The official name “apostle” signifies one “sent forth.” “These twelve Jesus sent forth” (Matt. 10:55These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: (Matthew 10:5)). This name was given to them by the Lord Himself. “He called unto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles” (Luke 6:1313And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; (Luke 6:13)). A personal acquaintance with the whole ministerial course of the Lord was the original and a necessary qualification of an apostle. This was stated by Peter before the election of a successor to the traitor Judas. “Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that He was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of His resurrection” (Acts 1:21-2221Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. (Acts 1:21‑22)). By this close, personal fellowship with the Lord, they were particularly suited to be the witnesses of His earthly path. He describes them Himself as “they which have continued with Me in My temptations” (Luke 22:2828Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. (Luke 22:28)).
The Three Chosen Ones
Peter, James and John, and occasionally Andrew, were always the most intimate companions of the blessed Lord. The first three only were admitted to the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5; Luke 8). The same three apostles were alone permitted to be present at the transfiguration (Matt. 17; Mark 9; Luke 9). It was the same three that witnessed His agony in Gethsemane (Matt. 26; Mark 14; Luke 22). But the four, Peter, James, John and Andrew, are joined together when they ask the Lord privately about the destruction of the temple (Mark 13).
Like the change in Peter’s name, or the addition to it, the sons of Zebedee are surnamed Boanerges, or, “the sons of thunder.” Great boldness and faithfulness may have singled out James to Herod, as the first to be seized and silenced. It is not a little remarkable that “the son of thunder” and “the rock-man” are the first to be apprehended. But James has the honor to be the first of the apostles who received the crown of martyrdom, A.D. 44. Peter was rescued by a miracle.
A mother’s jealousy and her sons’ ambition led Salome to ask for very distinguished places in the kingdom for her two sons. The Lord allowed the petition to pass with a very mild reproof, but He told the brothers that they should drink of His cup and be baptized with His baptism. James was early called upon to realize this statement. After the ascension, he is seen in company with the other apostles in Acts 1, and then he disappears from the sacred narrative until his apprehension and death in Acts 12. And there we are simply told, in the brief language of the inspired historian, that Herod the king killed James the brother of John with the sword.
The Family of Zebedee
John was the son of Zebedee and Salome and the younger brother of James. Though his father was a fisherman, it appears from the gospel narrative that they were in good circumstances. Some of the ancients speak of the family as wealthy, and even as nobly connected. But these traditions are not reconcilable with the facts of Scripture. We read, however, of their “hired servants,” and they may have owned more vessels than one. And Salome, we doubt not, was one of those honored women who ministered to the Lord of her substance. And John had a house of his own (Luke 8:33And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance. (Luke 8:3); John 19:2727Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. (John 19:27)). Thus, we may safely infer from these facts that their position was considerably above poverty. As many have gone to extremes in speaking of the apostles as poor and illiterate, we think it well to notice the few hints of Scripture on these subjects.
Of the character of Zebedee we know nothing. He made no objection to his sons leaving him at the call of the Messiah. But we hear no more of him afterwards. We frequently find the mother in company with her sons, but no mention of the father. The probability is that he died soon after the call of his sons.
The Sons of Thunder
The evangelist Mark, in enumerating the twelve apostles (ch. 3:17), when he mentions James and John, says our Lord “surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder.” Doubtless, on one or two occasions their zeal was intemperate, but that was before they understood the spirit of their calling. More probably our Lord so surnamed them as prophetic of their burning zeal in openly and boldly proclaiming the great truths of the gospel, after they became fully acquainted with them. We are certain that John, in company with Peter, in the early chapters of the Acts, displayed a courage that feared no threatenings and was daunted by no opposition.
Judging from his writings, John appears to have been possessed of a disposition singularly affectionate, mild and amiable. He was characterized as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” On various occasions he was admitted to free and intimate fellowship with the Lord (John 13).
“What distinguished John,” says Neander, “was the union of the most opposite qualities, as we have often observed in great instruments of the advancement of the kingdom of God — the union of a disposition inclined to silent and deep meditation, with an ardent zeal, though not impelled to great and diversified activity in the outward world, not a passionate zeal, such as we suppose filled the breast of Paul before his conversion. But there was also a love, not soft and yielding, but one seizing with all its might and firmly retaining the object to which it was directed — vigorously repelling anything whatever that would disgrace this object or attempt to wrest it from its possession, and this was his leading characteristic.”
At the Crucifixion
The history of John is so intimately connected with the histories of Peter and James. These three names are seldom separated in the gospel history. But there is one scene in which John stands alone, and which ought to be noted. He was the only apostle who followed Jesus to the place of His crucifixion. And there he was specially honored with the regard and confidence of his Master. “When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son; then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home” (John 19:26-2726When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. (John 19:26‑27)).
The Last Years
After the ascension of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, John became one of the chief apostles of the circumcision. But his ministry goes down to the end of the first century. With his death the apostolic age naturally closes.
In Asia Minor he planted and watched over several churches in different cities, but he made Ephesus his center. Thence he was banished to the Isle of Patmos, towards the close of Domitian’s reign. There he wrote the Revelation (ch. 1:9). On his liberation from exile, by the accession of Nerva to the imperial throne, John returned to Ephesus, where he wrote his gospel and epistles. He died about A.D. 100, in the third year of the Emperor Trajan, at about one hundred years of age.
A. Miller