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That Other Disciple Whom Jesus
Loved
The Disciple, the “Other One” the One Whom “Jesus
Loved”
This
is a significant understanding and hopefully you will see both the beauty and
wisdom in the scriptures surrounding these accounts.
It' very important that everyone make an effort to worship God with his mind and
not to worship the long established Roman Catholic Church with all its glitter
and status in this world. So please take off your Papal Mitre and put on your
Sherlock Homes Deer Stalker once again and let us obey the law given to Moses
that Jesus made into the first commandment. It is still in force today, to serve
not a church of men but our creator, the Ineffable True God, with our whole
heart our whole mind our whole soul and our whole strength.
Now mainstream Christianity would have us believe that only Jesus and the
apostles were present at the last supper. They would further have us believe
that Jesus had a favorite apostle, namely John.
He loved him more than the rest they say, because he wrote John 21 and so he was
the one whom Jesus used to love as can be seen from verse 24. This seems to make
sense because we all know that Leonardo Da Vinci only had Jesus plus the 12 at
the last supper and because John did see Jesus come in vision as recorded in
Revelation.
But there are a few problems with that interpretation.
1. People in the world do have favorites, but one doesn't imagine that Jesus
would be like that.
2. Nowhere in scripture is 'the one whom Jesus loved' called an apostle; he is
always called a disciple and there is a good reason for that.
3. Jesus gave this person to his mother as her fleshly son. This means he must
have had authority to do that, which means he must have been his fleshly father
in some sense. Jesus was John's father in spirit, but not in flesh.
Furthermore Jesus as head of his family, being the firstborn son, and Joseph
being dead, gave his mother to the one whom he loved. Mary then went to live in
his home. Why did he not give her to the second born son? Jesus had 4
brothers...
55 Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary,
and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? (Matthew 13).
He was making 'the one whom he loved' the head of his family, the head of his
fleshly house. So he was giving his birthright to this one. So this one must
have been his firstborn fleshly son. But how could Jesus who never got married,
have a fleshly son?
Well let's do some detective work....
The first scriptures to consider are:
Jn 13:23
Now there was leaning into the bosom of Jesus one of his disciples, whom
Jesus loved.
Jn 19:26
When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom
he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Jn 20:2
Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom
Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the
sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
Jn 21:7
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is
the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt [his]
fisher's coat [unto him], (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
Jn 21:20
. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved
following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is
he that betrayeth thee?
This question has perplexed many for some time. Most believe it is John as he is
the one whom allegedly wrote this gospel about the famous character who is
either referred to as “the disciple’” or “other disciple” throughout.
They believe he is basically hidden as the third person orator of this gospel
for modesty reasons but there is no real evidence of this in the scriptures and
is pure speculation and consequently incorrect. Now why such an important
disciple in Jesus’ life would be kept hidden like this is a mystery to be sure
but once you realize who he is, it makes much more sense! Without further ado,
let us try to piece it together from all the clues given us shall we?
CLUE #1 – “Who Was Known” Now in this particular account we are
told that this “other disciple” was known to the chief priest. At first
glance you might think that they would know all of the disciples (or at least
the apostles) but they really didn’t. In fact we know that Peter, one of
Jesus’ closest apostles, always hung out behind the scenes and out of view for
the most part out of fear actually. But there is one disciple that all the
Pharisees knew pretty well
Jn 18:15
Now Simon Peter, and another disciple, followed Jesus. Now that disciple
was known to the chief priest, and he entered together with Jesus into
the courtyard of the chief priest.
Jn 18:16
Yet Peter stood at the door outside. The other disciple, then, who was known
to the chief priest, came out and told the doorkeeper, and he led Peter in.
Jn 11:36
Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
They said this about Lazarus because they knew him enough to know
how much Jesus loved him.
Jn 11:19
And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their
brother.
So
it is obvious that they knew Lazarus and his family.
