To Encourage You

John 21:20 “. . . the disciple whom Jesus loved . . .”

One of the interesting things about the apostle John was how he identified himself in his writings.  It was John who gave us the gospel of John; First, Second, and Third John; and Revelation, yet the only book in which he gives us his name is Revelation. Everywhere else where he refers to himself, he uses the five-word phrase in the verse above, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”  Of course, one of the questions that comes to mind is “why did he do this?”  And while he never tells us, we can certainly speculate. 

For one, it was obviously important to him.  It was more important to John for us to know not who he was, but whose he was.  As he wrote, the fact that Jesus loved him was a truth that was always front and center in his life. He had come to realize that Jesus was the very Creator of the Universe. He was in the beginning with God, and more than that, He was God (John 1:1).  I’m sure you’ve been around people who are name-droppers. They take every opportunity to let you know that they know some famous person.  Perhaps you’ve done this yourself. And if we’re honest, it’s an attempt, however subtle, to puff ourselves up by letting others in on the fact that so and so knows us and we know them.  But with John, in his name dropping, he didn’t care that we know who he was when he talks about himself. He just wanted us to know that, above all else, this awesome person, God in the flesh, loved him!  All the attention went to Jesus, rather than to himself.  He couldn’t get over the fact that Jesus loved him.  It was a thought always on his mind and frequently on his lips. 

Here was one Who had made the universe.  He never had a beginning. He always was. He had such power that even the wind and waves obeyed Him. He had the power to raise the dead.  He knew everything about everything. John knew that one day every knee would bow and every tongue confess that Jesus was Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).  Yet, of the billions of people who had lived or ever would live, this greatest of the great loved even him. 

And John knew himself. He knew that he was just a fisherman.  He knew that he was a hot-head with the nickname “son of thunder,” of all things (Mark 3:17), who once even wanted the ability to call down fire from heaven to destroy those who didn’t give Jesus His due (Luke 9:54)!  Yet, for all his shortcomings and despite all his sin, Jesus loved even him! 

What about you? Do you know that Jesus loves you?  Do you realize how awesome this is? Do you know that He knows your name and has set His affection on you?  If you are a believer, are you awed by the fact that Jesus “set His love on you and chose you”? (Deuteronomy 7:7).  If you, like John, are aware of this, you, like John, will tell someone.  It will occupy your thoughts. You’ll be like Israel’s King David as he spoke these words about his Savior in Psalm 63:6: “I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night.”  Does this describe you?  It should, “for God so loved (you) that he gave his only Son, that (if you will) believe in Him (you will not) perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  And then this: “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8). 

How wonderful is a love like that?!