John of Zebedee the Apostle

Drawing of John of Zebedee the Apostle by Lorenzo Ferri based on the indications of Maria Valtorta. Source: documentary collection of the Maria Valtorta Heir Foundation.

Apostle and evangelist, nicknamed, like his brother James, son of thunder (Boanerges) by Jesus.- He identifies himself several times in his Gospel as the "disciple whom Jesus loved" or "the Beloved disciple". Tradition also calls him "the Eagle of Patmos".

The figure

John is celebrated on December 27. He holds a privileged and original place among the witnesses of the Christ. His late death closes the public Revelation understood as the whole of the Gospels and the writings of the New Testament. Indeed, he is the last surviving Apostle who could verify this transMission. Besides the fourth gospel which stands apart from the other three, called synoptics, he is the author of three letters, among which his second is the shortest writing in the entire Bible: 11 verses. Finally, he is the author of the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation), which he closes with this prayer: "Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! (Maranatha!) May the Grace of the Lord Jesus be with all!"

His name

ןיוחנ (John – Yohanân) from the Greek Iôannês derived from the Hebrew yoHanan, "The Eternal has bestowed Grace, has been favorable". It is thus a theophoric name (composed with the Divine Name): Yo, and Hanan which means Grace. Hanan is the origin of the name Anne. Yohanan is the reverse of Hanania (Ananias) which has the same meaning. In theophoric names, the Divine Name at the head was pronounced Yo (Yého) and Ya at the end.

What Maria Valtorta says

A Galilean from Bethsaida, on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, John is the son of Zebedee, a master fisherman, and Mary Salome, mother of the apostles John and James. He comes from a Family with many children: he has several brothers and sisters. Part of his family lives in Jerusalem (EMV 25). Zebedee, John's father, exports dried fish from the lake (EMV 577). As such, his family maintains business relationships with the High Priests Caiphas (Joseph), the High Priest and Annas whom they supply: John is a regular, as the Gospel reports.

His appearance

His youth emphasizes his purity, his gentleness and his frankness. "He is an angel," says the Virgin Mary about him. Physically, he has "the pink, beardless face of a barely formed man," his eyes are dark blue, and his Hair is blond chestnut. He wears it long in the Galilean fashion (EMV 49). Jesus towering "above him by head and neck," he must have measured about 1.55 meters or a little less (EMV 590). Maria Valtorta notes "his sweet and frank child's smile, his clear and laughing eye, his joyful voice."

His character

His vocation is love: "I will tell the Father to make me someone who only knows how to love," he confides to Jesus. "I want nothing else." He offers everything else so that the Soul of Judas may be saved.

John is also impetuous. Wanting to deal with Judas and all of Jesus' opponents, he and his brother earn the nickname "Sons of thunder" (Boanerges).- He shows again his impetuosity when, driven away from a Samaritan village, Alexandroscene, he suggests to Jesus, with his brother, to call down fire from heaven on the rebellious village.-
During the Passion, returning from the tombWater, he meets Elchias the Sanhedrist, who hurls insults against Mary. John leaps at his throat and floors him:

"Ask for pardon or I’ll strangle you, demon!"

His encounter with Jesus

John is the first disciple of Jesus. Tradition attributes to Andrew the Apostle the honor of being the first apostle to have followed him and calls him the Protoclete. But Jesus explains how John's humility led him to step back from this distinguished role. Indeed, in the account of the first meeting in the Gospel of John, the Disciples remain anonymous, but only John relates it.

He is about 20 years old at the time of this encounter with Jesus on the banks of the Jordan. He witnesses his Baptism alongside his brother James the Greater and Andrew the Apostle. John and a group of disciples of the Baptist were returning from Machaerus "the day after" his arrest by Herod Antipas. Upon Jesus' return from the desert, where he spent forty days, it is John who calls to him: "Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" Then after their conversation: "Let us come with you, Master. Show us where you live." And they follow him. 
It is John's humble character that makes Jesus say he is great even in humility. Then he details why John is his favorite. ( and )

The disciple

After his election as apostle, he is one of the very first to preach at Jesus' request. He develops the theme of Love revealed in Jesus.
He is also the first disciple to perform a miracle in Jesus' name: "John, near Jabneel, performed a miracle out of love, by healing a dying man through an anointing and a prayer". Jesus mentions it to his cousin James in.