This however became a dangerous situation....
Jn 11:45
Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus
did, believed on him.
Jn 11:46
But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what
things Jesus had done.
So some of these Jews went to the Pharisees who were the chief priests.
Jn 12:9
Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for
Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from
the dead.
Jn 12:10
But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;
Jn 12:11
Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.
So Lazarus was certainly known by the Pharisees as they wanted to kill him! The
evidence forthcoming will show that this disciple is undoubtedly Lazarus and the
verse above is a pretty good reason for keeping his name hidden all this time.
In fact Jesus and the apostles referred to him as “so and so” in order to
keep the Pharisees from knowing his whereabouts! We will now continue this
investigation as any good biblical sleuth would.
CLUE #2 – “A Story of Love”. Now we know that Jesus loved all of His
disciples so why does the bible go out of its way to tell us that this “other
disciple” is the one that “Jesus loved”?
Jn 13:23
Now there was leaning into the bosom of Jesus one of his disciples, whom
Jesus loved.
Jn 19:26
When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his
mother, Woman, behold thy son!
Jn 20:2
Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple,
whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out
of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
Jn 21:7
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is
the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt [his]
fisher's coat [unto him], (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
Jn 21:20
Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved
following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord,
which is he that betrayeth thee?
Now the bible does not arbitrarily say anything because we know that every word
has power in the literal meaning if not in the greater symbolic meaning. Here
are the only indicators in the entire span of the gospels of Jesus specifically
loving someone. They are both witnesses to the same individual. The first was
when Jesus explained that Lazarus’ death was for the glory of God through the
glory of His Son Jesus. The second was when the Jews saw Jesus weep before going
to the sepulchre where Lazarus was laid to rest.
Jn 11:5
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
Jn 11:36
Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
We also have one more scripture of Jesus loving someone with regards to the
“one running, and kneeling to him” in Mk 10:17 who we do not know.
Mk 10:21
Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, one thing thou
lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou
shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, and follow me.
If this by some chance is Lazarus, then one would have to believe that he did
sell everything and followed Jesus. You can see why Jesus would be so fond of
someone who did such a thing! We will do more research on this!
CLUE #3 – “The Bosom” It is understood by many Christian scholars that
being in the bosom of someone is the same as being in a covenant with that
someone as son (singular) or as wife (a group) at some point. This is best
exemplified by the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Lazarus after he dies ends
up in the Bosom of Abraham due to his faith. Abraham is the Father of all of
those who die in a condition of faith as part of the First Abrahamic Covenant
(1AC). Here are the scriptures with regard to the rich man and Lazarus.
Lk 16:22
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into
Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Lk 16:23
And in Hades he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off,
and Lazarus in his bosom.
So Abraham is Lazarus’ eternal father at this point. There is a second witness
to this concept of what being in the bosom of someone means in John.
Jn 1:18
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten God, which is into the
bosom of the Father, he hath declared [him].
So this being in the bosom is like being betrothed spiritually into that person.
Well this “other disciple”, “who Jesus loved” was also in someone’s
bosom.
Jn 13:23
Now there was leaning into the bosom of Jesus one of his disciples,
whom Jesus loved.
So there must be a spiritual connection with this “disciple whom Jesus
loved” that places him in the bosom of Jesus. Well to be in that position,
Jesus must already possess his human soul through an agreement of some kind. The
only people in this category that I know of are those who Jesus has resurrected
from the dead physically.
Although Jesus resurrected more than one person, in fact He resurrected two
others before Lazarus, Jairus’ 12 year old daughter Talitha and the young son
of a widow in the city of
Nain
. Both of these were said to be given back to their parents by Jesus. There is
good reason for this as they were not of age for priesthood yet.
But Jesus did resurrect one other person, the only one whom is identified as
being loved by Jesus and that is Lazarus who was of priestly age. And Jesus said
after having the stone rolled away from Lazarus’ tomb.
