John the Elder
Yochanan in Ephesus
At that time the apostle and gospel writer John, the one whom Jesus loved, was still living in Asia Minor and governing the assemblies of that region. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.23.1)
The apostle John, the son of Zebede, first came to Ephesus during the reign of Nero. Tradition says that he arrived with Prochorus, the deacon who served him as a translator. Another legend claims that, for a short time after his arrival in Ephesus, John supported himself by working as a furnace-stoker at an Ephesian bathhouse.
In his youth, Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyons, was a disciple of Polycarp of Smyrna. Polycarp knew John and told stories about him. Irenaeus states, "The Church at Ephesus was founded by Paul, and John remained there until Trajan's time, so she is a true witness of what the apostles taught." In another passage, Irenaeus says, "All the clergy who in Asia Minor came in contact with John, the Master's disciple, testify that John taught the truth to them" (Against Heresies 2.22.5; 3.23.4). In yet another passage, Irenaeus identified John the son of Zebedee as the writer of the Gospel of John and the "beloved disciple," who remains unnamed in that gospel. He wrote, "John, the disciple of the Master, who leaned on His breast, also published the gospel while living at Ephesus in Asia" (Against Heresies 5.8.4). Irenaeus and other early witnesses also identify John the son of Zebedee as the author of the book of Revelation.
The local believers in Ephesus honored John as their teacher. From week to week, he taught them in the assembly. One apocryphal source reports as follows:
There were multitudes of the brethren who were dwelling with him in Ephesus, and they were glad and rejoiced in the sight of him ... And on each Sabbath day all [these] people would come together, and would rejoice in the Spirit, and would sing psalms and spiritual hymns ... Then would John the Evangelist begin to address the people with the words of the Spirit. (The History of the Death of Saint John the Evangelist)
John did not confine his efforts to Ephesus. He raised disciples from the surrounding communities in Asia Minor. His apostolate included all seven assemblies mentioned in the book of Revelation: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Each of those large cities had smaller satellite communities. For example, the assembly of Laodicea included the nearby cities of Colossae and Hierapolis.
John seems to have traveled a regular circuit through these communities. He appointed leadership over each assembly, counseled the brethren, settled matters of dispute, taught the Scriptures, and testified on behalf of the Master and the gospel message. When issues too difficult for the local leadership rose up in one of the communities, they sent for John and requested a visit.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Yochanan and the Bandit
Listen to a tale, which is not a mere tale, but a story about John the apostle, which has been handed down and treasured up in memory. After the tyrant's death, John returned from the isle of Patmos to Ephesus. When the neighboring Gentile districts invited him, he used to go to appoint bishops in some places, in other places to set in order whole assemblies, elsewhere to choose for the service an individual among them that the Spirit designated to him. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.23.5-6)
In his vast library in Caesarea, Eusebius had a book by Clement of Alexandria called What Rich Man Can Be Saved? The book is no longer extant except for the passages quoted by Eusebius. In that book, Clement of Alexandria recorded a story about the Apostle John and his encounter with a bandit.
Clement obtained the story from earlier sources. Eusebius enjoyed the story and copied it into his Ecclesiastical History for the benefit of "those who enjoy hearing what is beautiful and edifying."
Clement insisted that the story of John and the Bandit is no mere tale. He considered it reliable and authentic, apostolic lore. Clement began the story by stating that the tale was originally an oral tradition "treasured up in memory" and "handed down." If so, the tale must have been handed on in one form or another for nearly a century before it reached Clement of Alexandria. Clement called the story "a great example of true repentance and a great proof of regeneration, a trophy of a visible resurrection."
Clement places the story "after the tyrant's death" when John "returned from the isle of Patmos." This timing is problematic. John lived only a few years after his return from Patmos, and in his last years, he was so old that he could scarcely walk on his own. An earlier date makes better sense.
