[Illustration: ST JOHN _Domenichino Frontispiece_]
A Life of St. John
For the Young
BY
GEORGE LUDINGTON WEED
AUTHOR OF "A LIFE OF CHRIST FOR THE YOUNG," "A LIFE OF ST. PAUL FOR THE YOUNG," "GREAT TRUTHS SIMPLY TOLD," ETC., ETC.
PHILADELPHIA
GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO
103-105 SOUTH FIFTEENTH STREET
Copyright, 1900
BY GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO
_PREFATORY NOTE_
The recorded incidents of the Life of St. John are few. Almost all those of which we certainly know are related in the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, The Epistles of St. John, and The Revelation. Some of the traditions concerning him are in such harmony with what we do know that we are almost ready to accept them as historic.
The known events though few, are very distinct. They are the beautiful fragments of a great picture. The plan of this volume does not include those which pertain to him in common with the twelve disciples. Such a record would practically involve the story of the life of our Lord. This is limited to those events in which his name is mentioned, or his person otherwise indicated; to those in which he was a certain or implied actor; to those in which we may suppose from his character and relations he had a special interest; to those narratives whose fulness of detail makes the impression that they are given by an eye-witness; to those in which a deeper impression was made on him than on his fellow-disciples, or where he showed a deeper insight than they into the teachings of the Lord, and is a clearer interpreter; to those records which add to, or throw light upon, those of the other three Evangelists; and especially to those things which reveal his peculiar relation to Jesus Christ.
Another limitation of this volume is its adaptation, in language, selection of subjects and general treatment, to young people, for whom it is believed no life of John, at any rate of recent date, has been prepared. It is designed especially for those between the ages of ten and twenty, though the facts recorded may be of value to all.
The attempt is made to trace the way by which John was led to, and then by, Christ. We first see him as a boy with Jewish surroundings, taught to expect the Messiah, then watching for His coming, then rejoicing in finding Him, then faithful and loving in serving Him; becoming the most loved of His chosen ones. We see the Christ through John's eyes, and listen to the Great Teacher with his ears. Christ and John are the central figures in the scenes here recorded.
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: A Life of St. John for the Young by Weed
- 2: Or to recall a former incident
- 3: A Life of St. John for the Young by Weed
- 4: A Life of St. John for the Young by Weed
- 5: Verily Looking and Doubting John's Gaze Is It I
- 6: A Life of St. John for the Young by Weed
- 7: Frontispiece Map of the Land Where St
- 8: The Boy Jesus in the Temple H
- 9: The southern was called Judaea
- 10: With goods for the markets of Tiberius on Lake Gennesaret
- 11: Have lived on the shores of Gennesaret
- 12: Where stately Jordan flows by many a palm
- 13: We wonder whether Jesus ever visited Bethsaida
- 14: We wonder whether James and John visited Jesus in Nazareth
- 15: Multitudes welcomed him as the promised Messiah
- 16: Was there some rabbi in Bethsaida like Simeon in Jerusalem
- 17: We may think of him as a lovable boy
- 18: It is possible that John visited the school of Gamaliel
- 19: Respecting the Messiah yet to come
- 20: So is also his cousin in Nazareth
- 21: He made Himself known as the Messiah
- 22: With exultation Zacharias said to him
- 23: And go to the wilderness of Judaea
- 24: So He was baptized of John in Jordan
- 25: If Mary and Salome were sisters
- 26: Would hail these disciples from Emmaus
- 27: How different the feast in Cana
- 28: What has happened at the Jordan
- 29: We are not told why Nicodemus came at a night hour
- 30: That He gave His only begotten Son
- 31: He cometh to a city of Samaria
- 32: There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water
- 33: And believed with her that Jesus was the Messiah
- 34: In the boat with Zebedee their father
- 35: But of the twelve Jesus drew one closest to Himself
- 36: Following close to Jairus and Jesus
- 37: We almost hear the nine saying
- 38: Their lessening forms ascending Hermon
- 39: As the morning sun glistened on the peaks of Hermon
- 40: Never did the Shechinah at Horeb
- 41: Is soon after the descent from Hermon
- 42: Nearing the first Samaritan village
- 43: They were earnest in an unholy desire
- 44: John was with Jesus in Bethany in Peraea
- 45: The child is not dead but sleepeth
- 46: The last was the raising of Lazarus
- 47: His friendship for the family of Bethany
- 48: Which Mark explains was spikenard very costly
- 49: It appears almost certain that Judas
- 50: Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance
- 51: But in the lowly manner which Zechariah had foretold
- 52: We see John on the highway of Olivet
- 53: That altar would be heaped with the slain
- 54: And they made ready the Passover
- 55: The goodman led the disciples into it
- 56: Go and make ready for us the Passover
- 57: The very towel with which the Lord had girded Himself
- 58: He then having received the sop went out straightway
- 59: Jesus went over the ravine of the Kidron
- 60: Answer is found in the home of Jairus and on Hermon
- 61: Their Lord's threefold struggle was over
- 62: Recalling Gethsemane we sing to Jesus
- 63: And the eleven disciples surrounding their Lord
- 64: Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple
- 65: Art thou also one of this man's disciples
- 66: Asked Pilate in a careless manner
- 67: At Calvary poets have sung their sweetest strains
- 68: By His mother's sister we understand Salome
- 69: Nor even on Himself in His agonies
- 70: John tells that Jesus also saw the disciples standing by
- 71: The sponge filled with vinegar
- 72: John implies that Joseph was naturally timid like Nicodemus
- 73: Sitting over against the sepulchre of their Lord
- 74: John was especially interested in Mary Magdalene
- 75: The napkin that was upon His head
- 76: Cometh and telleth the disciples
- 77: From there he carries us to the Sea of Tiberias
- 78: Seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following
- 79: He was tarrying until Christ should return
- 80: John and the rest of the Bethsaidan band
- 81: Had been daily brought thither
- 82: With what peculiar feelings John must have entered Samaria
- 83: Was in the isle that is called Patmos
- 84: Patmos was for this a fitting place
- 85: Mark and Luke had already written their Gospels
- 86: How the children of Electa must have prized that letter
- 87: But died without the sight the Messiah come
- 88: To glean even among the sheaves
- 89: The last survivor of the Apostolic band
- 90: But thou hast overcome thy pride and ambition
- 91: In fear of punishment he fled from Ephesus
- 92: He prayeth well who loveth well Both man
