Biography of a Man
I wrestle with my own autobiography, let alone writing about the ancestry of such an important man of God as John.
We struggle to understand anyone once we read such titles or relational roles of JESUS or any of the Lord’s Apostles.
For instance, who do you see when I refer to:
- ‘Jesus’ DISCIPLE John’ or
- ‘John, one the the TWELVE‘, or
- even including John with Peter and his older brother James as one of just three disciples in JESUS’ inner circle?
And that only covers three years of John's life during Jesus' incarnation, overlooking John's earlier time as a disciple of John the Baptist.
Call him: SAINT John or John the Elder — give John reverence for receiving the very word of God in the Gospel — look at this man in awe, who later on Patmos was given the Revelation of Jesus Christ as an Elder of the first century Church.
But when all is said (or even little) about John, he was just a man like us, a man chosen by JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God.
Picturing John accurately – Painting a True Portrait
I have searched endlessly for a painting of the Apostle John more truly representing the one Jesus loved at various important times in his long life.
Of course we have no photo or ‘selfie’ of John from any time.
Some renaissance depictions (often commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church) depict a very young John (even holding a cup of communion) making him appear similar to a French altar boy.
The Apostle John
Peter Paul Rubens, 1610-12 A.D.
Jesus’ description of James and John as, ‘sons of thunder’ suggests two tough Galilean fisherman, tenaciously seeking the Messiah of captive Israel — two disciples of an Elijah-like prophet John the Baptist, who instructed these sons of thunder in the Judean wilderness.
The young Apostle John, who accompanied Peter to preach in the Temple just after Christ’s ascension, certainly was not so silent as to be overlooked by powerful Jewish leaders, who included this young Disciple ofJesus with Peter in their summons to defend their public witness (or rather be silent about Jesus).
Both Apostles would be imprisoned for the Gospel and then released by an angel to once again proclaim Jesus as the Messiah to the Jews and the all the world.
IF YOU can suggest any painting or art which paints a true picture of JOHN at any stage of his life, how about letting us know in a COMMENT following this post. - RH
So in order to get a better picture of John, let’s look back at a few brief biographical facts mixed in with some scholarly speculation, hoping to see into the heart and life of ‘the one Jesus loved.’
Family and Ancestry
John grew up in a small village (as it happened I did too). Everybody typically knows everyone (and much of everyone’s business). Family, of course, was important to the Jews as our families tend to identify ‘who we are’ to our own neighbors.
When I was a young man my dad was a volunteer fireman and one of the older firemen always addressed me as, “Chief.” Our family name was attached to the business of Dad and his brother. John was in business with his brother James, both known to all as the sons of Zebedee, head of his family fishing business.
Ancestry and Connection of Names
‘Chief,’ immediately connected me to my dad, our volunteer fire chief and to his father whose name identified Dad’s family business.
Certainly John’s vocation, faith and identity were rooted in his upbringing and like me, growing up as John the Son of Zebedee would identify Jesus’ Disciple into his early manhood.
In fact, the younger of Zebedee’s sons probably felt more like ‘the brother of James , son of Zebedee;’ similar to an earlier unnoticed, Son of Jesse not even introduced to an important man such as Samuel.
About Zebedee:
Let's connect these family names:
- Ζεβεδαῖος – Zebedee
- From זֶבֶד (H2065) – endowment (or my gift)
- Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου – James (son of Zebedee)
- The same as Ἰακώβ (G2384), Jacob (meaning ‘supplanter’)
- Ἰωάννης
- pronounced: ee-o-an’-nace {original Greek doesn’t really sound at all like, “John,” in English}
- from Hebrew: יוֹחָנָן Yôwchânân, yo-khaw-nawn’; a form of H3076; Jochanan, the name of nine Israelites:—Johanan.
- John = “Jehovah is a gracious giver”
- Same name as John son of Zacharias, ‘the Baptist’
- root meaning: “Jehovah has graced”
Source: Strong’s Concordance / BlueLetterBible.org
Later we’ll connect some other Biblical names, but first let’s learn more about the fisherman father of James and John.
the ‘Sea of Galilee’
The Sea of Galilee provided a livelihood for many families, and fishing was a respected trade. Zebedee’s ability to employ hired men suggests a level of affluence and stability, which may have afforded his sons the opportunity to leave and follow Jesus without jeopardizing the family’s welfare.
source: Biblehub.com
Sometimes landmarks in the Bible can be as confusing as names, because in context over time the names change.
