JOHN
He was the younger brother of James, the son of Zebedee, and a cousin of Jesus, and possibly the uncle of Thaddaeus.. He was the only Apostle standing at the cross of Christ, and Jesus committed His mother to his care (John 19:26-27).
He wrote the 4th Gospel, prior to AD 70, where he states he is the "disciple whom Jesus loved", and likely was the most intimate earthly friend of Jesus, indicating he must've been a man of rare qualities of character to attract the companionship of the Lord. However, he must've also had a violent temper, as Jesus
nicknamed him, along with his brother, James, the "Sons of Thunder." He was a business man and was one of five partners in a fishing business. He must have know Jesus from childhood.
John was a disciple of John the Baptist, who he was also related to. He became an immediate disciple of Jesus, then returned to his fishing business, only to leave it about a year later at the call of Jesus.
John and Peter became the recognized leaders of the Twelve. He was present with Jesus at the raising of Jairus' daughter, the Transfiguration, in the Garden of Gethsemane, at His trial, and the only one of the Twelve at His crucifixion.
He preached in Palastine and Asia Minor. Tradition says that he was thrown into boiling oil, but was saved by a miracle. He was sentenced to
labor in the mines and finally exiled to the island of Patmos. He was the only Apostle to die of natural causes in AD 98, at about 100
years old, in Ephesus. He also wrote three epistles: I John, II John, and III John (all ca AD 70-90) and the Book of Revelation (ca AD 96).
