Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: zebedee

  • Reintroducing John – a Biography and Background

    Reintroducing John – a Biography and Background

    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.

    map of Jordan River and Bethany where John baptized Jesus

    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.
    TalkofJESUS.com earth from space

  • About the Author John -2- Sons of Zebedee

    About the Author John -2- Sons of Zebedee

    Have you ever considered that Jesus may have called James and John the ‘sons of thunder’ because their father Zebedee, a businessman and owner of a Galilean fishing fleet may have best described as thunderous?

    And He appointed the twelve:

    Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter),

    and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James

    (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”)

    Mark 3:16-17 NASB

    Zebedee’s story

    In the introduction to our fictional story about this real father of two of Jesus’ Disciples, Zebedee had thoughtfully asked:

    “Where shall I send my sons to learn the faith of our fathers?”

    and

    “What is the will of the Lord God for my sons James and John?”

    Now we progress further into Zebedee’s first century considerations for his two beloved Jewish sons, both young men sent to learn more of the Lord God through known mentors of the faith.

    A History of our Faith

    Some thoughts of Zebedee

    I know that we no longer have the faith of Abraham and Moses. We’re just a reconstructed people, continually broken by our own unfaithfulness to the Lord. My daily life on the Sea of Galilee centers on trade with men from every direction and faith, including Jewish merchants from far away.

    Sea of Galilee, with port of Zebedee’s fleet in the north

    After Solomon’s sons separated Israel from Judah, many kings and most men refused to listen to God’s Prophets, so we became a divided people. Jerusalem’s two tribes distant to us now look away from our ten tribes of families here.

    Our Israel long ago cut-off from Judah, our own fathers and the generation of my father reap the consequences sown by Israel’s long forgotten faith in the LORD.

    10 Northern Tribes - Ephraim & Judah's Captivity with map of routes
    Assyria takes Samarian captives 722 BC & Babylon takes Judah’s captives 607-537 BC

    Between Two Temples

    Our faith remains, but never the same since Israel’s defeat some seven centuries ago and later in 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, conquered Jerusalem and destroyed our Temple.

    Few of the faith even remembered our Hebrew language and traditions, though at one time some of Jerusalem recovered the Law buried in the rubble of the Temple.

    In general, it is of the greatest importance to remember in regard to this Eastern dispersion, that only a minority of the Jews, consisting in all of about 50,000, originally returned from Babylon, first under Zerubbabel and afterwards under Ezra.

    THE JEWISH WORLD IN THE DAYS OF CHRIST – THE JEWISH DISPERSION IN THE EAST – ALFRED EDERSHEIM

    Ezra, a Scribe of the Law of Moses from Babylon, restored some of our faith to a new Temple in Jerusalem. But after later Prophets like Micah, our faith disintegrated into little more than discussion.

    This map shows the vast empire conquered by Alexander the Great in red highlight. The extent of the empire is an approximation of 320 BC.

    Alexander III of Macedon helped preserve our Hebrew Law in the great library at Alexandria. But because all the world has gone after their culture, philosophy and gods, our religion is translated into Greek. At least some Jews who know longer know Hebrew can hear some of the Law and understand it in our Synagogues.

    The Israel of Zebedee

    My dilemma instructing James and John really lies in the diverse schools of Judaism in our captive land ruled by Rome.

    When we had no Temple we practiced our faith without the LORD’s prescribed sacrifice. Now we learn the faith of our ancestors through study, obedience and prayer only.

    Many of my Jewish brothers speak only Aramaic and cannot even read Hebrew. Even our everyday language was imported from the east or Greek from the Roman language from the west.

    Who is King of the Jews?

    David and Solomon once sat on the Throne of the LORD in Jerusalem. We were then a United Israel under the King anointed by the LORD. Now the question of King depends on who you ask.

    Who is King of the Jews since the LORD dethroned our former kings of Israel and Judah?

    After King Josiah of Judah died Jerusalem became subject to Egypt. Then Nebuchadnezzar II defeated them and destroyed the first Temple.

    Babylonians took charge in the east, allowing some Jews to return to Jerusalem with their language and culture to rebuild our second temple. The Law was unearthed at the site of our Temple, only to have Jerusalem’s second temple destroyed once more.

    Now they have a third grand enough for a Roman Jerusalem, but here in the north we cling to a distanced faith in the LORD.

    Zebedee’s Galilee, Samaria & Judea

    Our forefathers who had remained in Samaria (as my ancestral lands were called by others) were hated by Babylonian Jews when they returned to Judea with their eastern ways.

    Three centuries ago Jerusalem and our land surrounding the Galilee capitulated to Alexander of Macedon. Our fathers were like the rest of the world around us now dominated by this man some still worship as ‘Alexander the Great.’

    But after Alexander died, Jews populating the entire world were still caught strategically in the middle of all the changing empires. Egypt ruled us again. Seleucids dominated our land just a couple of hundred years ago, before Rome defeated them.