Let’s zoom in on the home and livelihood of Zebedee —
(James and John, Andrew and Simon, hired servants – local carpenters, boat builders, sail and tent makers, and more).
Many families lived just north of Galilee’s most important body of water where the Jordan River flowed down from inland hills.
Note some names of the inland body of water on our map.
- ‘The sea of Chinnereth,’ Numbers 34:11,
- ‘The sea of Genesar’
- ‘The sea of Tiberiah.’
- Source: BibleHub.com
Herod Antipas, wanting to make a big name for himself, named this body of water the “Sea of Tiberius” after the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar.
Once it was renamed, it was considered treason against Caesar for a Roman citizen to call the lake anything else.
Non-Romans, however, were not held to that standard. Because the Jews hated Rome and their occupation of Israel they were not in any hurry to call their lake the Sea of Tiberius. So they continued calling the lake by the name most familiar to them and already widely accepted among the people who lived in the region of Galilee:
“The Sea of Galilee.”
source: NTBCStafford.org
Rome controlled the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and inland commerce. The strategic importance of the Sea of Galilee held military importance, perhaps even more than Jerusalem.
Although sudden storms from winds sweeping down upon the sea could make it dangerous even for seasoned fishermen, in fact two other names more accurately described it:
- Genezareth or Kineret Lake
The lake has a surface area of 64 square miles .. Extending 13 miles (21 km) from north to south and 7 miles (11 km) from east to west, it is pear-shaped. Its surface elevation was long given as 686 feet (209 metres) below sea level..
Source: Britannica
The Sea of Galilee is a FRESH WATER LAKE, the largest in Israel, fed by the Jordan River and undground springs, with its surface ~700 feet below sea level making it the lowest fresh water lake on earth. From this important lake the lower Jordan flows south into the lowest body of water on earth - the Dead Sea.
Successful fishing businesses such as Zebedee’s were vital to the Roman army, even Jerusalem in the hills above the Jordan, as well as locally in villages of the rural Galilean hills.
James and John Sons of Zebedee
When John followed his older brother James to become a disciple of John the Baptist it seems not to have affected the larger merchant enterprise of their father’s fishing business. They may have even traveled to Jerusalem previously with their father to deliver and sell fish to some of Jerusalem’s ruling families.
Zebedee employed servants in his fishing enterprise and likely worked with other fishing families. Capernaum and Bethsaida are situated strategically (for fishing) less than three miles apart on the north shore of the lake.
Sons and servants of other fishing enterprises, such as that of Jonah (also: Jonas or John), father of Andrew, who also had followed John the Baptist before becoming Jesus’ first Disciple, certainly all knew each other (as those in small towns tend to do).
Sons of Salome
Zebedee was married to Salome, who is believed to have been a follower of Jesus and possibly one of the women who supported His ministry.
Source: BibleHub.com
The Gospels of Matthew and Mark mention Salome’s presence along with others at the Cross of Jesus.
Some commentators speculate that Salome may have been the sister of Mary, mother of Jesus.
Therefore the soldiers did these things.
But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.Gospel of John 19:25 LSB
It would be consist with the Apostle’s humility of not mention his own name in his Gospel for John to not mention his own mother by name.
The Gospels reveal further evidence that Salome (wife of Zebedee) accompanied her sons.
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him.
And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”
Gospel of Matthew 20:20-21 LSB
John’s early days
He was possibly born around 6 A.D. in the city of Bethsaida.
If this is true, he would have been about twenty years old when he and Jesus met for the first time in late 26 A.D. .. What few realize is that Salome and Jesus’ mother Mary were likely sisters.
“This means that Christ and John were first cousins as far as legal matters were concerned among the Jewish people” (Restoring the Original Bible, pg. 313).
John’s possible bloodline relationship to Jesus also means that he and is older brother James the Greater (Matthew 4:21) were full cousins to the Lord’s half-brothers James and Jude. Both James and Jude wrote New Testament books and were leaders in the early New Testament church (see Acts 1:14, 15:13).
source: BibleStudy.org
John in his 20’s and 30’s
Everything we read in the Gospels about John, beloved Disciple of Jesus, takes place when John is in his early twenties. Most of what we witness about John from Acts of the Apostles takes place when the Apostle is still in his late twenties or thirties.
NEXT - We will observe Jesus' young Disciple John from the witness of all four Gospel writers, followed by observations of an Apostle sent out by the risen Christ in ACTS of the Apostles.
