This is a timeline of Jesus's best friend and you will be
shocked when you see why millions of people claim that he
is still alive on earth today. You already know that John was
the disciple who Jesus loved, but there's something you've
probably never seen before. It's 30 AD and Jesus is on the
cross. But now watch this.
In one eyewitness account, Mark mentions a woman named Salome
standing near the cross watching Jesus faithfully, whilst another
account written by Matthew once again places her there at
Calvary. Did you catch that?
Because in a different account written by John, we're told that
Jesus mother was standing by the cross alongside a woman simply
described as her sister, but her name is never given.
So why does some accounts name Salome while another mentions
Mary's sister without naming her?
Could it be that these are two descriptions of the same woman
seen from different angles? Think about it, if Salome really
was Mary's sister, that would mean her son's James and John
weren't just disciples following Jesus, but possibly his cousins
too. Which might kind of explain why
John seems especially close to Jesus.
And that also could be why he trusted John with his mother in
his final moments because Mary was already his auntie.
OK, so take all of that into your mind and now consider this.
If John was born around six AD, that would make him a teenager
or in his early 20s back in 26 AD.
This is when Jesus calls him to leave his fish and follow him.
Now here's the thing. Many people believe he grew up
in Bethsaeder, a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee.
But what people often miss is John didn't grow up poor.
His father Zebedee ran a fishing business solid enough, as the
Bible puts it, to employ hired workers.
So jump forward a few years and we are in 27 AD.
Around this time period, a lot of John's ministry takes place
in areas near the Sea of Galilee, towns like Capernaum
and Bethsaeder. Interestingly, archaeologists
have uncovered 1st century fishing tools for salt houses
and synagogue remains that fit the descriptions of the culture
described in the Gospel accounts.
Meanwhile, in 28 AD, John is witnessing Jesus heal folk, cast
out demons, preached to growing crowds, and he is formally
appointed by his master as one of the 12 disciples.
I can assure you of one thing, it wasn't a bed of roses for
John. He at times struggled to grasp
Jesus mission, for instance he once snitched on and tried to
stop an outsider casting out demons in Jesus name.
He joined his brother James in wanting a scary judgment to fall
on a Samaritan village and he also joined the arrogant
disciples who requested for the highest places in the Kingdom.
I do wonder if these mistakes are the reason why Jesus gives
John and his brother James the nickname Bo energies, meaning
sons of Thunder, because they both had an impulsive character
and a swiftness to judge others. However, John wouldn't always be
hot headed and later we'll see him do some incredible things
for the Lord. But right now John has a lot to
learn. We pick up the story back in 29
AD John is repeatedly included in Jesus smaller inner circle.
He is present when Jairus's daughter is brought back to life
in Galilee and later witnesses the Transfiguration.
Which by the way, is believed by many Christian writers to be on
Mount Table, although some modern scholars suggest Mount
Hermon due to its height and proximity to Caesarea Philippi.
Do I have permission to go on a little diversion?
The appearances of Moses and Elijah alongside Jesus is very
significant within Jewish theology.
Why? Because it connected Jesus
directly to the Law and to the prophets.
Does that make sense? In other words, He was the
missing piece of the puzzle. He was the Messiah that the
prophets predicted would come, and he was the same Savior who
would save them from the law. Because we as sinners, we can
never keep that law. But He could keep all of it and
its requirements. And though he was the only one
who could rescue all of those who were trusting him from sin
and the consequences that come from breaking the law.
All right, we are. In AD 30, John has just been
sent with Peter into Jerusalem to prepare the Passover meal.
This would later be known in Christian tradition as the
city's western hill, and it's now called Mount Zion.
You might remember that during the meal, John reclines close
enough to quietly ask Jesus about the portrayal.
This might seem a little strange to you and I, but it was
actually really quite common. 1st century dining custom to do
this kind of thing. Later that night, John follows
Jesus across the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives and into
the olive Grove known as Gethsemane.
I can promise you this, no one was more faithful to Jesus on
the road to the cross than John, and you're about to see why.
