Official feasts used to be an important part of the human community. People would gather together to remember something sacred, express their faith and hope for the future, and / or just be together formally, recognizing each other as being part of a shared community. Few things express a desire for shared companionship and social intimacy more than dining together. Sadly, the gathering together for feasting is increasingly a relic of the past – at least here in the West.
It need not be so! Today we will remember the ancient feasts.
The Feast Day of St. John, the Apostle
This is a Christian religious celebration of John, one of the twelve original disciples of Jesus Christ. John is among the most well-known of the original Apostles. He is the one who took in Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as his own mother after the crucifixion of Jesus. He and his brother James were named by Christ as “the Sons of Thunder.” The two, along with Simon Peter, were the three witnesses to the Transfiguration of Christ.
John is credited with authorship of the Gospel of John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and the Book of Revelation. He directly influenced and taught early Church Fathers including Polycarp and Ignatius of Antioch. Among his attributes are the Eagle – associated with his Gospel. He is also a Patron Saint of Love.
As John has no known relics, there is some belief that he was bodily assumed into Heaven. There is a far more fringe belief, based on a comment about John recorded in the Gospels, that he might even still be alive today. John is also the disciple most closely linked to the Holy Grail legend.
John the Apostle is traditionally held to be the author of the Gospel of John, and many Christian denominations believe that he authored several other books of the New Testament (the three Johannine epistles and the Book of Revelation, together with the Gospel of John, are called the Johannine works), depending on whether he is distinguished from, or identified with, John the Evangelist, John the Elder, and John of Patmos.
Although the authorship of the Johannine works has traditionally been attributed to John the Apostle, only a minority of contemporary scholars believe he wrote the gospel, and most conclude that he wrote none of them. Regardless of whether or not John the Apostle wrote any of the Johannine works, most scholars agree that all three epistles were written by the same author and that the epistles did not have the same author as the Book of Revelation, although there is widespread disagreement among scholars as to whether the author of the epistles was different from that of the gospel.
References to John in the New Testament
Armenian icon of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, 13th century by the Armenian manuscript illuminator Toros Roslin
John the Apostle was born into a family of Jewish fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. He was the son of Zebedee and the younger brother of James the Great. According to church tradition, their mother was Salome. Also according to some traditions, Salome was the sister of Mary, Jesus’ mother, making Salome Jesus’ aunt, and her sons John the Apostle and James were Jesus’ cousins.
John the Apostle is traditionally believed to be one of two disciples (the other being Andrew) recounted in John 1:35–39, who upon hearing the Baptist point out Jesus as the “Lamb of God”, followed Jesus and spent the day with him, thus becoming the first two disciples called by Jesus. On this basis some traditions believe that John was first a disciple of John the Baptist, even though he is not named in this episode.
According to the Synoptic Gospels (Matt 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20; Luke 5:1–11), Zebedee and his sons fished in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus then called Peter, Andrew and the two sons of Zebedee to follow him. James and John are listed among the Twelve Apostles. Jesus referred to the pair as “Boanerges” (translated “sons of thunder”). A Gospel story relates how the brothers wanted to call down heavenly fire on an unhospitable Samaritan town, but Jesus rebuked them. John was also the disciple who reported to Jesus that they had ‘forbidden’ a non-disciple from casting out demons in Jesus’ name, prompting Jesus to state that ‘he who is not against us is on our side’.
John is traditionally believed to have lived on for more than fifty years after the martyrdom of his brother James, who became the first Apostle to die a martyr’s death in AD 44.
Jesus sent only Peter and John into the city to make the preparation for the final Passover meal (the Last Supper).
Many traditions identify the “disciple whom Jesus loved” in the Gospel of John as the Apostle John, but this identification is debated. At the meal itself, the “disciple whom Jesus loved” sat next to Jesus. It was customary to recline on couches at meals, and this disciple leaned on Jesus. Tradition identifies this disciple as John.
After the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, only Peter and the “other disciple” (according to tradition, John) followed him into the palace of the high-priest. The “beloved disciple” alone, among the Apostles, remained near Jesus at the foot of the cross on Calvary alongside myrrhbearers and numerous other women. Following the instruction of Jesus from the Cross, the beloved disciple took Mary, the mother of Jesus, into his care as the last legacy of Jesus. Peter and John were also the only two apostles who ran to the empty tomb after Mary Magdalene bore witness to the resurrection of Jesus.
After Jesus’ Ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, John, together with Peter, took a prominent part in the founding and guidance of the church. He was with Peter at the healing of the lame man at Solomon’s Porch in the Temple and he was also thrown into prison with Peter. Later, only Peter and John went to visit the newly converted believers in Samaria.