    The Maccabees once led a revolt to retake Jerusalem from the Seleucid idolaters. Then we held a measure of independence for about four generations.

    But now that less-than-pure Herod has again rebuilt the Temple under the thumb of his friends in Rome.

    Zebedee’s family perspective

    My grandfather told us stories of Herod coming into power after the Roman Pompey appointed our High Priest.

    He sent more than eight Legions here then made our king his Syrian vassal. What right does Rome have to appoint our king or choose the LORD’s priests?

    Map of the Judea in 1st c.

    To this day, Rome remains ruthless against most ordinary Jews, especially national zealots. Their Prefects administer our so-called Syrian provinces and our king collects their taxes.

    Schools of Jewish Thought

    I have several school choices where I could send my sons James and John to learn our faith. Trouble is that they vary greatly in what Jewish worship of the LORD has become in this day.

    Pharisees, Sadducees & Essenes

    The Ḥasidim ha-Rishonim helped bring about the revolt against the Hellenists, but years ago their school faded into a sect of the Pharisees.

    I could send James or John to a well-known teacher of the Law, Philo, in Alexandria in nearby Egypt. Although there too, as with Rome and the Hellenists, they teach a different faith than that which spread back toward Galilee from the fertile crescent of Abraham.

    Some Sadducees descended from Zadok are Elders teaching strict adherence to the Law, but their rich lives reflect liberal interpretations when it comes to political compromise.

    In Jerusalem I have heard some good things about Gamaliel the new Elder descendant of Hillel, whose brother a trader from Babylon I have met. The religion of Jerusalem (and Herod) though are too tainted by politics away from which I hope to keep my sons.

    Beit Shammai most likely would never admit sons such as mine unworthy of Jerusalem’s religious elite. They seem to be Zealots of a sort without the sicarii concealed under their tasseled cloaks.

    And then there are the Essenes, who remain faithful to Scripture but hardly fit in to the day to day lives of merchants like us who must make a living by trade with others.

    Historical Differences

    Most jews have become proselytized Hellenists! Some four million of the seed of Abraham in the Empire now.

    I trade mostly with Jews from the diaspora to the east. They too debate this and argue that, so I’m not sure who to believe from conversations with merchant Jews from all over the Empire and beyond.

    ‘Houses of Instruction,’ as they are now called. In which school of Jewish thought should I raise my sons James and John?

    Zebedee’s Prayerful Choice of Schools

    John is very young but like when we work in our fishing fleet, John will be in the capable hands of my eldest son James. I have prayed to the LORD to place them both into His care and teaching.

    Alexandria and even Jerusalem seem to far from us in many ways. We still have to make our living on the sea.

    The quiet places seem less likely to draw my sons away from the LORD. So after much prayer I lean toward a rabbi preaching repentance among the Essenes. This John is quickly gaining in fame and followers all up and down the Jordan.

    John the Baptizer

    depiction of John baptizing a man at the Jordan river

    Mark 1 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

    4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey.

    I had heard a story some time back from a merchant traveling back from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. My wife had also heard rumors of the words of a prophetess well-known in Jerusalem.

    Prior to the Baptist’s Birth

    There was a priest named Zacharias who was performing his priestly service before God in the Temple. Many witnesses in Jerusalem, including the man who told this to me, supposed that this priest saw an angel of the LORD in the Holy of Holies.

    The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute. When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.

    Luke 1:21-23 NASB

    My wife later told me of a story that she had heard of this priest’s barren wife.

    She was of the line of Aaron and even in her advanced years later had a son. And her husband commanded her to name their son, John.

    The second amazing thing about this is that Zacharias had not been able to speak since that day my friend told me about him in Jerusalem. But on the day he named his son John, his voice returned!

    Others have confirmed this story about John son of Zacharias, who his followers call “JOHN THE BAPTIST.”

    The Lord though my own prayer has directed me to send my sons to this rabbi in the wilderness of the Jordan. For John preaches to all a calling to all faithful Jews:

    “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

    John 1:23 NASB, quoting Isaiah 40

    Zebedee’s Conclusion

    James and John followed John the Baptist and it was not long until the Lord confirmed our choice to send them to this great teacher, who Herod now as already killed. Both of our boys told us of their God-led calling while John still preached at the Jordan.

    I will tell it to you from my own son’s Good News of the Messiah.

    John 1:

    35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said,

    “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

    37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

    (Of course my son John was one of these and he immediately told his older brother James.)

    38 And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them,

    “What do you seek?”

    They said to Him,

    “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”

    39 He said to them, “Come, and you will see.”

    So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

    Zebedee – Father of Apostles

    My dear wife, mother to James and John, joined me in following our Messiah Jesus, whom our sons follow.

    I plea to you to hear John’s Gospel or this Good News through any others of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus the Messiah.

    Beloved brothers and sisters, chosen by the Lord God, I pray that the LORD will bless you and keep you and be gracious to you as He has done for me and my family.

    Amen.

    God willing, we will return to John's Gospel
from where we paused after the Holy Spirit 
in my next post.
Roger