In the early hours after Jesus was arrested, John and Peter
follow him to the high priest courtyard and John gains access
through a prior connection. Then it happens later on that
same day as Jesus crucified outside the city walls at a site
early on known as Golgotha. John remains nearby whilst most
of the other disciples flee. And as we've already discussed,
Jesus entrusts his mother Mary into John's care in that very
moment. It's worth noting that Jesus
talking to John on the cross was consistent with Roman practices
that allowed observers to be within sight and hearing
distance of the one who was put on the cross.
Can I ask you what goes through your mind when you hear that
here we have the Son of God crucified, and he's thinking
about his best friend. He's thinking about his precious
mother. But listen to me, He's also
thinking about you and I too. The Bible says He is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the
sins of the whole world. You see, when Jesus paid the
ultimate price 2000 years ago, He was paying the price for your
sins and for mine. He was fully God, so He knew
everything, even the wrongdoing you would commit in the 21st
century. And yet He was fully man.
And that is why He alone was the one who was able to save men and
women who put their faith in Him, because He became one of
us. OK, A few days later, still AD
30, John runs to a rock cut out tomb just outside Jerusalem, a
burial style that was well documented in 1st century
archaeology. He sees the grave clothes lying
separately and believes before seeing Jesus alive.
So just a minute, Joe, if the cross involves us, well, what
about the resurrection? Well, I'm so glad you asked
because here's the truth. Jesus was also resurrected for
you and I so that we can be raised back to life when we die
and we can spend eternity with this same Jesus in heaven if we
repent and believe on his name. Now here's where our story
starts to slip into mystery. In the weeks that follow, John
returns N to Galilee and by the Sea of Tiberius, also known as
the Sea of Galilee, he is the first to recognize the risen
Jesus standing on the shore. He then alerts Peter, who dives
into the water to greet the risen Lord.
But during this period, Jesus makes a statement about John
that no one can explain, a statement that led to rumours
that John was going to be immortal.
But more on that later. It's AD 31 and everything
changes. John is frequently at the temple
complex, one of the largest religious structures in the
ancient world. Whilst entering the temple with
Peter, John witnesses the healing of a man who has been
unable to walk since birth. This was a public miracle that
draws massive attention in a busy pilgrimage area.
This then leads to the arrest of Peter and John by the temple
authorities, particularly by the Sadducees.
You remember that ruling group of people who were known for
rejecting the belief in the resurrection Well after Peter
and John were questioned, they were later released.
Let's glide ahead. A few years to 42 AD, John
begins writing what will become known as the Gospel of John.
While scholars debate the exact year it's first put into words,
evidence from early manuscript fragments show us that copies of
the Gospel were circulating widely from the early 2nd
century. For example, a tiny piece of the
Gospel of John called the Rylands Papyrus P52 was found in
Egypt and is one of the oldest surviving New Testament pieces
we possess. This teaches us that John's
story of Jesus had already spread far from the place of its
origin by 125 AD, and even some historians claimed that this
particular manuscript was written as early as 90 AD.
This fragment is so small that it fits in your hand, but it
contains part of the conversation between Jesus and
Pilate and proves that the Gospel was written early enough
to travel across the entire Roman world.
It now lives in the John Rylands Research Institute and Library
in Manchester, England, alongside other ancient texts
from early Christianity. I was so taken aback when I saw
this. On the Joe Rogan Experience,
Canadian apologist Wes Huff presented Joe Rogan with a
framed self-made replica of the John Ryland's Papyrus 52
manuscript. The very one we're talking
about, and the very one that I've seen with my own two eyes
in Manchester. Let's sweep across to the spring
of 44AD. Trouble hits the early church
when Herod Agrippa begins hating on the believers.
James, John's older brother and another of the original
apostles, pays the ultimate price by sword, making him the
first apostle to be removed from the earth.
Peter is arrested too, but ancient historians like Eusebius
record that he is miraculously freed from prison.
It's 64AD, and John is living in Ephesus, a major city in Asia
Minor. Here he writes his three
letters, 1 John, 2 John and three John.