Jn 11:43
….., with a loud voice he cried out, 'Lazarus, come forth;'
Jn 11:44
and he who died came forth, being bound feet and hands with grave-clothes, and
his visage with a napkin was bound about; Jesus saith to them, 'Loose him, and
suffer to go.'
So Lazarus, after being resurrected by Jesus, would put him into His bosom from
a legal standpoint since Jesus is now his Father through resurrection. So
Lazarus fills both of these requirements.
CLUE #4 – “Reclining at Meat (meal)” This term was used often when
Jesus was having supper with his disciples. This is also one of the stumbling
blocks that have confused many into believing that the “other Disciple” had
to be John since they assume that Jesus only ate this meal with the twelve, but
did he? Here are the scriptures relating to each account of the Passover meal.
The first being the preparation commands prior to the Passover itself.
At first sight it just looks like Jesus celebrated the passover with his 12
disciples. Not with 13 disciples, but with 12. But So-and-so
was a Jew as were Jesus and the 12 disciples, so they would all have celebrated
the passover together. And Jesus would not have excluded So-and-so or his family
from celebrating with him. Indeed such a thing would have been unlawful.
But who was this guy So-and-so and why is he given this non-descript
designation? Well, in John 12 we read that...
1 Accordingly Jesus, 6 days before the passover [The last supper],
arrived at Bethan, where Lazarus was whom Jesus had raised up from the dead.
2 Therefore they spread an evening meal for him there, and Martha was
ministering, but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him
(John 12).
Now that is pretty interesting. Six days before the last supper Lazarus is
reclining with Jesus at the table at an evening meal. Imagine you were Lazarus
and you had been raised from the dead by Jesus and you had eaten an evening meal
with him 6 days before the passover. Would you not want to eat the passover with
him too? The law said that the passover should be eaten in
Jerusalem
. So Lazarus would have gone up to
Jerusalem
to a friend's house there to eat the meal with his sisters. But why So
and so? Well we already know that the Pharisees sought to kill Lazarus
so it was important to hide his identity.
Now let’s examine the rest of the scriptures surrounding the last supper:
Mt 26:20
Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
Now sitting down with the twelve does not exclude others from being there. We
know that so and so must be there since Jesus stated that
they would celebrate it with him!
Mt 26:21
And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you
shall betray me.
Mt 26:22
And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him,
Lord, is it I?
Mt 26:23
And he answered and said, He that dippeth [his] hand with me in the dish,
the same shall betray me.
The question you have to ask here is why “one of you” and not “one of you
twelve” as mentioned before. We can surmise from this that there were more
than the twelve there. Not only that, you must pay particular attention to the
verses Mat 26:23, Mk 14:20 and Jo 13:26 as it will give a vital clue to all of
this.
Mk 14:17
And in the evening he cometh with the twelve.
So again we are told he came with the twelve (the twelve he sat down with in
Matthew) But this still does not mean that there was no one else already there
at the table only that Jesus came with “the twelve”.
Mk 14:18
And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you
which eateth with me shall betray me.
Now it would be easy to assume Jesus is only talking to “the twelve” here,
but is he, after all this is a pretty broad term?
Mk 14:19
And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, [Is] it I? and
another [said, Is] it I?
Mk 14:20
And he answered and said unto them, [It is] one of the twelve, that
dippeth with me in the dish.
So now he is confirming it is “one of the twelve”
that are dipping in the dish. Why say unto them it is one of “the twelve”
unless there is someone there who is not of the twelve to point this out to?
Since Jesus is quantifying this we must surmise there are more than the twelve
in the room. Maybe the answer is in Luke’s explanation of the account.
Lk 22:14
And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.
Again this does not place any restriction on others being there.
Lk 22:15
And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you
before I suffer:
Not to the twelve specifically. After
this are many verses surrounding the cups and other matters that don’t pertain
to the issue at hand. There is however, one verse in the “Gospel of John”
that is worded very carefully again to emphasize the disciple whom Jesus loved:
Bear in mind that before this event in John, there are no scriptures that
mention “the twelve” at meal.