While he remained in Judea and the surrounding area, the other disciples returned to Jerusalem for the Apostolic Council (c. 48–50 AD). Paul, in opposing his enemies in Galatia, explicitly recalled that John, along with Peter and James the Just, were collectively recognized as the three Pillars of the Church. He also referred to the recognition that his Apostolic preaching of a gospel free from Jewish Law was received from these three, the most prominent men of the messianic community at Jerusalem.
The phrase “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (ὁ μαθητὴς ὃν ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ho mathētēs hon ēgapā ho Iēsous), or in John 20:2; “whom Jesus loved” (ὃν ἐφίλει ὁ Ἰησοῦς, hon ephilei ho Iēsous), is used six times in the Gospel of John, but in no other New Testament accounts of Jesus. John 21:24 claims that the Gospel of John is based on the written testimony of this disciple.
The disciple whom Jesus loved is specifically referred to six times in the Gospel of John:
It is this disciple who, while reclining beside Jesus at the Last Supper, asks Jesus, after being requested by Peter to do so, who it is that will betray him.
Later at the crucifixion, Jesus tells his mother, “Woman, here is your son”, and to the Beloved Disciple he says, “Here is your mother.”
When Mary Magdalene discovers the empty tomb, she runs to tell the Beloved Disciple and Peter. The two men rush to the empty tomb and the Beloved Disciple is the first to reach the empty tomb. However, Peter is the first to enter.
Also in the book’s final chapter, after Jesus hints to Peter how Peter will die, Peter sees the Beloved Disciple following them and asks, “What about him?” Jesus answers, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
Again in the Gospel’s last chapter, it states that the very book itself is based on the written testimony of the disciple whom Jesus loved.
None of the other Gospels includes anyone in the parallel scenes that could be directly understood as the Beloved Disciple. For example, in Luke 24:12, Peter alone runs to the tomb. Mark, Matthew and Luke do not mention any one of the twelve disciples having witnessed the crucifixion.
There are also two references to an unnamed “other disciple” in John 1:35–40 and John 18:15–16, which may be to the same person based on the wording in John 20:2.
Church tradition has held that John is the author of the Gospel of John and four other books of the New Testament – the three Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation. In the Gospel, authorship is internally credited to the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (ὁ μαθητὴς ὃν ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς, o mathētēs on ēgapa o Iēsous) in John 20:2. John 21:24 claims that the Gospel of John is based on the written testimony of the “Beloved Disciple”. The authorship of some Johannine literature has been debated since about the year 200.
In his 4th century Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius says that the First Epistle of John and the Gospel of John are widely agreed upon as his. However, Eusebius mentions that the consensus is that the second and third epistles of John are not his but were written by some other John. Eusebius also goes to some length to establish with the reader that there is no general consensus regarding the revelation of John. The revelation of John could only be what is now called the Book of Revelation. The Gospel according to John differs considerably from the Synoptic Gospels, which were likely written decades earlier. The bishops of Asia Minor supposedly requested him to write his gospel to deal with the heresy of the Ebionites, who asserted that Christ did not exist before Mary. John probably knew of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but these gospels spoke of Jesus primarily in the year following the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist. Around 600, however, Sophronius of Jerusalem noted that “two epistles bearing his name … are considered by some to be the work of a certain John the Elder” and, while stating that Revelation was written by John of Patmos, it was “later translated by Justin Martyr and Irenaeus,” presumably in an attempt to reconcile tradition with the obvious differences in Greek style.
Until the 19th century, the authorship of the Gospel of John had been attributed to the Apostle John. Many modern scholars such as Colin G. Kruse continue to affirm traditional authorship, but most modern critical scholars have their doubts. Some scholars place the Gospel of John somewhere between AD 65 and 85; John Robinson proposes an initial edition by 50–55 and then a final edition by 65 due to narrative similarities with Paul. Other scholars are of the opinion that the Gospel of John was composed in two or three stages. Most contemporary scholars consider that the Gospel was not written until the latter third of the first century AD, and with the earliest possible date of AD 75–80: “…a date of AD 75–80 as the earliest possible date of composition for this Gospel.” Other scholars think that an even later date, perhaps even the last decade of the first century AD right up to the start of the 2nd century (i.e. 90 – 100), is applicable.
Modern, mainstream Bible scholars generally assert that the Gospel of John has been written by an anonymous author and not written by an eyewitness. According to The New Oxford Annotated Bible (2018), modern scholars agree that the gospel was more probably written by a disciple of John son of Zebedee; it could have been the Beloved Disciple or someone who recorded his dictation.
