The National tribune., 1886-03-18
SUNDAY MEDITATION.

tNoTE.-The lesson for Sunday, March %, is left
TO each school to select for itself. Since to
spend the next nine months of this year studying
| the writings of St John, we have thought 1t we'll
TO devote said Sunday to making ourselves more
acquainted with that Evangelist.
Gilfillan said: 1--WE need not be afraid to
avow that we have our favorites among Script
ure writers, and that leading favorite is John.
There was one Disciple whom Jesus loved !;
and we plead guilty to loving that writer su-
premely too"
The name John means "whom Jehovah hath
graciously given" This follower of Christ is
styled the Disciple whom Jesus loved" John,
13 %. Compare 10: PC; 20:2; IL, 20) He
uses these words of himself, seemingly in an
effort to avoid the mention of his own name.
He is called a son of thunder" Mark, 3: IL
Christ gave him that title. 1t may have been
because he saw in him that impetuous, fiery
| nature which developed itself, over one year
after that, in his wish to call lightning down
from the sky to kill certain offending Samari-
tans. Bishop Hobart says: "This surname is
| thought more especially to be attributed to st.
| John, because he so clearly taught the divinity
of Jesus Christ, and delivered the mysteries OF
the Gospel in more sublime and profound
| strain than the other Evangelists." He Is
known as an Apostle" from the fact he was
of the original II attendants of our Savior, and
was commissioned by him to ordain as the rest
of the Apostles did, successors i'll the holy min
| istry. He has the title " Evangelist" because
| he wrote one of the four Gospels, or Evangels
| Often he is styled the Divine" One author
| gives the reason thus: "On account of the
depth of his theology, the sublimity of his fig
ures, and the majesty of his thoughts" Another
| says the ancents gave ST. John this title,
"either because the divinity of Christ forms
| the principal theme of his writings or because
the counsels of the Almighty were moro fully
revealed 80 him than to any other Prophet of
the Christian dspensation." st. John was also
called a Prophet" He was such not only in
the general sense of the word prophet, but also
in its original meaning, that of foreteller.
He, in his book titled Revelations" lets US
into the future, giving beforehand the prin-
cipal events to occur in the history of the
Church. He is likewise styled the :" Theo-
logan"
There are four lists of the IL Apostles Matt,
1924; Mark. 3: 1619; Luke, 6: 14-16; Acts
! :13.) We find the name of st. John fourth in
the lists of St Matt and Luke, and third In
those of st. Mark and the Acts of the Apostles.
The order in st. Matt. is SITS. Petor, Andrew,
James, in st. Mark, SITS. Peter, James, John;
in st. Luke, SITS. Peter, Andrew, James, John
in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, SITS.
Peter. James, John. Since James was the old
est the fttest order would seem to be that of
SITS. Matthew and Luke. 1t is noticeable st.
John does not furnish any list of the Apostles;
but in his first chapter we have an account of
the calling of the first five Apostles. 1t is be-
lieyed one of the two referred to in V. 35 was
st. John. If SO. st. Johns order, so far as five
of the Apostles is concerned is SITS. Peter, John,
Andrew, Philip, Nathaniel. This is the order
in which Christ called these. 1t seems st.
James was not present then.
The name of st. Johns father was Zebedee;
Of his mother, Salome. Matt, 4 21; Mark,
10: 49.) Zebedee does not figure much in the
Gospels. Salome is called " the mother of Zeb-
edee's children" She appears to have been
woman of great force of character and the prin-
cipal manager of the family. The father did
not seem to take so much interest. lie was
probably retired kind of man, leaving much
to the execution of his wife, 1t is held Salome
was "A sister or a cousin germane to Mary, the
Mother Of our Savior, and that hence St. John
thus related humanity to Christ.
The Apostle was born probably at Bethsaida,
in Galilee not far from the year A. ID. 1t is
thought he was the youngest of the II Apostles.
His brother James, also, was one of Christs
chosen II. Like the rest of the Apostles, he
was Galiean. He was Jew.
In the days of our Savior there were but two
tribes of the Jews. Long before the Messiah came
the 10 tribes had been taken away into captiv
ity. The two remaining were the tribes of
Judah and Benjamin. BY intermarriage these
two had practically become one. Hence, st,
John belonged either to the tribe of Judah or
that of Benz amin, or possibly to both.
The only approach we have toward his per-
Sonal appearance is in the painting OF Leonardo
de Vinci. of the Last supper" OF course
that is fancitul, and it is the opinion of many
critics that it is too feminine to be true pict-
OF q son of thunder" Though so loving,
the Apostle was 4 brave, manly person.
1t is very certain ST. John was never mar
ried. All the Apostles save him and st. Paul
mad wives. Read Antenicene Christian Lii
brary, Vol. XVI, p. 452.)
We have little data by which to determine
the educational attachments of the Apostle. He
probably attended the schools of the Jews
taught by the priests and Levites. A large
part of instruction was oral, there being no
printed books, and MSS. being more rare and
more difficult to use text books in school
room. We know several of the sciences were
taught and studied. In general the Apostles
were not literary men. Men they were of ex-
cellent judgment and considerable in formation.
A people descended from Solomon cannot be
supposed to be wholly ignorant. 1t was the
business of the Scribes to furnish books in MS.
The tribe of Levi was set apart to the mental
and moral training of society. Priests and
Levites were scattered throughout Palestine
Priests served at the temple only two out of 81
weeks OF the year The Leyites were the edu-
Gators of the Jewish Nation. There are evil
dences in the Scriptures that the Israelites knew
something of geography, arithmetic, surveying,
astronomy, architecture and medicine. Prob
ably, however, the education of the masses was
mostly IN history, genealogy, morals, govern
ment and religion. In the time of ST. John
the Old Testament was complete, and schooling
would be largely based on it as textbook
We know the vocation of st. John I'D to
about 30 years of age, was that of a fisherman
Then he was pupil and assistant to our Savior
for three years. For the remainder of his life
he was Bishop, and gave time to establishing
Christianity in Asia Minor mainly.
The New Testament is literarly divided into
three parts-the historical, the epistolary, and
the prophetic. The historical goes to the end
of the Acts Of the Apostles; the epistolary to
the book of the Revelations and the prophetic
wrote III each department. His Gospel is part
of the historical; his three Epistles are part of
the letters; and his book of Revelations con-
stitutes the entire prophetic part. He wrote
five books of the New Testament.
We are informed that about 12 years after
the ascension of Christ the IL Apostles separated
and went into different parts of the world to
preach the Gospel and to establish the Church
We are told St. John did his main work i'm
Asia Minor. He established the churches at
Smyrna, Thyatira, Philadelphia, Laodcea,
Sardis and Pergamos. He lived principally at
Ephesus as Metropolitan, st. Timothy being the
Bishop. He there consecrated Polycarp
st. John died a natural death at Ephesus
about A. d. 100, aged nearly a century. No one
knows anything of the present location of the
remains of the deceased Apostle.
After our study, we may fifty offer this prayer:
"Mcrciful Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy
bright beams of light upon thy Church, that it
being instructed by the doctrine of thy blessed