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BELOVED DISCIPLE

A mysterious, unnamed figure in the Fourth Gospel. He appears explicitly only in the Gospel’s second half (John 13-21) and serves as a witness to all the major events of Jesus’ final week: the supper, trial, crucifixion, empty tomb, and resurrection. His first appearance is at Jesus’ final meal, where he reclines next to the Lord and is prompted by Peter to ask personal questions about Jesus’ betrayer (13:23-25). He also appears at the cross, standing with Jesus’ mother while the other disciples have disappeared (19:26), receiving a commission to take Mary into his own home (v. 27). At the tomb, he outruns Peter (20:1-10) and believes even though Peter enters the tomb first. Later when the disciples are fishing in Galilee and Jesus calls from the shore, this disciple alone recognizes Jesus (21:7); and while Peter races to the shore, the Beloved Disciple labors to bring in the net of fish.

Some scholars believe that other indirect references may likewise identify the shadow of this disciple elsewhere in the Gospel. An anonymous disciple is with Andrew in John 1:35-42. In 18:15 he is with Peter at Jesus’ interrogation and is known by the high priest. At the cross he is an eyewitness to the death of Jesus (19:35). Above all, 21:24 describes him as the source of the Gospel’s testimonies to the life of Jesus.

Leading suggestions for the identity of this mysterious literary figure include Lazarus, the only person whom the Gospel says Jesus loved (John 11:3, 11, 36; compare 11:25-26 and 21:20-23). Another suggestion is John Mark (Acts 12:12), who is associated with Peter (1 Pet. 5:13) and may have been confused with John in antiquity. The traditional identification is John the son of Zebedee. John was one of the Twelve, and the Beloved Disciple attended Jesus’ final meal. John often appears with Peter in the Synoptic tradition, thus the rivalry here with Peter. The Fourth Gospel is curiously silent about John, who appears in the Synoptics as a major figure. A number of postapostolic writers (e.g., Irenaeus and Polycarp) claim that John is the Beloved Disciple, the author of the Fourth Gospel.

Today greater interest focuses on the literary or symbolic role played by the Beloved Disciple in the theological framework of the Fourth Gospel. Some have claimed that he is the ideal disciple, offered as a model of discipleship — a person who believes without physical evidence. Others have described him as an ideal witness, who believes and testifies before the world what God has done in Christ. Some critics have even thought that he symbolically represented the charismatic Johannine church competing with the growing, formal, Petrine communities. More recently scholars have suggested that this was an unknown Christian who played a revelatory role, mediating divine truth to the community (much like the anonymous Teacher of Righteousness at Qumran). These scholars compare the Beloved Disciple with the promised Spirit-Paraclete, whose attributes may have been the same as those of the disciple.

There must, however, be a historical figure behind this name. His historical activity as the trustworthy source of eyewitness tradition demands that some person served the Johannine community as its inspiration and its link to Jesus. He is a model of faith and discipleship — but also an anchor to history and the founder of the Johannine community.

Bibliography. R. E. Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple (New York, 1979); G. M. Burge, Interpreting the Gospel of John (Grand Rapids, 1992), 37-54; J. Charlesworth, The Beloved Disciple (Valley Forge, 1995); V. Eller, The Beloved Disciple: His Name, His Story, His Thought (Grand Rapids, 1987); M. de Jonge, “The Beloved Disciple and the Date of the Gospel of John,” in Text and Interpretation, ed. E. Best and R. McL. Wilson (Cambridge, 1979), 99-114; J. N. Sanders, “Who Was the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved?” in Studies in the Fourth Gospel, ed. F. Cross (London, 1957), 72-82.

Gary M. Burge

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BELOVED DISCIPLE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)