Jesus’ Best Friend: the Evidence for the Gospel of John as the Memories of Jesus’ Closest Disciple
Apologetics Monday
What does your best friend know about you that no one else does?
What could your best friend tell the world about you that no one else could?
What could Jesus’ best friend tell the world about Him that no one else could?
Among the Twelve Apostles, John drew closest to Jesus. He learned secrets from Jesus that no one else knew.
John followed Jesus from the beginning, being one of His earliest disciples. He stayed with Jesus to the end, the only disciple present when Jesus hung on the Cross. He saw Jesus frequently after He rose again, during the first 40 days after the Crucifixion, as well as long after, when Jesus commissioned John to write His words down. John wrote a full Gospel, detailing the life and work of his best friend, Jesus, along with three letters and the book of Revelation, telling of his best friend’s return. The Scriptures testify to all of this.
Today, many will challenge these ideas. They will say that John’s Gospel did not come from John, but from an anonymous author, or an anonymous school of students.
And if that’s true — if John had nothing to do with the Gospel that bears his name — then we lose the connection to Jesus’ best friend.
Instead of a personal account from the one who knew Jesus best, we’d be left with an anonymous account from those who didn’t know Him at all.
What, then, do we find in history?
The historians who were closest to the time of John and Jesus, those who had access to the early Christians and their records — what do they say about who wrote the Gospel of John?
They record everything a Bible-believing Christian could ever want.
To begin, let’s examine Tertullian, an early writer who defended the Gospels against their challengers. He wrote:
I lay it down to begin with that the documents of the gospel have the apostles for their authors, and that this task of promulgating the gospel was imposed upon them by the Lord himself. . . . In short, from among the apostles, John and Matthew implant in us the faith, while from among the apostolic men Luke and Mark reaffirm it.
— Tertullian (ca. 160–225; Against Marcion 4.2.1–2)
Tertullian testifies to the Gospels’ origin, being commissioned by the Lord Jesus Himself. John and Matthew, two of the Apostles, wrote directly of their time with Jesus. Mark recorded the words of Peter, while Luke recorded multiple eye-witnesses, many of whom were outsiders.
Irenaeus tells us where this all took place:
“So Matthew brought out a written gospel among the Jews in their own style, when Peter and Paul were preaching the gospel at Rome and founding the church. But after their demise Mark himself, the disciple and recorder of Peter, has also handed on to us in writing what had been proclaimed by Peter. And Luke, the follower of Paul, set forth in a book the gospel that was proclaimed by him. Later John, the disciple of the Lord and the one who leaned against his chest, also put out a Gospel while residing in Ephesus of Asia.”
— Irenaeus (ca. 130–200; Against Heresies 3.1.1–2; cf. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.8.1–4)
Many leaders in the early church (and in the pages of Scripture) bore the name “John.” Given this, there could be a lot of confusion about which John wrote the Gospel. Thankfully, Irenaeus clarifies that it is indeed the disciple John, the one who leaned up against Jesus during the Last Supper.
He even records where John wrote the Gospel: in the city of Ephesus, which held one of the most notable churches in the first century.
Adding to the choir of testimony, we find the Old Latin Prologue to Mark from the second century recording the origins of all four Gospels. After discussing the first three, it speaks of John, saying:
Last of all John, perceiving that the external facts had been made plain in the Gospel, and being urged by his friends and inspired by the Spirit, composed a spiritual Gospel.
Many wonder why John waited so long to put his Gospel down on paper. This excerpt helps explain why: it was John’s friends, not John himself, who desired that he write it down.
This gels with what we know of John from the Gospels. John avoided the center stage — he never wanted the spotlight. When he talks about himself in his Gospel, he doesn’t name himself. John wouldn’t seek fame by writing a Gospel when three others already existed.
But John would care enough for his friends to listen to their pleas. After all, John was an old man by this point, the last living disciple of Jesus. When he passed, the testimony of the Twelve would be gone.
If John could write down what he knew, his testimony could last. Future generations wouldn’t have to rely on second- or third-generation reports, but could still hear the secrets of Jesus from the pen of Jesus’ best friend.
This excerpt also explains why John’s Gospel is so different to the first three. Over 90% of John’s Gospel is unique material, stories not appearing in the other three. Since John knew “the external facts had been made plain,” he didn’t repeat what the first three Gospels said, but filled in the gaps they had left.
This provides an incredible gift to us as readers: by combining John with the first three Gospels, we can form a far more comprehensive picture of Jesus’ life and ministry.
John truly composed a “spiritual Gospel,” as the Old Latin Prologue states. Whereas Mark focuses on action with fewer moments of teaching, John fills his pages with Jesus’ messages, particularly those relating to who God is, how He works in our lives, and the power the Holy Spirit of God makes available to us.
Everything coming together
Every source in ancient history confirms that John wrote his Gospel. By itself, this would be enough.
Yet the sources speak with such specificity that they not only corroborate John’s authorship, but the circumstances of his character and his life.
What we read in history is exactly what we’d expect to find if everything recorded in the Gospels is true.