Feast of Saint John, Apostle and evangelist

Niece with cat

Then the other disciple also went in,

the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.

On this third day of Christmas we celebrate Saint John the Evangelist. Here in America he enjoys another association with Christmas: each year thousands of people gather in Saint John the Divine Cathedral in New York City to welcome the winter solstice with wolf howls.

When I explored Saint John’s Cathedral in Lafayette Louisiana I was surprised to find over twenty windows dedicated to Saint John. I did not know he appears so often in the New Testament. They begin with:

The next day John (the Baptist) was there again with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God." The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.

A few verses later one of the disciples is named (Andrew) but the other remains unnamed and barely noticed. Eventually he begins to emerge from his anonymity as the Beloved Disciple, “the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, "Master, who is the one who will betray you?" He alone stood with “the Mother of Jesus” at the foot of the cross. He heard the words, “Behold your mother” and, from that hour, took her into his home. He ran with Peter to the tomb and found it empty. But, unlike Peter, when he saw the empty tomb and the burial linens neatly folded, “He saw and believed.”

Finally, “It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.”

Saint John is a kind of Horatio to Jesus' Hamlet. Like Horatio he appears often in the drama of Jesus but he is only a witness to the events. Saint John might say with Horatio, "And let me speak to the yet unknowing world / How these things came about...." 

Legends say that John was the youngest of the twelve apostles. He is usually depicted as a beardless boy. Legends also tell he was not martyred but died a natural death as a very old man. They say he had become so feeble he could only whisper to his congregation, “Love one another!” and that was sufficient.

The Patristic Origen said of Saint John’s gospel, “A mouse could wade across it; an elephant could drown in it.” The gospel invites the Christian to see Jesus’ signs and hear his teaching. His narrative often reads as simply as a short story, but there is such depth of wisdom in its simplicity one can spend a lifetime contemplating its mystery. If any book could win a convert without the aid of a church, it might be this one; but, of course, John insists there can be no love of God without a church:

If anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 

(I John 4:20)

John’s gospel challenges us as Jesus challenged his opponents. They want signs of his authority but he knows they will not believe any signs. His lack of credentials is not the problem, it’s their cynicism. In the end we must set aside every doubt and hesitation and take his word for it. He is the Lord, take it or leave it. Believe it, or not. 

In the beginning of his ministry, Jesus invited Saints Andrew and John to “come and see.” On Easter Sunday John “saw and believed.” But he saved the greatest blessing for you and me when he added, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”