus. He was a known associate of Jesus -- it was because Jesus raised him from the dead that the public wanted to see Lazarus. Moreover Lazarus was known to "the chief priests and the Pharisees" (they had received eyewitness testimony of this miracle) and "the chief priests" were also plotting to kill Lazarus (because of the public's response to him).

The Beloved Disciple

The foregoing summary comes from a free bible study on the beloved disciple that is available at TheDiscipleWhomJesusLoved.com. [The supporting verses weren't inculded here because they were cited when each of these points were covered as the evidence was being presented in that study.]

The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved presents a thorough analysis of the Biblical evidence concerning the beloved disciple. It shows that the Bible has sufficient evidence to prove that this person could not have been John and shows, on the other hand, how all of the facts reported in the Bible about the one whom "Jesus loved" fit with what the Bible tells us about Jesus' "friend" Lazarus. The bulk of this Bible study on Lazarus has been taken from the free ebook The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved and if you would like to see the complete presentation of the Biblical evidence on the beloved disciple, click here.

----- "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing..." (Pr. 25:2) -----

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