"The first of my Apostles was John," Jesus said to Maria Valtorta. "The first to recognize me. The first to speak to me, the first to follow me, the first to proclaim me."

With Peter and his brother James, John witnesses the resurrection of Myriam, daughter of Jairus, the The Transfiguration of the Lord, the agony and the capture of Jesus at Gathhsemane. Along with Peter, he enters the courtyard of the High Priest during the trial of Jesus.

Jesus praises his courage at that moment,. He is in fact the only apostle to follow him to the foot of the Cross. He went to warn the Virgin Mary of Jesus' sentencing to Crucifixion. Then he accompanied and supported her altogether along the Via Dolorosa and the ascent to Calvary (Golgotha).
He witnesses with her, the relatives, some Disciples and shepherds, the holy Women, the agony of the Christ, his sacrifice and his death. He also assists in taking his body down from the cross and laying it in the tomb.
With Peter, on Resurrection Sunday, he runs to the empty tomb "and believed" (John 20:8).

"The Beloved"

The Baptist, of whom he was a disciple and bears the same name, says of him:

"I am the first and he is the last. Then he will be the first and I the last."

The other Disciples of the Baptist admit they do not understand his prediction, which Jesus explains in. Later, Bartholomew (Nathaniel) the Apostle (Bartholomew) comments on the gifts of the young apostle:

"You do, by instinct spiritual, what I accomplish painfully by mental reflection. But you will reach the goal faster, for you know better how to love than to think. It is love that transports and transforms you."

In a dictation to Maria Valtorta, Jesus says he made John his confidant for the most serious events of his life (such as the attempt to make Jesus king, see below EMV 464.13):

"By the purity of his life, John possesses Peace in himself. I loved him because of this purity. It is to her that I entrusted my teachings, my secrets. John is the being I loved the most."-

Only one of the twelve Apostles to follow Jesus during the Passion, he is entrusted with the Virgin Mary by the dying Jesus, thus giving her the role of Mother of John and all humanity. John withdraws with her to the house in Gathhsemane given by Lazarus. He witnesses, about twenty years later, the dormition of Mary, followed by her Assumption.

He is the assistant of Peter in the first Christian community, where he is considered, along with James of Alphaeus the Apostle, a pillar of the Church.-

The evangelist

In a testamentary interview, Jesus confers upon him the Mission to continue Him through the Gospel:

"Love for your Jesus will become word. Many, even among those who will not belong to my Church, who will belong to no Church at all, but who will seek a light and a comfort, will come to you and find me."

John is the privileged witness of the great events of Jesus' public life: witness of the Last Supper, the Resurrection-, the Ascension and Pentecost.

He also witnesses certain episodes that only he relates in his Gospel, such as the attempt to make Jesus king.

His death

John "died at a hundred years old after having known the highest mysteries of God" (Notebooks of 1944, June 14, p. 364).

Where is he mentioned in the work?

