JOHN
PROFILES —-
THE DISCIPLE JESUS LOVED
John is known as the “the disciple Jesus loved” (see, for example, John 13:23; 21:7, 20). Of course, Jesus loved all His followers, but this love is something that John repeatedly emphasized in his Gospel and in the letters he sent to the churches (1, 2, and 3 John and Revelation). John described our relationship with God as one that is intended to be close and experiential. Reading what he wrote, we get the clear sense that John genuinely considered Jesus Christ to be his first and ultimate love, not just a religious figure or an admired political leader. Jesus captured John’s loyalty, love, affection, and devotion. John’s life and writings are a constant encouragement for us to follow our true love, Jesus Christ, and fix our eyes on His second coming.
THINK & PRAY
FIRST LOVE
John came to realize how deeply God loved him when Christ’s life intersected with his. The deep love John found in Jesus and saw in action in His life, death, resurrection, and return to heaven (with a promise to come again for His people) changed John. John emphasized love in all his writings because he knew its supernatural power to change people —both him and the multitude of others he saw Jesus impact before and after He went to heaven.
Has the deep love of Jesus Christ impacted you? When you hear the famous message of John 3:16 —that God sent His one and only Son to save you and me from eternal death and give us eternal life —does it move you to love Christ from the deepest part of your heart? Jesus did not just talk love; He displayed it. He acted on it. He died as a sacrifice (which John saw firsthand) and rose again (which John also witnessed). John assures us, too, that if we have accepted Christ as our first love—over sin, over the world, over ourselves—and have become a new creation through faith in Jesus, He will bring us home to Him when He comes back again. John knew that his home was with Christ, the lover of his soul. Have you found Jesus to be the same for you—your deepest friend, your greatest love, and the Savior and Lord of your life now and forevermore?