The story offers a brief description of John's work. He used to travel from city to city, visiting the assemblies that invited him to come. The believers were eager to see one of the Master's twelve disciples, and every assembly in the vicinity of Ephesus must have requested a visit. For example, a passage in the apocryphal Acts of John recalls the summons John received from the people of Smyrna, inviting him to visit and teach in their midst:
When, then, these things had been done by John in the city of the Ephesians, the people of Smyrna sent a message to him saying, "We know that the God you preach is not envious, and has charged you not to show partiality by abiding in one place. Since, then, you are a preacher of such a God, come unto Smyrna and unto the other cities, that we may come to know your God, and having known him may have our hope in him." (Acts of John 55)
As an apostle of the Master of the first order, John naturally assumed authority over the believers in the places he visited. Where an assembly had fallen into dispute and disorder, he restored the community and set it in order to form an assembly. Where there were no leaders, he appointed elders and teachers. In some places he visited, the Holy Spirit indicated to him that a certain person should be brought into the ministry of the Word of God. When that happened, John took extra care to disciple that person, taking him with him on his travels just as the Master had taken John and his brother. John soon had a small entourage of close disciples following him, much as the Master did when He walked among us.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
The Young Man in Smyrna
When he had come to one of the cities not far away [from Ephesus] (some say Smyrna), he settled disputes among the brethren in certain matters. He finally turned to the bishop that had been appointed, and seeing a spirited young man of strong build and handsome appearance, he said, "I solemnly commit this one to your keeping in the presence of the whole assembly and with Christ as witness." And when the bishop had accepted the charge and had promised all, John repeated the same charge with an appeal to the same witnesses, and then departed for Ephesus. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.23.7)
On one occasion, the assembly in a certain city not far from Ephesus called on John to come and resolve a dispute in their midst. Some manuscripts indicate that the city was Smyrna. The large metropolis of Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey) sat on the Aegean coast not far north of Ephesus. Smyrna was a first-world city. It vied with Ephesus and Pergamum for the title "First City of Asia." A significant Jewish population made their home in Smyrna. The gospel probably took root in Smyrna thanks to Paul's efforts in the area while he labored at Ephesus. John arrived in Smyrna and settled the dispute. He appointed a new elder over the assembly.
While John worked among the disciples in Smyrna, the Spirit of the LORD pointed out a young man to him. The teenage boy had a strong frame and handsome appearance, and he seemed enthusiastic about everything. John inquired about the boy and learned that he was new to the assembly of believers. His parents were dead. He had recently become a believer. We do not know if he was Jewish or Gentile. John spent time with the boy, told him stories of the Master, and referred to him affectionately as "My son." The Spirit of God impressed upon John that he should take the young man under his care and disciple him in the ways of the Master. John considered that he himself had been only a teenager when he first began to follow John the Immerser. He thought about inviting the boy to accompany him and his disciples back to Ephesus, but then he thought better of it. The boy was still too young for the rigors of discipleship, but in a few years, he might make a fine disciple. He first needed time to grow and mature. John assembled the community to give them some parting words of teaching and encouragement. Before leaving, he indicated the young man and said to the elder he had appointed, "I solemnly commit this one to your keeping in the presence of the assembly and with the Messiah as witness."
The elder agreed to the charge and accepted the responsibility. Then John repeated the same words. Again, the elder agreed to the charge and accepted the responsibility:
The elder took the young man entrusted to his care home with him, raised him, kept him, cherished him, and finally immersed him. After this he relaxed his strict supervision and vigilance because he assumed that by putting the seal of the Master [i.e., immersion] on him he had perfectly safeguarded him. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.23.9)
The new elder at Smyrna took up John's charge and brought the young man into his home. He carefully educated the boy in the Scriptures and taught him the ways of the Master. He raised him as if he was his own child. When he was satisfied with the young man's progress in the discipleship, he offered him immersion for the Master's name. Notice that at this point in church history, immersion was not administered immediately. Does this indicate that a candidate needed to complete certain preliminary requirements before being accepted into the family of disciples? Or does it indicate that the believers withheld immersion from children until they reached a certain age of maturity? According to the Didache, candidates needed to learn the teachings of the apostles (as presented in the Didache). Then, they needed to undergo a short fast for one or two days before the immersion (Didache 7).
