Who was John the evangelist?

We know that he was the youngest of the apostle and that he will be the longest-lived of the Twelve. He was coming from Galilee, in an area on Lake Tiberias, and in fact was coming from a family of fishermen. His father was Zebedee and his mother Salome; his brother James, known as the Major, will also be an apostle. He is always named by Jesus and is in the very small circle who accompany him on the most important occasions, such as when the daughter of Jairus is resurrected, in the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, and during the agony in Gethsemane. Also during the Last Supper, he sited in a place of honor, to his right, and leaned his head against Jesus’ chest with a gesture of affection. He was the only one who stood at the foot of the Cross together with the Virgin Mary; he was still the first to arrive at the empty tomb after the announcement of Mary Magdalene, but he will let Peter enter in because he had respect for old age. According to the tradition, he will move with Mary to Ephesus, from where he will take care of the evangelization of Asia Minor. It also seems that he will have to suffer the persecution of Domitian and be exiled to the island of Patmos. He will return to Ephesus to end his more than one-hundred-year-old days here, around 104.

John is a real witness to the life of Jesus. As we have heard in the first reading he is telling his experience, the experience of the Church that announces the good news starting from his own experience (we have heard, we have seen, we have watched, we have touched). “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses”. (Paul VI – Evangeli nuntiandi 41).
It is not so important to be great teachers who excellently talk about God. It is better, it is much better to be people who have experienced God and who transmit this experience to others with words and with life. This is what the evangelist John teaches us.
You know that the evangelist John is represented in the iconography as an eagle. The eagle is a bird that flies and nests very high. He has extraordinary eyesight and from the heights, he can see things that not everyone can see. And the evangelist John flies very high.
His Gospel is profound, sometimes difficult. It is a contemplation of the mystery of Christ more than a historical account.
What are John’s secrets, given that his Gospel is so beautiful, so profound?
1. His familiarity with Jesus. In the Last Supper, he lent his head to Jesus’ chest to listen to His heart.
2. His familiarity with the Virgin Mary. Jesus expressly entrusts the Virgin Mary to John at death’s door with that “Woman, behold your son” and “Behold your mother”. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home as “the dearest thing” and the point of union between the two is precisely the purity, the virginal life that both lead.
3. His humility, his bending down in front of the mystery. “On Easter morning, alerted by the women, Peter and John ran to the tomb. They found it open and empty. Then they drew near and “bent down” to enter it. To enter into the mystery, we need to “bend down”, to abase ourselves. Only those who abase themselves understand the glorification of Jesus and can follow him on his way”. (Pope Francis URBI ET ORBI MESSAGE Easter 2015).
The story of Saint John teaches us that we too can be theologians (speakers of God) and evangelists (heralds of the good news). We will be theologians and evangelists if we can remain listening if we can keep alive the memory of that love that the Lord had for us, as John did, And then we will be a true witness.