THE BELOVED DISCIPLE OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL
Before we go any further, let us take a look at what the Fourth
Gospel actually says about this Beloved Disciple. In the Gospel of
John there are seven passages which refer to the beloved anonymous
founder of the Johannine Community. These passages are as
follows:
1. (1:35-40) This passage refers to "another disciple" who heard
John the Baptist and followed Jesus along with Andrew, the brother
of Simon Peter. Even though this passage does not specifically
refer to the disciple as being loved by Jesus, Brown argues that
this passage is a reference to the Beloved Disciple. He says that
the disciple is not referred to as the beloved simply because he is
not yet a disciple of Jesus at this point in the story (Brown 1979:
33).
2. (13:23-26) This passage clearly refers to the anonymous disciple
as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." The disciple is sitting next to
Jesus during the Last Supper. Peter nods to the disciple to get him
to ask Jesus for the identity of his betrayer. The disciple asks
Jesus and Jesus tells him that his betrayer is, of course, going to
be Judas Iscariot.
3. (18:15-16) After the arrest of Jesus, the other disciple is
allowed to enter the courtyard of the high priest with him. Peter,
on the other hand, was not allowed in at first. Peter was let in
only after the other disciple, who was known to the high priest,
spoke to the gatekeeper. The other disciple is not explicitly
referred to as the Beloved Disciple. However, Brown asserts that
this passage refers to the same disciple whom Jesus loved (1979:
82).
4. (19:25-27) The Beloved Disciple is at the foot of the Cross
along with the mother of Jesus, and other women including Mary
Magdalene. Jesus tells the Beloved Disciple to take care of his
mother. The disciple is said to have taken the mother of Jesus into
his home.
5. (20:1-11) Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved run to the
Empty Tomb after being told by Mary Magdalene that the body of the
Lord was missing.
6. (21:7) In this passage, several of the disciples are out fishing
after the Resurrection of Christ. The Beloved Disciple is the first
to notice that the man who was speaking to them was Jesus. The
disciple says to Peter, "It is the Lord!"
7. (21:20-24) The Beloved Disciple's death is addressed in a
conversation between Peter and the Risen Christ. The passage also
asserts that the Gospel was written by the Beloved Disciple and
based on his eyewitness testimony. Chapter 21 was obviously written
by a redactor (or editor) after the death of the Beloved
Disciple.
You may note at this point that in the above cited passages from
the Gospel of John, the Beloved Disciple is clearly male. Also, in
19:25-27 and 20:1-11 the Beloved Disciple and Mary Magdalene appear
in the same scenes simultaneously. How can I allege that Mary
Magdalene is the Beloved Disciple in light of this? The answer will
be addressed in detail below. But for now: The reason that the
Beloved Disciple was turned into a man in the text was because this
disciple was clearly the founder and hero of the community that
produced this Gospel. At some point after the death of Jesus, the
emerging male leadership of that community simply became
embarrassed about having a female founder. (Remember, we're dealing
with male attitudes towards women 2,000 years ago.) In order to
"mainstream" their community, they suppressed some of the more
radical practices that Jesus taught them through his example --
such as treating everyone with equal dignity and respect, including
the sick, the poor, the oppressed, the outcast, and women. Jesus
apparently did not object to men and women sharing power and
positions of leadership. Some of his successors, however, were not
courageous enough to be so radical. So, in the case of the Gospel
of John, the female Beloved Disciple had to become male. I will
elaborate on just how I believe this happened below.
One fact is very clear: For some reason, the writer of the Gospel
of John wanted to keep the identity of the Beloved Disciple a
secret. This disciple was obviously an extremely important figure
in the history of their community. Why, then, is the name of this
disciple concealed? Was the goal to protect this disciple from
persecution? Hardly -- after all, the disciple was clearly deceased
when the final draft of John's Gospel was produced (21:20-24). Is
it possible that the writer of the final draft had forgotten the
name of their beloved founder? Not very likely. This is, indeed, an
interesting mystery.
Go to google search engine and type "the last supper painting" and
you will find out the person sitting beside jesus is a
women(Mary)