二 约翰 (John)

约翰在十字架下受耶稣特别付托,照顾母亲马利亚,可见他确是主耶稣所爱的使徒。自从五旬节圣灵降临之后,约翰、彼得和主的肉身兄弟雅各三人成为耶路撒冷教会的柱石(加二:9)。约翰所写的五卷书信,皆被列入新约正典里。启示录就是他被充军到拔摩海岛之后,把所看到的异象记录而成,后来成了在大逼迫中受苦的基督徒的安慰。教父耶柔米说,约翰从拔摩海岛释放出来后,在以弗所传道至离世。在他年老不能走动时,便由人抬到聚会之处去讲道,每次均提及:“小子们哪!你们要彼此相爱!”最后一次的讲道,也是这两句话,讲完之后,就在讲台上安然离世。

罗马发生对基督徒的大逼迫时,约翰差点殉道,他被扔进一个滚开的油锅,但是约翰经历了神迹,居然活了下来。后来约翰被流放到拔摩岛上做苦工,他在岛上写了启示录。最后约翰获得了释放,到了现今的土耳其成主教。他是唯一活到了老年平安死去的使徒。

John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos.  He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos. The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.