Preparation for the Public Life: EMV 45
Call of the first Apostles: EMV 47 EMV 47 EMV 48 EMV 49 EMV 49 EMV 50 EMV 51 EMV 52 EMV 53 EMV 54 EMV 55
Beginning of the apostolate in Galilee: EMV 56 EMV 57 EMV 60 EMV 58 EMV 61 EMV 62 EMV 64 EMV 65
Apostolic journey in Judea: EMV 70 EMV 70 EMV 71 EMV 72 EMV 73 EMV 74 EMV 75 EMV 76 EMV 77 EMV 78 EMV 79 EMV 80 EMV 81 EMV 82 EMV 83 EMV 85 EMV 86
Choice of the last Apostles: EMV 87 EMV 88 EMV 89 EMV 90 EMV 91 EMV 92 EMV 93 EMV 94 EMV 95 EMV 96 EMV 97
The last shepherds: EMV 98 EMV 99 EMV 100 EMV 101 EMV 102 EMV 103 EMV 104 EMV 105 EMV 108 EMV 109
In Judea before communal life: EMV 110 EMV 111 EMV 112 EMV 113 EMV 114 EMV 115 EMV 116 EMV 117 EMV 118
Teachings on the Ten Commandments: EMV 119 EMV 120 EMV 121 EMV 122 EMV 123 EMV 124 EMV 125 EMV 126 EMV 127 EMV 128 EMV 129 EMV 130 EMV 131 EMV 132
End of year feasts: EMV 133 EMV 134 EMV 135 EMV 136 EMV 137 EMV 138 EMV 139 EMV 140 EMV 141 EMV 142
The Samaritan woman: EMV 143 EMV 144 EMV 145 EMV 146 EMV 147 EMV 149
Female apostolate: EMV 152 EMV 153 EMV 154 EMV 156 EMV 157 EMV 158
In Galilee, the choice of Apostles: EMV 159 EMV 160 EMV 161 EMV 162 EMV 164 EMV 165 EMV 166
Sermon on the Mount: EMV 169 EMV 170 EMV 171 EMV 172 EMV 173 EMV 174 EMV 176
Apostolate in Galilee: EMV 180 EMV 181 EMV 182 EMV 183 EMV 184 EMV 185 EMV 185 EMV 186
The second Easter journey: EMV 187 EMV 188 EMV 189 EMV 190 EMV 191 EMV 192 EMV 193 EMV 194 EMV 195 EMV 196 EMV 197 EMV 198 EMV 199 EMV 200 EMV 201 EMV 202 EMV 203
Apostolate in Judea: EMV 204 EMV 205 EMV 206 EMV 206 EMV 207 EMV 208 EMV 210 EMV 211 EMV 212 EMV 212 EMV 214 EMV 215
Apostolate in Philistia: EMV 216 EMV 217 EMV 218 EMV 219 EMV 220 EMV 221 EMV 222 EMV 223 EMV 224 EMV 225
Conversion of Mary Magdalene: EMV 228 EMV 230 EMV 231 EMV 232 EMV 233 EMV 235 EMV 236 EMV 237 EMV 239 EMV 240 EMV 241 EMV 242 EMV 243 EMV 244 EMV 247 EMV 248 EMV 249 EMV 250 EMV 251 EMV 252 EMV 253 EMV 254 EMV 255
Sending of Apostles and Disciples on Mission: EMV 256 EMV 257 EMV 258 EMV 259 EMV 260 EMV 261 EMV 262 EMV 265 EMV 268 EMV 269 EMV 270 EMV 271 EMV 272 EMV 273 EMV 274 EMV 274 EMV 275 EMV 276 EMV 277 EMV 278 EMV 280
Perea, Gilead and Trachonitis: EMV 281 EMV 284 EMV 285 EMV 286 EMV 287 EMV 288 EMV 289 EMV 290 EMV 291 EMV 292 EMV 293 EMV 294 EMV 295 EMV 296 EMV 297 EMV 298 EMV 299 EMV 300 EMV 301 EMV 302
End of year feasts in Nazareth: EMV 303 EMV 312