Paul speaks of being "sealed" by the Spirit of God (2 Corinthians I:22; Ephesians I: 13, 4:30). The believers taught that the Holy Spirit seals a disciple when he is immersed for the Master's name. The elder at Smyrna believed that once sealed by immersion and the Holy Spirit, the young man was safely within the fold of the Master's sheep. As it had now been several years, he relaxed his strict supervision over the teen.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Bad Company
Now there were some young men his own age, idle, immoral, and accustomed to evil deeds. They corrupted the youth when the elder prematurely freed him from restraint. At first they enticed him with lavish, expensive entertainments. Then they took him with them when they went out at night to commit robberies. Finally they pressured him to join them in some greater crime. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.23.8-9)
The Apostle Paul warns us, "Do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals" (I Corinthians 15:33). Although the elder at Smyrna invested several years in the young man, all of his teaching and godly influence quickly unraveled when the boy began to spend time with godless peers. His friends invited him to attend expensive entertainments. The entertainments of the Roman world were never appropriate venues for believers. They always involved compromise with the world in the form of idolatry, indecency, violence, or sexual immorality- just the sort of thing that might catch the attention of a teenage boy.
Expensive entertainments are habit-forming, addictive, and expensive. The young man and his godless peers committed petty thefts and robberies to pay for their extravagant lifestyles.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
The Worst of All
He gradually became accustomed to such practices. Because of his enthusiastic personality, he took the bit in his teeth like a stubborn and powerful stallion and violently dashed off the straight road and over the precipice. Finally losing any hope of salvation in God, he no longer troubled with petty crimes, but having committed some great crime, he assumed that he was now lost, once for all. He expected to suffer the same fate as the rest. Therefore, he took them and formed them into a band of robbers; he became a bold bandit chief, the most violent, the most bloody, the most cruel of them all. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.23.10-I1)
At first, the young man felt pangs of guilt and remorse for his misdeeds, but his heart quickly hardened and became desensitized. The light within him faded. Small crimes led to larger crimes. Things that once seemed unthinkably evil began to appear petty in his eyes.
At last, the young man convinced himself that he had certainly become a son of Gehenna and forfeited his portion in the World to Come. Whenever his thoughts turned back to his learning, he consoled himself with the thought that he and his colleagues in crime would share the same fate. He soothed his despair by plunging headlong into worse crimes.
He surpassed the young men who had initially drawn him into the world of petty theft and robbery. They followed his natural charisma and enthusiasm, and he organized them into a criminal gang. He led them to commit acts of violence, murder, and cruelty. In all these things, he was the worst of all, the leader of the gang.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Restore the Deposit
Time passed, and some necessity arose. They sent for John. He came, but after he had set in order the matters which he had come to settle, he said, "Come now, O bishop, and restore to us the deposit which both I and Christ committed to you. The assembly, over which you preside, is witness." But the bishop was at first confounded, thinking that he was falsely charged in regard to money which he had not received. He could neither believe the accusation because no money had been given to him, but neither could he doubt John. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.23.12-13)
Several years after his last visit to Smyrna, John received a request to come again and resolve some issues that had arisen in the community. He remembered the young man that the Spirit had indicated to him, and he set out for the visit, intending to follow up on that relationship.
After settling the issues for which he had been sent, he asked the bishop to return the deposit with which he had entrusted him. He invoked the name of Messiah and the whole assembly as witnesses. The request flabbergasted the bewildered bishop. He assumed John asked for the return of some amount of money. He knew that John had never entrusted him with a sum of money, but at the same time, he did not dare to contradict the holy apostle. He stammered with words as he sought a way to correct the apostle's mistaken request in a respectful manner.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Dead to God
John explained, "I am asking for the young man and the soul of the brother." Then the old man groaned deeply and burst into tears. He said, "He is dead." "How and what kind of death?" John asked. "He is dead to God," he said, "for he turned wicked, abandoned [the faith], and became a bandit. And now, instead of staying with the assembly, he haunts the mountain with a gang like himself." (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.23.13)
John could see that the elder had misunderstood, so he clarified, "I am asking for the young man and the soul of the brother."