Regarding whether the author of the Gospel of John was an eyewitness, according to Paul N. Anderson, the gospel “contains more direct claims to eyewitness origins than any of the other Gospel traditions.” F. F. Bruce argues that 19:35 contains an “emphatic and explicit claim to eyewitness authority.” According to Bart Ehrman, the gospel nowhere claims to have been written by direct witnesses to the reported events. According to Hugo Mendez, both the original text of John’s gospel and the epilogue (chapter 21) claims that the work was ‘written’ by an eyewitness. Although the gospel presents its implied author as an eyewitness to Jesus, Mendez argues that this claim should be doubted given the amount of historically dubious content in the work and the commonality of claims to eyewitness testimony in forgeries at the time.
Book of Revelation
According to the Book of Revelation, its author was on the island of Patmos “for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus”, when he was honoured with the vision contained in Revelation.
The author of the Book of Revelation identifies himself as “Ἰωάννης” (“John” in standard English translation). The early 2nd-century writer Justin Martyr was the first to equate the author of Revelation with John the Apostle. However, most biblical scholars now contend that these were separate individuals since the text was written around 100 AD, after the death of John the Apostle, although many historians have defended the identification of the Author of the Gospel of John with that of the Book of Revelation based on the similarity of the two texts.
John the Presbyter, an obscure figure in the early church, has also been identified with the seer of the Book of Revelation by such authors as Eusebius in his Church History (Book III, 39) and Jerome.
John is considered to have been exiled to Patmos, during the persecutions under Emperor Domitian. Revelation 1:9 says that the author wrote the book on Patmos: “I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation, … was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Adela Yarbro Collins, a biblical scholar at Yale Divinity School, writes:
Early tradition says that John was banished to Patmos by the Roman authorities. This tradition is credible because banishment was a common punishment used during the Imperial period for a number of offenses. Among such offenses were the practices of magic and astrology. Prophecy was viewed by the Romans as belonging to the same category, whether Pagan, Jewish, or Christian. Prophecy with political implications, like that expressed by John in the book of Revelation, would have been perceived as a threat to Roman political power and order. Three of the islands in the Sporades were places where political offenders were banished. (Pliny Natural History 4.69–70; Tacitus Annals 4.30)
Some modern critical scholars have raised the possibility that John the Apostle, John the Evangelist, and John of Patmos were three separate individuals. These scholars assert that John of Patmos wrote Revelation but neither the Gospel of John nor the Epistles of John. The author of Revelation identifies himself as “John” several times, but the author of the Gospel of John never identifies himself directly. Some Catholic scholars state that “vocabulary, grammar, and style make it doubtful that the book could have been put into its present form by the same person(s) responsible for the fourth gospel.”
Extrabiblical traditions
Print of John the Apostle made at ca. the end of the 16th c. – the beginning of the 17th c.Byzantine illumination depicting John dictating to his disciple, Prochorus (c. 1100)Tomb of Saint John the Apostle, Saint John’s Basilica, Ephesus, Turkey
There is no information in the Bible concerning the duration of John’s activity in Judea. According to tradition, John and the other Apostles remained some 12 years in this first field of labour. The persecution of Christians under Herod Agrippa I (r. 41–44 AD) led to the scattering of the Apostles through the Roman Empire‘s provinces.
A messianic community existed at Ephesus before Paul’s first labors there (cf. “the brethren”), in addition to Priscilla and Aquila. The original community was under the leadership of Apollos (1 Corinthians 1:12). They were disciples of John the Baptist and were converted by Aquila and Priscilla. According to tradition, after the Assumption of Mary, John went to Ephesus. Irenaeus writes of “the church of Ephesus, founded by Paul, with John continuing with them until the times of Trajan.” From Ephesus he wrote the three epistles attributed to him. John was banished by the Roman authorities to the Greek island of Patmos, where, according to tradition, he wrote the Book of Revelation. According to Tertullian (in The Prescription of Heretics) John was banished (presumably to Patmos) after being plunged into boiling oil in Rome and suffering nothing from it. It is said that all in the audience of Colosseum were converted to Christianity upon witnessing this miracle. This event would have occurred in the 1st century, during the reign of either Emperor Nero or Emperor Domitian, who were both known to have persecuted Christians.
When John was aged, he trained Polycarp who later became Bishop of Smyrna. This was important because Polycarp was able to carry John’s message to future generations. Polycarp taught Irenaeus, passing on to him stories about John. Similarly, Ignatius of Antioch was a student of John. In Against Heresies, Irenaeus relates how Polycarp told a story of
John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, “Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within.”
