CHAPTER IV THE BELOVED DISCIPLE

There is a glaring problem with the fourth Gospel, the authorship of which had always been attributed to John son of Zebedee. This problem has been largely overlooked and or ignored by the Orthodox Christian Church since it’s very founding. The problem I am referring to is of the many references to the disciple that Jesus loved in many important situations and never identifying who that person actually is. Of course, no author would have ever done this. For that matter, this Gospel also indicates it’s author as being this same unnamed disciple that Jesus loved. After Irenaeus said he believed John to be the author from information he (Irenaeus) received as a child. Orthodoxy has attempted to portray John as being effeminate, to account, evidently, for him being more beloved than the others. This of course creates some major problems of its own. Why would Jesus consider one of the members of his close group of male disciples as the one he loved more than any of the others? Also Jesus had a nickname for John and his brother James, he called them “sons of thunder”, hardly a description of someone who was effeminate.

It is evident that some first or second century transcriber working on this text decided, for some reason, to edit this person’s name out of these scriptures. This transcriber evidently felt that it would be more advantageous for the Christian movement if this disciple and author remained anonymous. I, of course, as stated earlier, intend to prove that this anonymous disciple is Mary Magdalene.

The Greek word for this love that had been used by the author is agape. In the Greek language there were three different words to describe the emotion of love, philia, agape, and eros. Of these words, two of them, philia and eros, are somewhat definite in their meanings. Philia is describing a friendship while the word eros, at the other end of the scale, means a sexual affair and/or intercourse. Whereas agape describes love in a much broader sense and is used from brotherly love to love of family and also love of a spouse. Detractors have said that eros would be the word to describe a love within a marriage such as between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, but that is not true. For one thing, the word eros is never used in the Christian Greek Scriptures. The meaning it implies would be better fitted to an adult magazine than to show the love that a responsible husband has for his wife. Although it is certain that an eros type of love was involved with this marriage, the author wisely chose not to discuss it in the scriptures. There are five passages in the Gospel of John that us this phrase, The Disciple That Jesus loved.

There are two others that refer to an unnamed disciple that could also be the beloved disciple. These last two do not contain much information that I would consider important to my stated premises. Although there is one point I would like to make with one of them a little later. I will first discuss the five scriptures that, as I have said, actually mention the disciple that Jesus loved.

In the first of these at John 13:23-26, the scene is the last supper, an event frozen in time by the painter Leonardo da Vinci, a painting which I will discuss with more detail in Chapter VI “After”. In the scripture Jesus had just announced one of those present would betray him, reading from there “now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask, who it should be of whom he spake. He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord who is it”. Notice that this lying on Jesus’ breast was not merely a hug. Jesus, of course, goes on to show the betrayer as Judas. We already know Mary Magdalane was one of the disciples and that the name of this disciple lying on Jesus’ breast is not given. Would it make any sense to consider this an effeminate John of Zebedee with absolutely no evidence pointing to this, or could it be Mary Magdalene, with her name being purposely omitted because she was a woman?

In the second of these scriptures, John 19:25-27, which is one of the two that actually mention the name of Mary Magdalene along with the disciple that Jesus loved, although, as you will see, very awkwardly. Reading directly from the scripture “now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopus, and Mary Magdalane. When Jesus therefore saw his Mother and the disciple standing by, whom he loved”. If we stop at this point, it would seem that the disciple Jesus loved is one of these three women. As a matter of fact, all the male disciples were said to have fled Matt 26:56 Mark 14:50. Continuing to read, “he saith unto his mother woman behold thy son”. As there is no evidence of any of his male followers being there at that time, I posit that a future transcriber changed the gender of the disciple that Jesus loved from female to male. Again, to hide the fact that this disciple was Mary Magdalene, a woman.

The third of these passages John 20:1-11, is also the second of the two that mention Mary Magdalene and the disciple that Jesus loved together. In this instance, the first day of the week (Sunday) after the crucifixion, Mary Magdalene went to the sepulcher where Jesus had been laid. She was so early, the scripture says, it was still dark. She then saw the stone had been taken away and ran to Simon Peter and the disciple that Jesus loved, she told them “they have taken away the Lord and I do not know where he is”. Peter and the disciple that Jesus loved then ran together to the sepulcher (notice Mary is now absent). The other disciple outran Peter and arrived at the sepulcher first and looked in. He saw the linen clothes Jesus had been wrapped in but he did not go in. When Peter arrived he went on in, as then does the disciple that Jesus loved (still no Mary). The disciples then went back to their own homes. Now Mary finally appears again.

It should be noted here that in this same event as recorded in both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark, none of the male disciples went to the tomb, while in the Gospel of Luke, Peter went by himself but only after the women had told him that Jesus was risen, naming the first of these women as Mary Magdalene. So, if in all three of the other Gospels, Peter is the only male disciple shown to have visited the sepulcher, who in this case was this disciple that Jesus loved with Peter as reported in the Gospel of John? Again, I believe that Mary Magdalene’s name was edited out of being the disciple that Jesus loved in this particular scripture by making her and the disciple that Jesus loved two completely separate persons.

If we continue with this same set of scriptures in the Gospel of John, after the disciples return to their own homes and we see Mary Magdalene again, she is standing outside the sepulcher crying. Reading on at 20:11 “but Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher. And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them. Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him”. Compare this to Micah 4:9 right after the Kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem, the tower of the flock “now why dost thy cry out aloud? Is there no King in thee? Is thy counselor perished? For pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail”. The daughter of Jerusalem the Magdal-eder, tower of the flock has lost her King and she is pregnant. Continuing back with the Gospel of John “and when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, woman why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away”. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her. “Touch me not: for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren: and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father”. At this moment Mary the Magdalene becomes the Apostle to the Apostles. In the fourth passage, mentioning the disciple that Jesus loved at John 21:7, several of the disciples are fishing and the beloved disciple is the first to notice the man speaking to them is the risen Christ. Nothing extremely enlightening here except the identity of the beloved disciple still remains anonymous.

The last of the five passages in the Gospel of John 21:20-24 is one of the more interesting ones. Jesus had just indicated to Peter how he (Peter) would die. “Then Peter turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following: which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple should not die: Yet Jesus said not unto him, he should not die: But if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things and we know that his testimony is true”. This last sentence shows us that the disciple they are discussing, the disciple that Jesus loved, is also the author of this text. Notice also the contention of Peter towards this disciple.

One thing that this discourse points out is that the disciple that Jesus loved remains the same person in each account and that gender has been changed in several places. The anonymity of this person is, for lack of a better word, becoming deafening. The other two passages which both refer to an unnamed disciple but not necessarily describing them as the disciple that Jesus loved are John 1:35-40 and 18:15-16, and they probably refer to Mary Magdalene as well. It is with the second of these that I would like to make the point that I mentioned earlier. This occurs just after the arrest of Jesus, this other disciple whom Peter was with was allowed to enter the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus while Peter was not. Only after the other disciple had interceded with the gatekeeper on Peter’s behalf, was he allowed to enter. This would not have helped with Peter’s growing jealousy if this is indeed Mary Magdalene. This also would indicate some kind of connection between her and the Priesthood as many contend.

With this chapter I have hoped to show Mary Magdalene was this disciple that Jesus loved and also the author of the fourth Gospel. The question must be asked, why would anyone go to all of this trouble to edit her name out of this Gospel? The answer is, as I have said, simply because she was a woman, and I have shown earlier, women were not allowed to have these kinds of roles, especially the role Jesus had intended, which was for her to be the First Lady Of Christianity.