With fallen countenance, the elder answered, "He is dead."
John could tell that there was more to it than that.
He demanded the details. The elder conceded that the young man was not literally dead but "dead to God" in that he had become an apostate from the faith and taken up the wicked life of a bandit. He told John about how the boy had become the leader of a criminal gang of thugs and highway robbers who made their home in some hideout in the mountains. Smyrna sits at the foot of an extinct volcano called Mount Yamanlar with eerie, netherworld associations. The traditional tomb of the mythological character Tantalus was on the southeastern slope of the mountain. The volcanic crater near the peak of the mountain contained a lake called "Black Lake," which the locals associated with the torments of Tantalus in Hades. Apparently, the bandits made their home in the vicinity of that portal to Gehenna.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Yochanan Among the Bandits
The apostle rent his garments and beat his head with a great cry. He said, "A fine steward I left over a brother's soul! But let a horse be brought for me, and let someone show me the way." He rode away from the assembly just as he was, and coming to the place, he was taken prisoner at the bandit's outpost. He neither tried to flee nor did he plead for mercy, but he cried out, "This is why I came. Lead me to your captain." (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.23.14-15)
When John heard all of this, he tore his garments— a Jewish mourning rite. He smote his own head with his hands and cried out in anguish. Everyone was silent. No one had guessed that John nurtured such deep affection and concern for the boy.
John let his "son of thunder" nature flash up, and he rebuked the bishop, "A fine steward I left over a brother's soul!" Then he called for a horse and a guide to show him the way to the bandits' lair. His disciples probably begged him not to go, and they must have pleaded for permission to accompany him, but he refused their entreaties. He took the horse and the guide and set out for the mountain. The guide stayed with him until the path left the main road. Then John sent him back to the city.
The horse had not carried him far into the bandits' territory when he came upon one of their outposts. The sentries stationed at the outpost ambushed John, knocked him from his horse, took the horse, and searched the old man for money. John did not cry out or ask for mercy. He explained to the men that he had come seeking them, and he asked them to bring him to their leader. He explained that he had a message for their leader.
The bandits thought it made no difference whether they killed the old man on the road or brought him to their lair and killed him there, so they consented and brought him to their leader.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
The Chase
The captain, meanwhile, waited, armed and ready. When he recognized John approaching, he turned in shame to flee. But John, forgetting his age, pursued him with all his strength, crying out, "My son! Why do you flee from me, your own father, unarmed, and old? Have pity on me, my son. Do not be afraid of me. You still have hope for life. I will give account to Christ for you, and, if necessary, 1 will suffer your death as the Master suffered death for both of us; I will give up my life for you. Stop! Believe! Christ has sent me." (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.23.16-17)
When the bandit leader saw his men bringing the old man to him, he recognized the Apostle John. That old Jewish face brought back a flood of memories from his days among the assembly in Smyrna. Suddenly, he felt ashamed, and the godly soul within him stirred. He turned away from John and fled from the lair.
His bewildered men did not understand why their brave leader, fully armed and shielded, ran from an unarmed old man. Despite his years, John gave chase, sprinting after the fearsome bandit like a police officer chasing down a fugitive. The heavy weapons and armor slowed the bandit, but he was still faster than John. In his younger years, John had been fleet-footed. He still had great strength and agility, considering his age, but he could no longer run like he once did. He realized he could not overtake the young man. He called out, "My son! Why do you flee from me, your own father, unarmed, and old?"
John continued the chase until he could run no further. He sank to his knees and called out again, "Have pity on me, my son. Do not be afraid of me." He called out again, "You still have hope for life," meaning life in the World to Come. He explained, "I will take the blame before the Messiah on your behalf, and, if necessary, I will suffer your death as the Master suffered death for both of us; I will give up my life for you. Stop! Believe! The Messiah has sent me."
