Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
Mark 10:28

There’s more than one John in the Bible. When we hear the name John, we often think about “the Baptist”, who was the blazing forerunner of the Lord Jesus. The other John was initially somewhat lesser known during the gospel times. The author of the Bible would associated him with either his brother or father. He was called the brother of James and appeared to be the lesser son of Zebedee. This John was also the John who had an ambitious mother. She wanted Jesus to grant that both her sons would have a secured and exalted place in His kingdom. We are not sure if this John had the same fleshly ambition, but time and circumstances caused him to take on the role of a loving servant rather than seek glory for himself (Luke 22:24)!

Both of these men were, in a sense, servants. One prepared the way for the Messiah to come, and testified that he (as a servant) was not worthy to untie His Lord’s sandal straps. The other John also served. These men, along with the other disciples and Peter, were led in ways that proved them all to be servants. Jesus told Peter that when he had fully matured, he would be a servant of the Master until his tragic death (John 21:18-19). This John, the son of Zebedee, was (no doubt) witness to this conversation Jesus had with Peter (vs. 20-21). He himself was also left in doubt as to his fate. At that point, he could have forsaken Jesus and chose to no longer serve him, as some did. (John 6:66).

These are examples of how people mature and become servants. They have no agenda other than to serve the One who initiates every call to being a disciple. Nothing else matters and all things pale in comparison to being a servant of Jesus Christ. They have been captured and arrested as slaves to those words of our Lord: “follow me”. Initially — those words bring the joyous light of the gospel to every believer, as it did with John and the other followers (Mt. 4:21-22). His call brings excitement and the ultimate salvation of our souls (Song Sol. 3:2-4)! But, His words, “follow me…”, take on new meanings as we mature in the Lord. Following Him has certainly taken us above mountain peaks, but following Him will also lead us through dark and uncertain places. His perpetual voice leads us to many valleys, and yet, we still follow!

We see the example of John as he proceeded to follow the Lord directly to Jesus’ death. He was led to Calvary and crucified, and yet John continued to follow. John endangered his own life, while many of the other disciples had already fled. We see John, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, and a few others. They were now positioned directly under the cross of the suffering Christ. As our Lord suffered on the cross, His last words to John were, “Behold thy mother!” His words seemed to suggest that Jesus had all confidence in this selfless servant to move into the position of not only providing for His mother but treating her as Jesus would Himself. There was no questioning on John’s part, but he did what any slave would do and that was to obey his Master. As far as we can tell, he always followed the leading of our Lord!

Years later, we see John in scripture as he was banished on the isle of Patmos. He was there for being a servant of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1, 9). No one knows how he must have suffered as a result of his determination to serve the Lord. One thing we do know is it appeared that no other disciple had the favor that John had. He was called the disciple that Jesus loved! Also, John was that disciple that had such a relationship with Christ that he was comfortable leaning on His bussom. No man that ever lived probably received more revelation than John. He was allowed to write the things he saw from the book of Revelation and experience the One who sat on the throne! He beheld things that we can barely comprehend. Oh, the fellowship that John, as a servant, had with our Lord!

Servants like John are often led in ways that can be lonely, but Christ’s promise has always been that He would not leave those who follow Him! He will continue to lead them through changing seasons in their lives and they will experience great fellowship as they walk with the Master (II Tim. 4:16-17)!