These short letters are meant to support early believers.
They warn against false teachers and encourage them to live lives
marked by love and truth. But listen, that's only half the
story. It's now 67 AD, and Roman
legions under Titus close in on Jerusalem.
The early church is facing a crisis and and again ancient
Christian historians like Euseobus record that John and
other believers leave the city ahead of its destruction,
heading east to the city of Pella in what is now known as
modern day Jordan. Pella is confirmed on historical
maps as a refuge for Jews who are fleeing conflict, and its
position east of the Jordan River made it a logical place to
regroup and plan the next stage of ministry.
Here we see John beginning to think ahead and he starts to
focus on communities in in Asia Minor as the church starts to
grow and spreads outwards. Decades later in around 95 to 96
AD, John's witness attracts the attention of Roman officials
during what we might call the Christian hatred period under
Roman Emperor Domitian. Early Christian writers such as
Tertilian tell a famous story that John was condemned in Rome
and thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil.
As you can imagine, this should have ended his life, but he
apparently emerged unharmed, astonishing those who saw it and
reportedly leading even some of those in the crowd to convert to
Christianity. After this, tradition says he
was exiled to a rocky island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, a
place Romans often used as a prison for political or
religious troublemakers. Archaeologists and historians
today confirm that Patmos has ancient quarries and a historic
cave above the port of the town called Scala.
In Scala, there is a cave known as The Cave of the Apocalypse,
which has been venerated for centuries as the spot where John
received the visions recorded in the Book of Revelation.
The text itself says on the island of Patmos because of the
Word of God and the testimony of Jesus, showing that his exile
was directly connected to his commitment to speak out boldly
for Jesus Christ. After Damitian's death in 96 AD,
the Roman Senate reportedly cancelled many of the harsher
decrees, and John is freed from exile and returns to Ephesus, an
ancient port city in what is now known as western Turkey.
This is where he spends his final years.
Early church tradition, recorded by writers like Irenaeus and
preserved by historians, places John in Ephesus as a leader who
continued to teach the church, edit the gospel, and help shape
the early Christian Canon, which was the collection of texts that
would later be known as the New Testament.
His connection to Ephesus was so strong that a 4th century
basilica was built there over a tomb that was traditionally
identified as his burial place on the a asolic hill.
This shows us the early Christians revered this site and
remembered him as the last of the original apostles.
You probably knew that John's death is often cited AS100AD,
but brace yourselves because we're about to take a very
unexpected turn. The unavoidable conclusion is
there are quite literally millions of people who claim
that the Apostle John is still alive somewhere on this earth
that we are on right now. So let's answer the question Did
John actually die? This is a question that has
puzzled readers for centuries, and it starts with one quietly
mystifying line. Near the end of John's gospel,
after the resurrection, Jesus appears to the disciples on the
shore of Galilee. Peter, never able to leave
things alone, looks at John and asks Jesus what about him?
And Jesus replies, if I want him to remain alive until I come
again, what is that to you? That sentence alone started a
huge rumor. Why?
Because early believers took it very literally.
Whispers spread that John might never die, that he could remain
on earth until Jesus returned. John himself, though, steps in
in the very next verse and clarifies that Jesus never
actually said that. But that didn't stop the idea
from growing legs of its own. OK, but if you thought that
raised a few eyebrows, wait until you hear this.
Some of you already know that every apostle pays the ultimate
price for believing and preaching Christ to a world that
hated Christianity. Our church tradition remembers
these men, and rightly so. But when it comes to John,
history goes strangely quiet. I almost hesitate to say this,
but just to clear up a common mix up, it was John the Baptist
who was taken out by Herod Antipus, not John the Apostle,
the author of the Gospel of John and also the author of
Revelation. Now I'm not going to lie, if the
story about John surviving the cauldron of boiling oil, if that
is really true, it certainly does add an ounce of credibility
to this theory. But I am interested to know what
do you think because I'm about to share some Bible verses with
you and I want to know, do these convince you that he's still
alive before I share my final conclusion?