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Contrition
When he heard this, he stopped and looked down at the ground. He threw down his weapons and trembled and wept bitterly. And when the old man approached, he embraced him, making confession between lamentation as he was able, baptizing himself a second time with tears. Yet all the while he concealed his right hand. But John pledged himself and assured him on oath that he would find forgiveness with the Savior. He beseeched him [to repent], fell upon his knees, kissed his right hand as if it had already been purified by repentance, and he led him back to the assembly. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.23.18-19)
The bandit stopped. He turned back to face his pursuer, but he did not lift his eyes to look at him. For a long while, he stared at the ground. He threw down his weapons and stripped off his shield. He threw his arms around the apostle and wept, trying to confess his iniquitous ways between his sobs. He pulled back his right hand and concealed it behind his back, as if conscious that the murderous hand, which had taken men's lives, should not be lifted in the presence of the holy apostle.
The apostle swore to the young man that he would personally intercede and seek forgiveness on the young man's behalf if only the young man would repent. John sank to his knees before the bandit and took hold of his right hand and kissed it.
Can there be forgiveness for murder? The Torah clearly says, "If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death" (Numbers 35:30-31). John could make no promises about the young man's future prospects before the secular tribunal in Smyrna, but he could promise the young man exoneration in the heavenly court if he would earnestly repent.
The bandit chief consented to the apostle's pleading. He renounced his life of crime and left the bandit gang.
The assembly in Smyrna gathered around in shock and surprise as John and the bandit came back to town. John rode atop the horse, and the sullen and shame-faced bandit chief walked at his side.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Repentance
Making intercession for him with many prayers, and struggling together with him in continual fasts, and conquering his mind with various teachings, he did not leave him until he had restored him to the assembly: a great example of true repentance and a great proof of regeneration, a trophy of a visible resurrection. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.23.19)
John stayed in Smyrna for a long while, rehabilitating the young man and leading him through a regimen of penitence. John spent many long hours praying on his behalf and praying with him. Together, they undertook extended fasts. All the while, John filled the young man's mind with words of Torah and sayings of the Master.
He did not leave Smyrna until he had reconciled the young man with the local assembly and the local justice system. Apparently, John presented the penitent young man before the authorities and offered to take the punishment for his crime, just as he promised. By some miraculous reversal, the authorities must have dismissed the case.
Why did he not take the young man with him back to Ephesus? The young man had many debts to settle in Smyrna. Part of repentance entails remuneration.
The Torah requires a thief to pay back twice the value he has stolen. The young man also had to face legal consequences for his wicked deeds.
John may have left him with words of instruction like this: "When you have paid your debts, come to Ephesus and seek me out."
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Polycarp
Although John did not take the penitent bandit with him back to Ephesus, he did take an interest in another young man of Smyrna. The Spirit of the LORD pointed out to him a young man named Polycarp (Πολύκαρπος).
Polycarp of Smyrna was born around the time of the destruction of the Temple (circa 70 CE). In the early second century, he became the bishop of Smyrna. He lived to the age of eighty-six when the Romans put him to death by burning him at the stake.