The journey of the Disciples to Antioch: EMV 313 EMV 314 EMV 315 EMV 316 EMV 318 EMV 319 EMV 320 EMV 321 EMV 322 EMV 323 EMV 324 EMV 325 EMV 326
Phoenicia and Upper Galilee: EMV 327 EMV 328 EMV 329 EMV 330 EMV 331 EMV 332 EMV 333 EMV 334 EMV 335 EMV 336 EMV 338 EMV 339 EMV 340 EMV 341 EMV 342 EMV 343 EMV 344 EMV 345 EMV 346 EMV 347
The Transfiguration and the Bread of Heaven: EMV 348 EMV 349 EMV 350 EMV 351 EMV 352 EMV 353 EMV 354 EMV 355 EMV 356 EMV 357 EMV 358 EMV 359 EMV 360 EMV 361 EMV 362 EMV 363
The penultimate Passover: EMV 364 EMV 365 EMV 366 EMV 367 EMV 368 EMV 369 EMV 370 EMV 371 EMV 372 EMV 374 EMV 375 EMV 376 EMV 377 EMV 378
In Judea: EMV 379 EMV 380 EMV 381 EMV 382 EMV 383 EMV 384
AGodx in Judea: EMV 386 EMV 387 EMV 388 EMV 389 EMV 390 EMV 391 EMV 392 EMV 393 EMV 394 EMV 397 EMV 398 EMV 399 EMV 402 EMV 403
Plain of Sharon: EMV 404 EMV 405 EMV 406 EMV 407 EMV 408 EMV 410 EMV 411 EMV 412
Pentecost, Decapolis and Esdraelon Plain: EMV 413 EMV 414 EMV 415 EMV 416 EMV 417 EMV 418 EMV 419 EMV 420 EMV 421 EMV 422 EMV 423 EMV 424 EMV 425 EMV 426 EMV 427 EMV 428 EMV 429 EMV 430 EMV 431 EMV 432
Summer in Nazareth: EMV 435 EMV 436 EMV 440 EMV 441 EMV 443 EMV 444 EMV 445 EMV 446 EMV 447 EMV 448 EMV 449 EMV 450 EMV 451 EMV 452 EMV 453 EMV 454 EMV 455 EMV 456 EMV 457 EMV 458 EMV 459 EMV 460 EMV 461 EMV 462 EMV 463 EMV 464 EMV 464 EMV 465
In Syro-Phoenicia: EMV 466 EMV 467 EMV 469 EMV 470 EMV 471 EMV 475 EMV 473 EMV 474 EMV 475 EMV 476 EMV 477 EMV 478 EMV 479 EMV 480 EMV 481
The Feast of Tabernacles: EMV 488 EMV 489 EMV 494 EMV 494
In Moab and Judea: EMV 496 EMV 497 EMV 498 EMV 499 EMV 500 EMV 503 EMV 504 EMV 508 EMV 511 EMV 514 EMV 515 EMV 517 EMV 520 EMV 524 EMV 525
The Feast of Dedication: EMV 527 EMV 528 EMV 529 EMV 532 EMV 535 EMV 538 EMV 539 EMV 540
The resurrection of Lazarus: EMV 547 EMV 550
The exile in Samaria: EMV 551 EMV 552 EMV 553 EMV 554 EMV 557 EMV 559 EMV 560 EMV 565 EMV 566 EMV 567 EMV 568 EMV 571 EMV 574 EMV 575
The return towards Jerusalem: EMV 576 EMV 577 EMV 582 EMV 584 EMV 586 EMV 601 EMV 106 EMV 587
Holy Week: EMV 589 EMV 590 EMV 593 EMV 594 EMV 595 EMV 596 EMV 597 EMV 598 EMV 599
The Passion: EMV 600 EMV 602 EMV 604 EMV 604 EMV 605 EMV 607 EMV 608 EMV 609 EMV 611
Resurrection Sunday: EMV 616 EMV 616 EMV 619 EMV 625 EMV 626
From Resurrection to Ascension: EMV 628 EMV 629 EMV 630 EMV 631 EMV 632 EMV 633 EMV 635 EMV 636 EMV 638
The apostolic times: EMV 639 EMV 640 EMV 641 EMV 642 EMV 643 EMV 644 EMV 646 EMV 647 EMV 648 EMV 649 EMV 650 EMV 651

