John The Beloved: Close To The Heart Of Jesus

“One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side” — John 13:23 ESV  

The Apostle John referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 19:26; 21:7).

Jesus had different levels of relationship with different types of people. When you read the Gospels, you see different groups who all related to Jesus differently. Not everyone was close to Jesus. In fact, only a small group of people followed him closely and most people watched from a distance. There were the crowds that followed Jesus. You also see that Jesus had a school of seventy disciples. Then of course there were the twelve disciples, then the inner circle of Peter, James, and John, and out of that inner circle there was one — John — who is described as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

John was close to Jesus. He reclined onto Jesus’ chest at the Last Supper. He took care of Jesus’ mother after His crucifixion. He wrote Revelation. Think about this: when Jesus announced that his betrayer was dipping his hand in the dish in that moment, why was there no uproar? Why did the group of disciples not turn on Judas in the moment? The reason is because Jesus didn’t announce it to the whole room. John was the only one close enough to hear Jesus’ voice, and likely the only one who had a revelation of the cross.

But why did John refer to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved?” Does he think Jesus loved him more than everyone else, or that he merited a greater degree of love?  Certainly he is not saying that Jesus loved him more than the other eleven disciples. In fact, he actually says in the same chapter that he loved all of his disciples (John 13:1). When John says that Jesus loved him, he means that he was the one with the greatest revelation of how much Jesus loved him. He was “beloved” because he let himself be loved. Open your heart to Jesus. Get close enough to hear his voice. Find him in the secret place, and there he will tell you his secrets.


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This blog is an excerpt from Robert Presson’s devotional book, “People Of His Presence,” available on Amazon: Click here to purchase on Amazon.  Alternatively, the book is available for free when you give a donation of any amount to City Revival Ministries at  cityrevivalnola.com/give. Please indicate that you would like the book when you give.