Polycarp grew up in Smyrna during the period of time when John was visiting the city. Apparently, Polycarp knew John and learned directly from him. He may have even traveled with him. As mentioned above, Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyons, personally knew Polycarp. He states that Polycarp received instruction directly from the apostles:
Polycarp was not only instructed by apostles and conversed with many who had seen the Master, but was also appointed bishop by the apostles in Asia Minor in the assembly at Smyrna. We also saw him in our childhood, for he lived a long time and in extreme old age passed from life, a splendid and glorious martyr. He constantly taught those things which he had learned from the apostles, which also are the tradition of the church, which alone are true. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.4)
In one of his epistles, Irenaeus tells the story of his own association with Polycarp:
I remember the events of that time more clearly than those of recent years. For what boys learn in youth grows up with the soul and becomes joined with it, so that I am able to describe the very place in which the blessed Polycarp sat as he discoursed. I can describe the way he went out and came in, his manner of life, his physical appearance, his discourses to the people, and the stories he told about his interactions with John and with the others who had seen the Master. And as he remembered their words, and what he heard from them concerning the Master, and concerning his miracles and his teaching, having received them from eyewitnesses of the "Word of Life," Polycarp related all things in harmony with the Scriptures. By the mercy of God, I was privileged to hear these things, and I listened to them attentively, noting them down, not on paper, but in my heart. And continually, through God's grace, I rehearse them [in my mind] faithfully. (Irenaeus, Letter to Florinus in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.20.6-7)
The above reminiscence suggests that Polycarp learned the words of Yeshua and stories about His miracles directly from John. In his later life as bishop of Smyrna, he recounted the teachings he had received from John and told the stories about the time he had spent with John. Polycarp is believed to have become an authority over John's apostolate. He probably authored several epistles. One survives in the form of the Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, but scholars disagree over its authenticity. Some believe it has been pieced together from more than one of Polycarp's epistles, redacted and edited by later Christian writers.
As mentioned above, Polycarp suffered martyrdom during the Roman persecutions. A third-century Coptic text about the martyrdom of Polycarp of Smyrna understands Polycarp's martyrdom as a compensation or surrogate death for the Apostle John, the only one of the twelve apostles to have been spared a martyr's death. "The apostle of the Lord said to Polycarp, 'Since the Lord granted to me that I die on my bed, it is necessary that you die by the law court."
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Pesach with Yochanan
Polycarp and the disciples of John kept the Passover and biblical festivals with their teacher. They celebrated it on the fourteenth day of the lunar month as prescribed by the Torah: "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening" (Exodus 12:18). Irenaeus says that Polycarp "observed Passover with John, the disciple of our Master, and the other apostles with whom he associated" (Irenaeus, Letter to Victor in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.24.16).
Long after John's death, Polycarp and all the believers under John's apostolate continued to keep Passover according to the Jewish reckoning in the Torah. The church in Rome, however, tried to impose the custom of fasting from Friday until Saturday night during the week of Passover and then celebrating the Lord's Supper together as a Passover meal on the first day of the week. In the mid-second century, Anicetus, bishop of Rome, tried to force Christians everywhere to adopt the Roman custom. The Christians who refused to adopt the Roman custom were called "Fourteeners" (Quartodecimans) because they insisted on keeping Passover according to the Jewish reckoning on the fourteenth of Nisan (after sunset, i.e., Nisan 15). They began their fast at sunrise on Nisan 14 and broke fast together that evening at the Passover Seder as the festival began. Polycarp traveled to Rome and explained that they could not adopt the new custom because they followed the tradition that they had received directly from John and the apostles:
Anicetus could not persuade Polycarp to set aside what he had always observed with John, the disciple of our Master, and the other apostles with whom he had associated. Neither could Polycarp persuade Anicetus to observe Passover, as he said he ought, according to the customs of the elders that had preceded him. (Irenaeus, Letter to Victor in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.24.I6)
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Yochanan in the Lycus Valley
John included the cities of the Lycus Valley in his apostolate. According to a passage in the apocryphal Acts of John, he made an extended stay in Laodicea. Believers from nearby Colossae and Hierapolis must have come to Laodicea to see the apostle. Among those visitors might have been the daughters of Philip the Evangelist, two of whom lived in Hierapolis. A third lived in Ephesus. Another visitor might have been a young boy named Papias.
