The Beloved Disciple In The Gospel Of John

Through all of the passages in the Gospel of John that mention the “beloved Disciple” there is no evidence that it would be one person in particular. The book of John does an excellent job of remaining consistent in story and character of this mystery Disciple. Although Jesus is with him and speaks of him frequently, he is certain to not be mentioned by name. This obviously points the reader to examine the authorship of the gospel itself because of the consistencies in story throughout Jesus’s life. In John 21 it says in reference to the beloved disciple, “This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.” This to me shows that the book of John really was
The beloved disciple is able to gain access to a temple that Simon Peter is unable too until he is alter let in by the beloved disciple, this leads Simon Peter to deny his following of Jesus when asked by the people within the temple who are huddled around the fire with him. “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter. He replied, “I am not. (John 18:17)” Peter’s denial is his lack of faith and underlying frustration with Jesus’s actions that come to fruition later in the gospel. To make a point of Peter’s denial John ensures us that his denial of Jesus is not a mistake by documenting two more denials in John 18:25-27. The beloved disciple manages to be in the same place as Peter but does not feel the need to deny his following of Jesus, but when given the opportunity Peter distances himself from him possibly out of resentment for being left at the door. John would want to distance his own name within his gospel from the favorable position that he was in within Jesus’s circle of
“When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me! (John 21:21)” The point John is making here is that Jesus wanted Peter to mind his own business and focus on his own relationship with the Lord, which is in turn the point of the beloved disciple. Although the mystery behind the disciple is bewildering, the point of John muting his name form the record I his own Gospel would be to show that the focus Peter was putting on another’s relationship with the Lord was to be faulted, as the beloved disciple has the ideal relationship with Jesus and John’s relationship is what we as Christians should strive for in our own relationship with