Jn 13:21
These things saying, Jesus was disturbed in spirit, and testifies and said,
"Verily, verily, I am saying to you that one of you will be giving Me up."
Jn 13:22
The disciples [not apostles], then, looked at one another, being
perplexed concerning whom He is speaking.
Jn 13:23
Now there was leaning into the bosom of Jesus one of his disciples,
whom Jesus loved.
Jn 13:24
Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him [the one whom Jesus loved in verse
23 (Lazarus)], that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.
Jn 13:25
He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?
Jn 13:26
Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped
[it]. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave [it] to Judas Iscariot, [the
son] of Simon.
Now in verse 23 the one “leaning into the bosom of Jesus” is called a
“disciple” and not an apostle which is peculiar since the rest are called
apostles. But we have to remember that every word has power and there are no
wasted words in the scriptures. So it had to be Lazarus leaning on His breast.
Now consider this important piece of the puzzle: Jesus told Lazarus who it was
who would betray Him, but this information was not passed on to the rest of
those at the table or in the room! We know this because none of them knew why
Jesus told Judas that what he must do to do it more quickly:
Jn 13:27
And after the morsel, then, Satan entered into that man. Jesus, then, is saying
to him, "What you are doing, do more quickly."
Jn 13:28
Now no one of those lying back at table knew to what purpose He said this to
him.
So only the one lying in his bosom did! They
thought since he had the money purse that he was going to buy some provisions
for the celebration!!!!! This is where you have to spot the difference! In
Matthew and Mark, Jesus states that it is the one that dips with Him in the
common bowl that should betray Him. Now I am guessing that everyone in the place
probably dips into the common bowl. That is why Jesus later explains that it is
one of the twelve, because he felt everyone in the place was deeply concerned it
might be one of them!
However in John, the story is completely different when he answers Lazarus, as
Jesus dips the sop into the bowl Himself and gives it to Judas! Only Lazarus was
given this vital information for verse 13:28 says “none of those lying back at
table knew”. This purposely leaves the one leaning on His bosom out of the
group!
CLUE #5 – The “Last Disciple Standing” Jesus was speaking to all of
those disciples with Him in the beginning of this account when He manifested
himself again in the flesh after being raised from the dead. I am certain that
Lazarus was in that group. Jesus focused the rest of this conversation to Peter.
Jn 21:18
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself,
and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt
stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry [thee] whither
thou wouldest not.
Jn 21:19
This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had
spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
Jn 21:20
Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved [Lazarus]
following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord,
which is he that betrayeth thee?
So this “other disciple” [Lazarus] was following them at a distance behind
however it is not known whether he was in earshot or not. But the conversation
gets very interesting….
Jn 21:21
Peter seeing him [the disciple whom Jesus loved]
saith to Jesus, Lord, and what [shall] this man [do]?
Now the thing we have to ask is why would Peter specifically single out “the
disciple whom Jesus loved” in asking this question? If he were one of “the
twelve”, what would make him so special as to bring it to our attention in
such an obvious manner? As we will see, it is a good one! The reason being as
Peter knows that Lazarus has already paid his wages as far as sin goes because
he died already! Jesus replies succinctly:
Jn 21:22
Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he remain until I come, what [is that] to
thee? follow thou me.
In other words do not worry about Lazarus, worry about yourself and follow me as
I have instructed you since you haven’t paid your wages yet and must take care
not to lose what you have.
Jn 21:23
Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should
not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that
he remain till I come, what [is that] to thee?
So Peter singled this other disciple whom Jesus loved out because he was
different than all of the other disciples! Not only that, he knew that Lazarus
should not die.
CLUE #6 – “Spirit Connection”. Only one of Jesus’ disciples
recognized him in the next account. Why is that? Well when you carefully review
the following verses you will understand.
