On December 27, we celebrate the Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist – the “disciple Jesus loved†(John 13:23). As the author of a Gospel account, three epistles, and the book of Revelation, John was not only a close friend of Jesus during his time, but a spiritual teacher for the ages.
Jesus Sends His Holy SpiritAfter Christ ascended into Heaven, the disciples returned to the upper room and spent ten days in prayer. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim".
John 20 is the twentieth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament. It relates the story of Jesus' resurrection. It relates how Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus and found it empty. Jesus appears to her and speaks of his resurrection and dispatches Mary to tell the news to the disciples.
Matthew has two post-resurrection appearances, the first to Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" at the tomb, and the second, based on Mark 16:7, to all the disciples on a mountain in Galilee, where Jesus claims authority over heaven and Earth and commissions the disciples to preach the gospel to the whole world.
Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.
Those same three saw Jesus' agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:33-42). Most of us remember Peter for denying Christ three times during the night of Jesus' trial. Following his resurrection, Jesus took special care to rehabilitate Peter and assure him he was forgiven.
After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my lambs.” Peter had denied Jesus and didn't get a chance to make amends before Jesus was killed.
This is the question Jesus is really asking Peter. Peter had expressed a willingness to follow and even die for Jesus (John 13:36-37). It was in response to this statement that Jesus said Peter would soon deny Him three times (John 13:38). But then Peter denied Christ exactly as Jesus had foretold (John 18:15-27).
Roman Catholic tradition holds that Jesus established St. Peter as the first pope (Matthew 16:18). After Jesus' death, he served as the head of the Apostles and was the first to perform a miracle after Pentecost (Acts 3:1–11).
Peter does this, after he denies Jesus 3 times he repents. Jesus's death covers Peter's denials in the same way it covers the sins of the thief on the cross next to him who he promises will see Jesus in paradise. You don't know the Scriptures. We do not go directly to Heaven upon our death.
Seven Signs
- Changing water into wine at Cana in John 2:1-11 - "the first of the signs"
- Healing the royal official's son in Capernaum in John 4:46-54.
- Healing the paralytic at Bethesda in John 5:1-15.
- Feeding the 5000 in John 6:5-14.
- Jesus walking on water in John 6:16-24.
- Healing the man blind from birth in John 9:1-7.
Already by the year 200, John's gospel was called the spiritual gospel precisely because it told the story of Jesus in symbolic ways that differ sharply at times from the other three. For example, Jesus dies on a different day in John's gospel than in Matthew, Mark and Luke.
When Jesus “began to be about thirty years of age,” he went to be baptized of John at the river Jordan.
John says that Jesus is the incarnated Word of God, bringing “grace and truth,†replacing the law given by Moses, and making God known in the world (1:17). The narrative opens with John the Baptist identifying himself as the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy; he will prepare the way for the Lord.
It has often been called the "spiritual gospel" because of the way that it portrays Jesus. Another interesting feature of John's gospel is that Jesus speaks in long monologues, rather than pithy statements or parables. He openly proclaims his divinity and insists that the only way to the Father is through him.
Writing for a Jewish Christian audience, Matthew's main concern is to present Jesus as a teacher even greater than Moses. The evangelist who composed the gospel of Matthew was probably a Jewish Christian, possibly a scribe.
Mark the Evangelist (Acts 12:12; 15:37), an associate of St.Paul and a disciple of St.Peter, whose teachings the Gospel may reflect. It is the shortest and the earliest of the four Gospels, presumably written during the decade preceding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 ce.
Acts tells us how the Christian movement came into beginning. Acts has been called a transitional book because it serves as a bridge between the gospels and the epistles. Acts shows us how the church is to respond when living in a predominately pagan culture.
Revelation is an apocalyptic prophecy with an epistolary introduction addressed to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia. "Apocalypse" means the revealing of divine mysteries; John is to write down what is revealed (what he sees in his vision) and send it to the seven churches.
In Christianity, the gospel, or the Good News, is the news of the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15). It perceives this as saving acts of God due to the work of Jesus on the cross and Jesus' resurrection from the dead which bring reconciliation between people and God.
