EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/25/2026
9:03 PM
My
Worship Time Focus: “John’s
Background”
In this evening’s SD we will look at
John’s background from the pages of John MacArthur’s commentary.
“As noted in the previous chapter of
this volume, John and his brother James were sons of Zebedee, the owner of a
prosperous fishing business on the Sea of Galilee. The two brothers were partners in the
enterprise with Peter and Andrew (Luke 5:10).
John was likely the younger of the two, since James is usually listed
first when they are mentioned together.
His mother was Salome, one of the women who ministered to Jesus (Matt.
27:55-56), possibly financially (cf. Luke 8:2-3).”
(Matt. 27:55-56)
“55 There were also many women there, looking on
from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him,
56 among whom were Mary Magdalene and
Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.”
(cf. Luke 8:2-3)
“2 and also some women who had been healed of
evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons
had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of
Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided
for them out of their means.”
“As was
also noted in the previous chapter of this volume, Salome was likely the sister
of Jesus’ mother, Mary. In that case
John would have been Jesus’ cousin.
“With the exception of Peter, John
is the apostle about whom most is known.
He was a member of the innermost group of the Twelve, those closest to
Jesus, along with Peter, James, and Andrew.
Only Peter, James and John were present at the healing of the synagogue
official’s daughter (Mark 5:37), the transfiguration (Matt. 17:1), and went
inside Gethsemane with Jesus (the other disciple apparently waited at the gate;
cf. Matt. 26:36-37).”
(Matt. 26:36-37)
“36 ¶ Then Jesus went with them to a place called
Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and
pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the
two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.”
“In fact,
the designation of John as the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 13:23; 19:26;
20:2; 21:7, 20) suggests that he may have been the closest of all the apostles
to the Savior.
“John had been a follower of John
the Baptist (John 1:35) and, along with Andrew, was the first of the Twelve to
encounter Jesus (vv. 36-40). He
eventually returned to fishing on the Sea of Galilee, became a part-time follower
of Jesus (Matt. 4:21), then a full-time disciple (Luke 5:10-11), and finally
was chosen by the Lord to be a life-long apostle.” Now let me just talk about the order that
John when through in order to become an apostle, and let me say that there are
no more apostles since John died when he was in his 90’s. First John was following John the Baptist
listening to his preaching, and then became a follower of Jesus Christ,
followed by a part-time ministry with Him to a full-time ministry with Him,
followed by becoming a full-time apostle.
Becoming a believer in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is the first thing that has to happen in order to begin to
grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him.
It is a life long process, and you never make it where you don’t need to
continue to grow, like you know it all because that will not happen. So as you read this and if you are a believer
then continue to grow each and everyday by reading and studying your Bible, by
a consistent prayer life, by attending a Bible Believing Church. Those are some steps to help you grow in the
Lord.
“Like his brother James, John had a
tempestuous, forceful personality, prompting the Lord to name them ‘Sons of
Thunder’ (Mark 3:17). John’s volatile
temperament expressed itself in his desire, along with James, to call down fire
from heaven on the Samaritans who rejected Jesus (Luke 9:54). His aggressiveness and ambition are also seen
in his and his brother’s attempt to exploit their family ties to Jesus to
obtain positions of honor and privilege in the kingdom (Matt. 20:20-23).
“As He did with the rest of the
Twelve, Jesus molded and shaped John into the man He wanted him to be. That involved learning that his zeal for the
truth needed to be balanced with love, and indeed, those two things eventually
came to characterize him.
“That balance is hard to come
by. Many Christians do not seem to
understand its importance, and camp on one or the other. The result is either a cold, lifeless orthodoxy
leading to prideful indifference, or a shallow, superficial sentimentality
leading to tolerance of error. But both
truth and love are essential to the kingdom of God and therefore
inseparable. Paul made that clear in
Ephesians 4:11-15.”
Ephesians 4:11-15
“11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the
evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body
of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the
unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,
to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed
to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human
cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him
who is the head, into Christ,”
“God gives
gifted men (v. 11) to equip believers for the mutual edifying of the body of
Christ (v. 12), which results in spiritual maturity and Christlikeness (vv.
13-14). Then the apostle succinctly summarized
spiritual maturity as ‘speaking the truth in love’ (v. 15; cf. 1 Cor. 13:6; 1
Peter 1:22). Mature believers not only
are firmly grounded in sound doctrine (1 Tim. 4:6; Titus 1:9; 2:1), but also
manifest the fruit of the Spirit, love (Gal. 5:22; cf. v. 13; Rom. 5:5; 12:9).”
6/25/2026
10:04 PM
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