THE LAST LIVING APOSTLE
After Jesus told Peter the manner in which he would someday die for his witness, he asked about John’s future. Peter asked, “What about him, Lord?” The Lord responded that he shouldn’t worry about the plan God had for John’s future. He should focus on following Jesus, not on what happens to John.
John, who was probably the youngest disciple, perhaps still a teen when he started following Jesus, was in fact the last living apostle. He died around the year 100 AD. He was boiled in oil by the Romans but miraculously survived. He was exiled to the Island of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation. He eventually returned to Ephesus where most accounts state that he died peaceably.
Because of John’s long life and ministry, his witness and influence were carried into the 2nd century through two of his disciples: Polycarp and Ignatius. Both of these men were discipled by John and both later became bishops. Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna and Ignatius was bishop of Antioch. Both of these men fought against early heresies and both died martyr’s deaths.
One of early Christianity’s most influential theologians and apologists, Irenaeus, was discipled by Polycarp, and therefore received many eye-witness stories about the apostle John from his mentor. Irenaeus is best known for his work, “Against Heresies,” a refutation of gnosticism. Irenaeus died in 202 A.D., having defended the Scriptures and the orthodox teaching of the apostles to the next generation.
It is insightful to consider the clear discipleship line from Jesus to Irenaeus across the first two centuries: Jesus to John, John to Polycarp, and Polycarp to Irenaeus. That’s how the gospel has traveled until today, one person telling another, who tells another and so on…
All of the apostles died a martyr’s death, except for John. The disciple whom Jesus loved lived to see the gospel successfully carried into the next century and beyond.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for the witness of John and the faithfulness of those who have carried the gospel forward through the centuries to our day. But most of all, thank You for Jesus. For it is through Him that we have become Your children. Now, strengthen us to carry the gospel to the next generation. In Jesus’ name, amen.