How St. John the Evangelist and Apostle Speaks To Us Today

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Editor’s note: Pictured above is “St. John the Evangelist” painted by Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825) for Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia.

By Jonathan B. Coe, Crisis Magazine, December 28, 2018

While today’s orthodox Catholic in the West complains about a virulent secular culture outside of the Church and scandal and crisis within the pillar and ground of the truth, the apostle whom Jesus loved had his own formidable challenges during his day. While we legitimately complain about the erosion of religious liberties in the U.S., he dealt with outright persecution, especially during the reigns of Nero and Domitian.

While we have grave concerns about the present scandal and crisis in the Church worldwide, John confronted his own enemies of the gospel. Though his enemies that surface in his First Epistle are difficult to specifically identify, the apostle called them antichrists, liars, deceivers, and false prophets who denied that Jesus was “the Christ” (2:22; 5:1) and “the Son of God” (2:23; 5:5) who had truly “come in the flesh” (4:2).

In the biblical narrative, there is definitely a rhythm and relationship between the servant of God’s private and public ministry. Moses spends 40 days and 40 nights on Mt. Sinai (private ministry), then comes down off the mountain to, among other things, administer punishment (public ministry) to the Israelites whom he found dancing around the golden calf…..Continue reading…crisismagazine.com/2018/how-st-john-the-evangelist-and-apostle-speaks-to-us-today