It is traditionally believed that John was the youngest of the apostles and survived all of them. He is said to have lived to old age, dying of natural causes at Ephesus sometime after AD 98, during the reign of Trajan, thus becoming the only apostle who did not die as a martyr.
An alternative account of John’s death, ascribed by later Christian writers to the early second-century bishop Papias of Hierapolis, claims that he was slain by the Jews. Most Johannine scholars doubt the reliability of its ascription to Papias, but a minority, including B.W. Bacon, Martin Hengel and Henry Barclay Swete, maintain that these references to Papias are credible. Zahn argues that this reference is actually to John the Baptist.
John’s tomb is thought to be located in the former Basilica of St. John at Selçuk, a small town in the vicinity of Ephesus. John, along with Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, belongs among a few saints who left no bodily relics as the opening of his tomb during Constantine the Great‘s reign yielded no bones. This fact gave rise to the belief that his body was assumed into heaven.
John is also associated with the pseudepigraphalapocryphal text of the Acts of John, which is traditionally viewed as written by John himself or his disciple, Leucius Charinus. It was widely circulated by the second century AD but deemed heretical at the Second Council of Nicaea (787 AD). Varying fragments survived in Greek and Latin within monastic libraries. It contains strong docetic themes, but is not considered in modern scholarship to be Gnostic.
Until 1960, another feast day which appeared in the General Roman Calendar is that of “Saint John Before the Latin Gate” on 6 May, celebrating a tradition recounted by Jerome that St John was brought to Rome during the reign of the Emperor Domitian, and was thrown in a vat of boiling oil, from which he was miraculously preserved unharmed. A church (San Giovanni a Porta Latina) dedicated to him was built near the Latin gate of Rome, the traditional site of this event.
February 15: Synaxis of Saint John the Theologian at Diaconissa.
May 8: Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. On this date Christians used to draw forth from his grave fine ashes which were believed to be effective for healing the sick.
July 10: Synaxis of Saint John the Theologian in the district of Beatus.
August 2: Consecration of the Church of Saint John the Theologian near the Great Church.
September 26: Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian.
Other views
Islamic view
The Quran also speaks of Jesus’s disciples but does not mention their names, instead referring to them as “supporters for [the cause of] Allah”. The Sunnah did not mention their names either. However, some Muslim scholars mentioned their names, likely relying on the resources of Christians, who are considered “People of the Book” in Islamic tradition. Muslim exegesis more or less agrees with the New Testament list and says that the disciples included Peter, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, Andrew, James, Jude, John and Simon the Zealot. Notably, narrations of People of the Book (Christians and Jews) are not to be believed or disbelieved by Muslims as long as there is nothing that supports or denies them in Quran or Sunnah.
Druze view
Druze tradition honors several “mentors” and “prophets”, and John the Apostle is honored as a prophet. In the Druze tradition and doctrine, Matthew the Apostle is respected for his contributions to spiritual knowledge and guidance. Druze doctrine teaches that Christianity is to be “esteemed and praised”, as the Gospel writers are regarded as “carriers of wisdom”.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) teaches that, “John is mentioned frequently in latter-day revelation (1 Ne. 14:18–27; 3 Ne. 28:6; Ether 4:16; D&C 7; 27:12; 61:14; 77; 88:141). For Latter-day Saints these passages confirm the biblical record of John and also provide insight into his greatness and the importance of the work the Lord has given him to do on the earth in New Testament times and in the last days. The latter-day scriptures clarify that John did not die but was allowed to remain on the earth as a ministering servant until the time of the Lord’s Second Coming (John 21:20–23; 3 Ne. 28:6–7; D&C 7)”. It also teaches that in 1829, along with the resurrected Peter and the resurrected James, John visited Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and restored the priesthood authority with Apostolic succession to earth, though a few ex-Latter-Day Saints claim controversially that previous editions of Latter-day scripture contradict this claim of Priesthood authority and Apostolic succession. John, along with the Three Nephites, will live to see the Second Coming of Christ as translated beings.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teaches that John the Apostle is the same person as John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, and the Beloved Disciple.
Freemasonry view
Although Freemasonry is not a religion, it takes as its patron saints St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist. Therefore, the Feast of St. John the Evangelist is used in many jurisdictions as the start of the new masonic year.