Jn 21:4
But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples
knew not that it was Jesus.
Jn 21:5
Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
Jn 21:6
And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall
find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the
multitude of fishes.
Jn 21:7
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is
the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt [his]
fisher's coat [unto him], (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.
How could “that disciple whom Jesus loved” know it was the Lord, but no one
else was able to discern it? Could it be because Lazarus, being raised from the
dead and having developed a keen awareness of Jesus (not to mention great
hearing ability!) have something to do with it? Of course it could, he was in
his bosom as his son!
CLUE #7 – “The Art of Entrusting” The next account has been
interpreted in a number of ways because this first verse is written very
ambiguously. The focus however is on “His mother, sister of His mother, Mary
of Clopus and Mary Magdalene. However it is what is not mentioned in this verse
that we are concerned with; it is what is omitted that we must consider.
Jn 19:25
Now there stood beside the pale [cross] of Jesus His mother and the sister of
His mother, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
Now we know Jesus’ mother Mary is there, His mother’s sister is there (not
sure if it’s Martha or the other Mary who is also Martha’s sister (she lived
with Martha) because we also have Mary of Clopas making an appearance. So all we
know for sure is that His mother’s sister (Martha or Mary) is there, Mary of
Clopas is there and of course Mary Magdalene. Whatever the case, what happened
to Lazarus who in almost every account is with these women?? Why would he not be
with them at the most important event in scriptural history? Well perhaps maybe
he is….
Jn 19:26
Jesus, then, perceiving His mother and the disciple whom He loved
standing by [His mother and company], is saying to His mother, "Woman, lo!
your son!"
Jn 19:27
Thereafter He is saying to the disciple, "Lo! your mother!" And from
that hour the disciple took her to his own.
Now the fact that the scripture used the term disciple and not apostle may be
significant here, but is not enough to prove anything, however when you stop to
think about it, who else would Jesus entrust something so dear to Him? Would it
not be the one who is in His bosom, the one he loved, His spiritual son! Lazarus
is the only one who fits this description scripturally as far as we are able to
determine. In other words, She is Lazarus’ mother by virtue of being Jesus
mother and he is her son by the same reasoning as was explained at the beginning
of this work!
CLUE #8 – “Every Word Has Power” Now at first glance many would
perceive this verse as telling us that the mystery character is John and not
Lazarus since this is “the Gospel of John”, however, if you pay close
attention to detail you will note that this is not true!
There are actually two separate endings to the “Gospel of John” and the
first one is not canonical from what we can tell as it does not follow the exact
literary style that the rest of the gospels do. Here are our proofs…..
You can see that there was a pseudo ending to the scripture in John 20, yet it
continues as if thise was not included in John 21.
30 To be sure, Jesus performed many other signs also before the
disciples, which are not written down in this scroll.
31 But these have been written down that you may believe that Jesus is the
Christ the Son of God, and that, because of believing you may have life by means
of his name. (Jo 20)
This almost looks as though it is the end of the book; however chapter 21 is a
whole new account added in and has a somewhat different ending to it!
24 This [Lazarus] is the disciple that bears
witness about these things and that wrote these things, and we [apostolic
pillars of the church, John, Peter, James] know that the witness he gives
is true.
25 There are, in fact, many other things also which Jesus did, which, if ever
they were written in full detail, I suppose, the world itself could not contain
the scrolls written. (Jo 21)
The disciple (not apostle) being explained in verse 24 is “that other disciple
whom Jesus loved”; the one Peter thought “should not be dying”.
I believe that the evidence overwhelmingly proves that Lazarus is that disciple
and not John.
One other note:
In Corinthians it is written that Jesus appeared to Ce’phas then to the
twelve. (1 Cor 15:5). This took place before Judas was replaced by Mathias so
“the twelve” likely included Lazarus!
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