Jesus once said in Luke 9 verse 27, some standing here will not
not taste death before they see the Kingdom of God.
Well, here we've got John stood there listening to these very
words. Again, it's important to
remember most Christians believe that Jesus is referring to the
transfiguration, the resurrection or Pentecost.
But a minority have wondered, could John fit that description?
After all, he outlived all the other apostles.
He survived that ordeal by the Romans.
And these same people who pushed this theory claim that John's
death account is missing. There are no documents, there's
nothing to verify that he actually died.
So it's no surprise that this speculation feeds into another
mystery. The two witnesses of Revelation
11. Traditionally, they've been
identified as Enoch and Elijah, the only biblical figures who
never experienced a normal death.
But a small group has suggested that John himself could be one
of them. I mean, he is the one who wrote
about them in the Book of Revelation.
The logic goes like this. Scripture says it is appointed
for man wants to die and after that the judge.
So if John never really did die, then theoretically he could
return to fulfill that role. Oh, and then there's Revelation
one verse 9 where John writes, I John, am your brother and
companion in the tribulation. Now most of us as Christians
would read that as spiritually as if John is saying, you know,
I'm sharing in your daily trials in some way.
But others read it more literally.
They ask if John were already in heaven or if he was dead, how
could he be with believers during the seven-year
tribulation itself? But I can hear exactly what some
of you are thinking. Joe, you said millions of people
believe this. Who are these people?
Well, firstly, there were medieval theologians like Thomas
Aquinas, Cornelius Lapidae, and Francis de Sales who entertained
the idea that John might be reserved for a final
confrontation with evil. Much like Enoch or Elijah.
They imagine that John might be hidden away, preserved somewhere
until the end of the age and then centuries later on,
biblical movements like the Church of Latter Day Saints
interpreted John 21 as meaning that John was granted power over
death, that he really is still alive today, he's travelling the
world and he's quietly bringing souls to Christ.
Guys, this whole situation gets even more insane in modern times
because there are rumours, there are alleged sightings, and there
is even a social media figure called John Davis who has
convinced his followers that he is the real apostle John.
Whilst other spiritual writers and travellers claim that they
have had encounters with ancient men in remote places.
Alright everyone, now take a deep breath and let us all
remember one key fact. None of this, none of this is
verifiable. The fact is this.
The Bible never promises immortality to John.
In fact, the very passage that caused the rumour is corrected
by John, as I've already said in the very next verse.
Secondly, no ancient eyewitnesses claim that John
lived beyond the 1st century. Quite the opposite.
Early church historians all remained consistent.
Writers like Irenaeus, Yuseobus and Polycrates of Ephesus say
John lived into old age and died peacefully in Ephesus during the
reign of Emperor Trajan around 98 to 117 AD.
They use the phrase he sleeps, a common ancient and biblical way
of saying he died. We've also seen that archaeology
likely backs up John's death with our 4th century basilica in
Ephesus, which was long believed by early Christians to be the
site of John's tomb. And can I say this?
Even John surviving the cauldron incident doesn't mean eternal
life. Tertilian's boiling oil account,
If it is true, prove it was divine protection but not
immortality. So come on now, did John live
forever? Is John still alive?
Well, yes and no Personally, I'm very doubtful that he's still
mooching around somewhere on earth.
But I do believe he's alive in a deeper sense.
Because he trusted in the one who was not only his best
friend, but his Savior and Lord. Because he trusted in that man.
That means that ultimately he and anyone else who makes that
same choice, anyone who puts their trust in Jesus Christ,
puts their faith in him, in Yeshua, they also, like John,
will live forever and have a real hope beyond the grave.
But what about this life, Joe? I know you're talking about
heaven now, but but what about this life right now?
Well, I personally believe that Jesus will also restore this
earth in a new way. And fascinatingly, one place I
believe he's going to restore in the future is Iran, a country
that we've been hearing an awful lot about in the news right now.
If you want to hear the Bible's script and prediction for what's
going to happen in Iran, you better click here right away.