As he was traditionally identified with the beloved apostle, the evangelist, and the author of the Revelation and several Epistles, John played an extremely prominent role in art from the early Christian period onward. He is traditionally depicted in one of two distinct ways: either as an aged man with a white or gray beard, or alternatively as a beardless youth. The first way of depicting him was more common in Byzantine art, where it was possibly influenced by antique depictions of Socrates; the second was more common in the art of Medieval Western Europe, and can be dated back as far as 4th century Rome.
Legends from the Acts of John, an apocryphal text attributed to John, contributed much to Medieval iconography; it is the source of the idea that John became an apostle at a young age. One of John’s familiar attributes is the chalice, often with a serpent emerging from it. This symbol is interpreted as a reference to a legend from the Acts of John, in which John was challenged to drink a cup of poison to demonstrate the power of his faith (the poison being symbolized by the serpent). Other common attributes include a book or scroll, in reference to the writings traditionally attributed to him, and an eagle, which is argued to symbolize the high-soaring, inspirational quality of these writings.
In Medieval and through to Renaissance works of painting, sculpture and literature, Saint John is often presented in an androgynous or feminized manner. Historians have related such portrayals to the circumstances of the believers for whom they were intended. For instance, John’s feminine features are argued to have helped to make him more relatable to women. Likewise, Sarah McNamer argues that because of his status as an androgynous saint, John could function as an “image of a third or mixed gender” and “a crucial figure with whom to identify” for male believers who sought to cultivate an attitude of affective piety, a highly emotional style of devotion that, in late-medieval culture, was thought to be poorly compatible with masculinity. After the Middle Ages, feminizing portrayals of Saint John continued to be made; a case in point is an etching by Jacques Bellange, shown to the right, described by art critic Richard Dorment as depicting “a softly androgynous creature with a corona of frizzy hair, small breasts like a teenage girl, and the round belly of a mature woman.”
In the realm of popular media, this latter phenomenon was brought to notice in Dan Brown‘s novel The Da Vinci Code (2003), where one of the book’s characters suggests that the feminine-looking person to Jesus’ right in Leonardo da Vinci‘s The Last Supper is actually Mary Magdalene rather than St. John.
What is something you eat for the Feast Day of St. John?
There is a tradition associated with St. John, linking him with the Holy Grail. The fanciful legends say that John, who was reclining next to Jesus at the Last Supper, had the Cup of Christ with him at the Crucifixion. The cup is said to have gotten some of Christ’s blood inside of it. From there, depending on your Grail Legend source, it ended up in the hands of Joseph of Arimathea and perhaps traveled to France or England.
There is another legend linking the Apostle John to a chalice. He is said to have survived the drinking of poisoned wine because he performed the Sign of the Cross over himself and the drink before consuming it.
This is perhaps some of the reason for why you of see John the Apostle depicted with a chalice in ancient Christian art.
A less fanciful explanation though for this depiction, and this link between John and the chalice, is what we know for certain. John reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper – the inauguration of the Eucharist.
For this reason, it is not uncommon to celebrate the Feast Day of St. John the Apostle with the drinking of wine.
There is a beautiful Catholic custom for St. John’s feast day – the blessing of wine. It is in honor of him remaining unharmed after drinking a poisoned cup of wine over which he made the Sign of the Cross. The father of the family can read Psalm 22 and then recite this prayer: ” Lord Jesus Christ, Thou didst call Thyself the vine and Thy holy apostles the branches; and out of all those who love Thee, Thou didst desire to make a good vineyard. Bless this wine and pour into it the might of Thy benediction so that everyone who drinks or takes of it, may through the intercession of Thy beloved disciple the holy apostle and evangelist John, be freed from every disease or attack of illness and obtain health of body and soul. Who livest and reignest forever. Amen.”
A toast to the love of St. John is then pledged by all the family. The father touches his glass of wine to his wife and says: “I drink to you the love of St. John” and she in turn touches the children’s (watered down wine) goblets and says “drink you the love of St. John.”
O glorious Apostle, who, on account of thy virginal purity, wast so beloved by Jesus as to deserve to lay thy head upon His divine breast, and to be left, in His place, as son to His most holy Mother: I beg thee to inflame me with a most ardent love toward Jesus and Mary. Obtain for me from our Lord that I, too, with a heart purified from earthly afflictions, may be made worthy to be ever united to Jesus as a faithful disciple, and to Mary as a devoted son, both here on earth and eternally in heaven. Amen.
When is the Feast Day of St. John the Apostle celebrated?
This feast is celebrated on the following dates:
27 December – Roman Catholics and Anglicans 26 September – Eastern Orthodox
I hope that everyone who celebrates has a wonderful day!
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