According to Irenaeus, Papias of Hierapolis "was a hearer of John, and a companion of Polycarp, one of the ancients" (Against Heresies 5.33.4). Later in life, Papias began to collect apostolic lore and teaching. Whenever apostles and disciples of the apostles came through the Lycus Valley, Papias eagerly pressed them for information. He personally knew two of Philip's daughters, who also lived in Hierapolis and shared stories with him. He compiled what he learned into a five-volume work titled An Exposition of the Sayings of the Master. His no-longer extant volumes might be the source of much of the apostolic lore that eventually found its way into the various apocryphal acts of the apostles. Unfortunately, only fragments of his writings still survive. In one fragment, Papias describes how he used to collect the sayings and teachings of the apostles from those who had known them: "If, then, any one who had been a follower of the elders came, I asked minutely after their sayings-what Andrew or Peter said, or what was said by Philip, or by Thomas, or by James, or by John, or by Matthew, or by any other of the Master's disciples." To that list, he added two names of disciples still alive in his day: "Which things Aristion and the elder John, the disciples of the Master say" (Ecclesiastical History 3.39.4):
Papias, of whom we are now speaking, confesses that he received the words of the apostles from those that followed them, but says that he was himself a hearer of Aristion and the elder John. At least he mentions them frequently by name, and gives their traditions in his writings. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.39.7)
The apocryphal Acts of John includes a fragment about John's departure from the Lycus Valley:
After a long time had passed, and none of the brethren had been at any time grieved by John, he grieved them then because he said, "Brethren, it is now time for me to return to Ephesus, for so I promised those that live there, lest they become slack. For a long time now they have had no man to supervise them. Now, may each of you keep his mind steadfast towards God, who never forsakes us."
When they heard this, the brethren lamented because they did not want to be parted from him. And John said, "Even if I be parted from you, yet Christ is always with you. If you love him purely, you will have his fellowship without reproach."
And having so said, he bade farewell to them and left much money with the brethren for distribution. Then he went to Ephesus, while all the brethren lamented and groaned. (Acts of John 58-59)
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
The Bedbugs
The apocryphal Acts of John goes on to relate an anecdote about John's journey from Laodicea to Ephesus. The story is told in the first-person voice of one of his disciples as follows:
Now on the first day [out of Laodicea] we arrived at a deserted inn, and when we were at a loss for a bed for John, we saw an amusing thing happen. There was one bedstead laying somewhere there without coverings. We spread our cloaks which we were wearing, and we begged John to lie down on it and sleep while the rest of us all slept on the floor. But when he lay down he was troubled by the bugs in the bed, and they got worse, troubling him more. When it was about midnight, he said to the bugs, in the hearing of us all, "I say to you, O bugs, behave yourselves, one and all, and leave your abode for this one night and remain quiet in one place, and keep your distance from the servants of God." We laughed when we heard this. And we went on talking for some time while John fell asleep. We kept our voices low so as not to disturb him.
But when the day was now dawning, I arose first, and with me Verus and Andronicus, and we saw at the door of the room in which we were staying a great number of bugs standing, massed in one place.
We were amazed at the sight of them. We roused all the brethren to show them, but John continued sleeping. When he finally awoke, we told him what we had seen. He sat up on the bed and looked at the bugs and said, "Since you have behaved so well in obeying my rebuke, come back to your place." When he had said this, and risen from the bed, the bugs ran from the door and hastened to the bed. They climbed up the legs and disappeared into the joints. John said, "This creature obeyed the voice of a human being, stayed by itself, was quiet, and did not trespass the commandment, but we who hear the voice and the commandments of God disobey and are light-headed. For how long shall it be?" (Acts of John 60-61)
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Ki’rintos, Enemy of the Truth
Once, when returning to Ephesus after a long journey, John supposed that he and his companions would profit from a dip in the bathhouse where they could remove the grime and sweat accumulated from miles on the road. They paid the small admission fee to the attendant and entered the dressing room to change from their worn traveling clothes. They applied the oil and entered the hot room. John began to ease himself down into the steaming water. As his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, he made out a familiar face among the other bathers. There was Cerinthus, soaking in the pool. John leapt out of the water as if he had been burned and "rushed outside the bathhouse without bathing," shouting behind him to his naked disciples, "Let us fly, lest even the bathhouse [floor] collapse because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth is inside."
The story of John's naked flight from the bathhouse comes from Irenaeus. He heard it from Polycarp of Smyrna, who might have heard it from John and his disciples, or perhaps Polycarp might have been one of those disciples with John at the bathhouse (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.4). John's fears were not completely unfounded. The elevated floors of bathhouse hot pools did sometimes collapse.
