Weren't Saint John and Disciple John the same person , the brother of James ? Sorry , I am confused .
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=228
A very careful study of the Gospels reveal exactly opposite fact that John the apostle and ‘the disciple whom he loved’ were different persons . Let me cite some of the points in favor of my views for your perusal:
01. In this very first point we need to identify two mysterious characters of Gospels who are ‘the other disciple’ and ‘ the disciple whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loved’. We have clear proofs from Gospels that these two un-named persons are not different persons but the same person but some times he was addressed as ‘the other disciple’ and sometimes as ‘the disciple whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loved’. The following verses are the clear proofs in this regard :
John 20:1-3 >>
“The first of the Sabbaths Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, darkness still being on it , and she saw the stone taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
John 21:20 >>
“Then Peter, turning around, saw the other disciple whom Jesus loved- the one who also leaned on His breast at supper, and said, Lord, who is he who betrays You?”
In both verses both of the title referred to the same disciple of Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) . Furthermore there are so many scenes where we can find ‘the other disciple’ or ‘the disciple whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loved’ appeared but not a single scene had been found where both of the characters appeared simultaneously or together. Hence here the point is ‘the other disciple’ and ‘the disciple whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loved’ is the same person .Now let us concentrate our attention to the couple of verses from the last chapter of John . These verses are :
“1 After these things Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And he revealed himself this way: 2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called the Twin, and Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, I am going out to fish. They said to him, We will go with you also. They went out and entered into a boat immediately. And that night they caught nothing.4 But when the morning had come, Jesus stood on the shore. But the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.5 Then Jesus said to them, Children, do you have anything to eat? They answered Him, No.6 And He said to them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find. Therefore they cast, and now they no longer had the strength to draw, from the multitude of fish.7 Then that disciple whom Jesus loves said to Peter, It is the Lord! Then hearing that it is the Lord, Simon Peter girded on his coat (for he was naked), and cast himself into the sea.8 And the other disciples came in a little boat (for they were not far from land, only about two hundred cubits), dragging the net of fish.” John (21:1-8)
In that event at the Sea of Tiberias few disciples were appeared . They are :
1.Simon Peter 2.Thomas 3. Nathanae , 4+5. the sons of Zebedee which means James and John and finally 6+7 two others of the disciples .
As we have seen before in the Gospels “ the disciple whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loved” and “ the other disciple” are the same person so there is no doubt that this mysterious disciple and the apostle John were together in the above event of Jesus’ (Peace Be Upon him) appearance in Tiberias.Then how it could be possible that John the son of Zebedee and that disciple would be the same person? More over in the above incident it was reported that “the disciple whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loved” was the one who identified Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) . This also clears the fact that “the disciple whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loved” was one of the other disciples (6+7) and was with the apostle John and there remained no scope to claim that “the disciple whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loved” or “the other disciple” and the apostle John are the same person.
02. Let’s read from John 21:24 >>
“This is the disciple (‘the disciple whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loved’) who testifies of these things and wrote these things. And we know that his testimony is true.”
Very strange to notice here that who is that “we’. Is it not that unknown ‘we’ who collected ,compiled and wrote down this Gospel . More surprise is hidden in the verse of John 19:35 >>
“And he who saw bore record, and his record is true. And he knows that he speaks true, so that you might believe.”
The unreciprocated question is who is that ‘he’? If the eye-witness had written this Gospel then we could have found a strong ‘I’ instead of that weak and puzzling ‘he’. This paradox thrusts us to have an extreme problem for admitting the fact of John and ‘the disciple whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loved’ to be the same person . It is obvious from this point that the writer of this Gospel whose name is John had collected materials from the disciple who witnessed the life span of Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) and was present in the time of his crucifixion . This dilemma is also a proof against the fact of them (John and (‘the disciple whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loved’ ) to be the same person .
03. John 21:24 is telling us that ‘the apostle whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loved’ had written down these things by his own hand but Acts 4:13 is telling us that the apostle John was un-educated or illiterate who did not know how to read or write. If you read the Gospel of John you can find in the Gospel a high literature value rich with Greek philosophy which was written in Greek language . Now is it possible for an ordinary illiterate man like John , the son of Zebedee to write such a Gospel like this ? He was a normal fisherman who brought up in Galilee (Mathew 4:21-22,Mark 1:16-20,Luke 5:1-11) whose mother tongue was Aramaic and he could never learn Greek because he was illiterate or un educated (Acts 4:13) . So ‘the apostle whom Jesus (Peace Be Upon him) loves’ is a different person than the apostle John , the son of Zebedee.
Cont..
Did you know who is the disciple that Jesus loved? The spirit of Ama said that it was John the Baptist. I believe Ama because John the Baptist was His second cousin. There are other reasons which I found later that what Ama said is true.
Why did He say in John 19:26-27, "Woman, behold thy son!" and "Behold thy mother!" If Jesus had brothers and sisters through Mary or Joseph, He would not have entrusted His mother to His beloved disciple and relative.
Herod the Tetrarach chopped off the head of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:3-12). What Jesus did was reattach the head and gave life to him. If Jesus was able to give life to Lazarus who had been buried for four days (John 11:3-44), could Jesus not reattach the head of John the Baptist and gave life to him? Jesus can give life because He is the one who gives life.
Ama also said that it was John the Baptist who was the groom at Cana. I believe Ama because His mother was also there and acted not as a guest but like a host. Was Jesus an invited guest? Was His mother Mary an invited guest? They were present because they are relatives of John the Baptist.