What the historical sources say

René Laurentin - François-Michel Debroise - Jean-François Lavère - Salvator 2011.

Paragraph partially written based on the Dictionary of Gospel Characters.

Last surviving Apostle, he is said to have been arrested in Ephesus in 95 and led in chains to Rome, by order of Emperor Domitian. Condemned to be plunged into a cauldron of boiling oil (or water), he miraculously escaped. He was exiled to Patmos.

According to Irenaeus of Lyon, he wrote the Apocalypse there, then returned to Ephesus where he died, very old, under Emperor Trajan (around 101-104). According to Abbé Migne, he was 94 years old. So he would have been born around year 7 and about 20 years old at the beginning of Jesus' public life.

John the Evangelist is the author of the 4th Gospel and one letter. The authorship of the Apocalypse and the other two letters was contested by some exegetes in favor of John the Presbyter. Benedict XVI in his book Jesus of Nazareth mentions this debate without categorically rejecting it. However, the majority of exegetes attribute all the works to him, but a whole group considers him as the inspirer or primary author of the Apocalypse.

The circumstances of his death are also debated: Saint Hippolytus, a 3rd century theologian, believed that he was taken up like Enoch and Elijah. He based this on the verse: "So the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple (John) would not die".

Irenaeus of Lyon (2nd century) believed he died a natural death. The Greek Menologion places his death at the calends of October. Others, like Saint Gregory of Nyssa (4th century) and Saint John Chrysostom (same), consider him a martyr. They rely in particular on the promise made to the two sons of Zebedee that they would drink from the cup that Jesus himself would drink. In the work of Maria Valtorta, Jesus insists on the translation of this phrase. Almost all French Bibles (Osty, TOB, Segond, Martin...) say "drink the cup." But many authors comment on the text writing "to the cup." Maria Valtorta opts for this latter hypothesis: Jesus predicts that all the Apostles will suffer martyrdom, except one: it is Judas who will hang himself. John could therefore have suffered martyrdom without directly dying from it.

Eusebius of Caesarea notes that there were two tombs honored at Ephesus: that of John the Apostle and that of John the Presbyter. The Basilica of Saint John in Ephesus still houses the tomb of "John the Theologian (the Evangelist)".

Remarkable points

Coherence of John 20:8 | EMV 619.8 | Mark 16:14

The Gospel's assertion (John 20:8) according to which John, entering the empty tombWater "saw and believed", seems to contradict the reproaches Jesus addresses to the Apostles (including John), secluded in the Upper Room: he rebukes them "for their lack of faith and the hardness of their hearts because they did not believe those who had seen him [[Resurrection, The Resurrected|resurrected]" (Mark 16:14). They do not even believe the Disciples of Emmaus (same, v. 13). Similarly, in EMV 619.8, John emerges devastated from the tombWater: "(Peter): Ah! Where have they put it? – (John): Peter, Peter! Now it's really over!" The two disciples leave, devastated." These three sources seem contradictory.

John immediately believed the promises he had heard from Jesus at the last Supper: He will come back to take them to Paradise (John 14:3). Indeed, it is a place where they cannot go (John 13:33). He believes him resurrected in Heaven, but is devastated to be separated from him. Under the shock, John does not understand that he will see Jesus alive again (John 14:19), not later in the Paradise as he believes, but on earth, immediately, as the holy Women and the Disciples of Emmaus affirm. It is only by seeing him alive himself (Jesus has a body and eats) that he will understand everything. On the other hand, if he does not share his conviction of the only Resurrection at the Tomb, it is because he does not want to upset his "superior" Peter, who is shaken and does not believe it. This is explained by Jesus in.

Points in debate

"John absent from John, the impossible hypothesis"

In an appendix to his book Jesus the investigation (Plon, 2022), Jean Staune explains "Why Maria Valtorta is not a reliable witness concerning the life and words of Jesus". To support this, he mobilizes four points potentially indicators of "hundreds, even thousands of factual and scientific pieces of information" from the work. In his "Revelations" on the most well-known figure of humanity, the author takes up a thesis about the existence of a thirteenth apostle. This is absolutely not endorsed by Maria Valtorta's work, which conforms to the eternal gospel.

This thesis by Jean Staune was addressed in a "response" by Olivier Bonnassies, in which he cites several times the work of Maria Valtorta. This former student of the École Polytechnique holds degrees from HEC and the Catholic Institute of Paris. Entrepreneur, he created several companies. He is an author of videos, shows, scripts, articles, newsletters and websites often related to the rationality of faith, and has written about twenty books, among which "God, Science, Proofs" (ed. Tredaniel).

He writes about Jean Staune's thesis, then demonstrates that: "The thesis developed by the book "Jesus the investigation" by Jean Staune, which starts from the idea that the author of the Gospel of John and the Apocalypse would not be the apostle John, son of Zebedee, one of the Twelve, as the Tradition of the Church claims, is absurd, conspiratorial, blasphemous and heretical, and it prevents one from seeing the true spiritual reason for the enigmatic expression 'disciple loved by Jesus' undeniably intended by John."

To go further

• Read the work online in the 1985 translation.
• Read the work online in the 2016 translation
• Concordance table between the two translations.
• Search in the Valtorta Index.
• Discuss on the Maria Valtorta Forum.

Second part of the Bible, from the coming of Jesus Christ until the Apocalypse.

In the Catholic context, usually refers to the first three Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) because of their common framework. Broader definition: those offering a general overview of a whole. (Example: a synoptic table).

The Gospel as it was revealed to me (Maria Valtorta).

People who analyze the historical, cultural, and literary context of Biblical texts to better understand what they meant at the time they were written and how they can be interpreted today.