Also called John the Apostle or John the evangelist. Christian tradition maintains that he lived to an old age in Ephesus where he died of natural causes. He was traditionally thought to be the beloved disciple and so author of John's Gospel a...

A character in the early Church mentioned by some of the earliest Christian writers whom some think was the author of John's Gospel (also known as the fourth Gospel) or some combination of 1, 2 and 3 John. Little is known about him.

One of the 12 disciples of Jesus, the brother of John and son of Zebedee. Acts 12.1-2 states that he was martyred by Herod Agrippa I and is considered to be the first of the 12 to have been martyred.

The author of the book of Revelation who recorded a vision he had while on the island of Patmos. Christian tradition identifies him also as John the evangelist, though few modern scholars accept this association.

3 John has the feel of a much more personal letter than 2 John. It is written by someone simply called 'the elder' (whom we assume to be John the Elder) to his friend Gaius. In the letter, John begs for Gaius’ help in tackling Diotrephes,...

John's Gospel is the odd one out. The others – Matthew, Mark and Luke – are called the 'synoptics', from the Greek meaning 'with the same eyes' – they share many of the same stories and sometimes even tell them in the s...

John’s Gospel is the most reflective and overtly theological of all the Gospels. It begins with a beautiful poem on the Word made flesh and continues to interweave stories about Jesus with deep theological reflections on what he means. The stories ...

2 John is a short letter from John the Elder to someone called ‘the elect lady’ and her children. The letter encourages them to continue walking in truth, in the love of God and love of one another. The author urges the letter’s recipients not ...

My favourite passage from the Bible is John 1.1–5, which says, “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” I love hearing it at Christmas.

Whenever I get confused, or my faith seems to be wavering, the passage that I remember is in John 4 when Jesus is talking to the woman at the well, and he says, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”.

1 John is a testimony about who Jesus was and is, and what this means for those who seek to follow him. There is a strong emphasis on living out what you say – not just declaring that you belong to Christ, but living it out in practice. Woven throu...

One Scripture that has been really powerful for me is John 10.10, “I have come in order that you might have life – life in all its fullness." I became a Christian when I was 15, but I was 40 before I had a huge shift and understood this idea...

In John 10.10, Jesus talks about why he came. He says that he came to give us "life, life in all its fullness". That’s very, very important to me. I was not brought up as a Christian. My parents were anti, if anything. It wasn’t until I...

I love the story of the wedding at Cana in John 2, where Jesus turns water into wine. It really demonstrates the humanness of Jesus in a very strong way, that he chose his first miracle to make people happy. He's slightly peevish with his mother...

The passage that has become the motto for my life is John 1.1. It says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Words from John 20.27 brought me to faith 30 years ago. I had been invited to a local service at Easter. I had a bit of a battle that morning, because my father asked me to help move some cattle, but I knew I had to go to church.

The story of Peter’s reinstatement in John 21.15–18 means a lot to me. He was a simple, ignorant fisherman and yet became such a significant person in the history of the Church.

I love the story of Thomas in John 20.24–29. He knew that there was such a thing as fake news. People didn’t rise from the dead, did they?

The verse from the Bible that means the most to me is 1 John 1.4, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with the Father and his Son, Jesus. We write this to make our joy...

A cousin of Jesus, born to Zechariah and Elizabeth in their old age, who acted as a messenger announcing who Jesus was and what he had come to do. He was imprisoned by Herod Antipas for criticizing his marriage with Herodias and was beheaded at the ...