Evening star., 1923-07-21

John, the apostle, has left the i'm
preston upon the Christian world
| that he was man Of love, yet in his
youth he was noted for being "son
of thunder" Luke tells us how when
the Samarltans refused to welcome
the Lord, because His face was as
| though He would go to Jerusalem"
that the beloved disciple. whom
Jesus loved, requested that He allow
! them to command fire to come down
from heaven and consume them, even
as Elias did" This of itself shows
that there must have been a great
change wrought in the character of
john the apostle, whom we know
| largely through his gospel and epistles.
| We have known the aged apostle.
the one who has been transformed in
his personality from being red
blooded. intolerant, intense and de-
voted discipline until under the spirit
ual influence of the Master and the
Holy Spirit, he came to be an apostle
of love. We have known the product
and fruits of his fellowship with the
| Lord Jesus, but we have not noticed
the process by which the change took
place. We do not know as much
about John as we do of some of the
/ others who Were members with him
| in the College of the Apostles. which
was established and taught by the
! master. We all desire to be counted
as disciples whom Jesus loved, 50 our
| interest in studying the life of the
| Apostle John is to learn, if possible.
the cause for the relationship that
existed between him and our Lord.
1 While John may not have been the
youngest disciple to unite with the
: followers of the Lord, he was with
| out doubt the youngest in years Of
| the Apostolic College. He was prob
| ably about twenty when he met
| Jesus. The influence of that interview
! followed Johns recommendations of the
| Christ. Their lips were sealed as to the
! subjects Of their conversation with the
Master who won the devotion OF John
! and Andrew. The result of their con-
! ference with Jesus is chronicled in
| the fact that each of them brought
! their brothers to the Lord through
! their testimony that they had found
| the long expected Messiah. John was
! evidently a native of Bethsaida, the
city that furnished four other mem
| bers to the twelve. This would in
dictate the influence of some great
| spiritual rabbi, whose ministry had
prepared his hearers to accept the
ministry of the Baptist.
1t has been suggested that the love
of Jesus for John was due 70 thelf
close relationship, as they We're first
cousins. While that is a possibility.
there is more to the suggestion that
John was a misguided and spoiled
child of Salome. the wife of Zebedee,
whose fishing business was so pros
porous that he had hired servants
| and his wife was able to help finance
the mission of the Master by her
| generous gifts The family had
social position in Jerusalem. as John
they had a home there, which latter
became the home of the blessed
mother of our Lord. Matheison has
attributed the egotism. Self-con-
seriousness and forWardnesS of John,
seen in his desire for places of au-
thority and his assuming to take the
leadership, to the influence of Salome
1t was more probably based upon
the personality of John, which at
tracted Jesus in their first interview.
He was probably the most attentive
and receptive of all the apostles to
the Masters teachings. He quickly
caught His spirit. understood His
service and realized His Sonship.
Some one has pointed out that John
, had a mystical and melancholtc tenn
perment that enabled him with swift
! and almost infallible intuition to un-
derstand the profound teachings of
Christ 1t must have meant some
thing to Jesus to have the friend
ship and love of one who understood
Him and sympathized with HIS erorts
All the others failed Jesus. but John
remained true. loyal during the dan
ger of being arrested for fellowship
with Him. the darkness of the trial
and the despair of the cross. HIS
fidelity was recognized and rewarded
by the Lord upon the cross by COM
mitting His mother to the care of the
discipline whom He loved"
John reveals the influence of the
character of Jesus molding his per-
sonality more than even Peter or
,apostolic band. The Masters life, les
sons and labors gripped John. The
three different rebukes that the Lord
administered to him did not fill him
with any personal pique, as he loved
the Lord. Probably nothing shows
better the advancement made In
Johns personality than his attitude
toward Judas. He knew that the
treasurer proposed because of per-
to betray Jesus He understood Judas
plan. He did not allow it to change
his attitude toward the traitor; His
gospel reveals bitter and i'm
nature entertained for Judas; a loath-
l. ing more strong, more deep and more
outspoken than "he possessed against
Judas" cannot be imagined. He did
mot allow it to change his attitude
toward his fallen comrade. He re-
pressed the pent-up jury of soul, for
like Jesus, he had ray of hope that
Judas would heed the warning given
him by the Lord and not carry out
his bargain.
Love is closely associated with
hatred. When John exhibited such
! self restraint, poise and generous at
titude as he did toward Judas, there
is every evidence to believe that he
had surrendered his life to the Master
iWhile there rlay have been a secret
and long process that precipitated
the CRISIS. IL took place probably, as
iMathewsnr : suggested, when Salome
asked that pc highest possible hon
ors should he assigned to her son
lit waa then that Jesus unveiled to
the disciple whom He loved "a new
| ideal of greatness" 1t was not only
John, the fisherman, who was trans
| formed by that hour. We were all
itransformed-kings and senators. en-
pireS and civilizations. The world
never came back to its old regime
From that hour the apostle knew
and all the world has since learned
that the greatest man is the one who
, serves the most. In that moment
1 when the message of Jesus, Who
soever will be great among you. lei
him be your minister mastered JONI
and he became a new man.
He revealed his athletic power:
when he outran Peter to the tomb
The old John disappeared and we tinC
one whose personality and work re-
VI minds the world the most of the Lord
II He stood boldly for the truth will
II Peter. but he made no evidence o,
II his desire to exercise authority OF
Il ambition for positions of prestige Of
II mower The tradition of his being
II attracted to q young disciple, who
II afterward fell and became associated