Recovering the truth about Cerinthus (Κηρίνθος), "the enemy of the truth," is difficult. He was apparently a notorious first-century heretic among the early believers— a Jewish believer and false apostle. Unfortunately, the description of the exact nature of his heretical beliefs expanded with the passing of the centuries until his heretical ideas became hopelessly conflicted and self-contradictory. Recovering the real Cerinthus requires some critical analysis of the primary sources.
The earliest and most reliable description comes from Irenaeus, the same author who tells the story about the encounter in the bathhouse. Irenaeus describes Cerinthus as an early proponent of Gnostic ideals that he learned from the study of Alexandrian mysticism:
Cerinthus, again, a man who was educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians, taught that the world was not made by the primary God, but by a certain Power far separated from him, and at a distance from that Principality who is supreme over the universe, and ignorant of him who is above all. He represented Jesus as having not been born of a virgin, but as being the son of Joseph and Mary according to the ordinary course of human generation, while he nevertheless was more righteous, prudent, and wise than other men. Moreover, after his baptism, Christ descended upon him in the form of a dove from the Supreme Ruler, and that then he proclaimed the unknown Father, and performed miracles. But at last Christ departed from Jesus, and that then Jesus suffered and rose again, while Christ remained impassible, inasmuch as he was a spiritual being. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies I.26.1)
Cerinthus espoused the Gnostic view of God. He taught that the God of the Bible was a low emanation of much higher gradations of the divine and that the creation of matter was a corruption of this lower God. According to the Gnostic view of the gospel presented by Cerinthus, the divine Christ descended from the higher divinity into the corrupt created realm to redeem the spiritual sparks trapped in the material world. He did so by descending upon the human being Yeshua at his immersion and granting him divine insight and power. The divine Christ then abandoned the human Yeshua at the cross when the latter cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
Irenaeus may be mistaken when he says Cerinthus believed that the human Yeshua rose from the dead. Early Gnostics did not believe that physical matter could be redeemed. A second-century apocryphal epistle called Epistle of the Apostles, contemporary with Irenaeus, indicates that Cerinthus held a different view of the resurrected Christ. Cerinthus seems to have taught that, after the death of the human Yeshua, the divine Christ appeared to the disciples, making it appear as if Yeshua had risen from the dead, but He was not physical flesh and blood. The resurrected Yeshua they saw was merely a spiritual essence that could not be touched and left no prints in the sand.
Epistle of the Apostles links Cerinthus with Simon Magus and refers to them both as "false apostles, concerning whom it is written that no man shall cleave unto them, for there is in them deceit wherewith they bring men to destruction" (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.4). The apocryphal epistle goes on to counter the teachings of Cerinthus and Simon Magus. It insists on a literal reading of the Gospels, the physical, corporeal person of Yeshua, and the literal resurrection of the physical body. The epistle also makes a strong case for the need to obey God by keeping His commandments and the commandments of Christ.
Based on the above evidence, we may conclude that Cerinthus was an early teacher of Gnosticism who masqueraded as an apostle. Apparently, he taught that Yeshua was a normal man with no intrinsic divine nature, and He taught that the commandments of the Torah were not binding. His teachings sound similar to the ascetic form of proto-Gnosticism that Paul attempted to counter in his epistle to the Colossians and his [no-longer extant] epistle to the Laodiceans. Cerinthus may have been the original source behind the Colossian errors Paul addressed in the Epistle to the Colossians.
Cerinthus traveled around to the assemblies of believers in Asia Minor, presenting himself as an apostle of Yeshua, teaching his aberrant doctrines. The Gentile believers were especially vulnerable to Cerinthus. His Jewishness seemed to give him credibility. His Gnostic teachings canceled the Torah, removed the priority of the Jewish people, and took all focus away from the study of the Jewish Scriptures. He emphasized dualism, separating between the physical, material world and the spiritual world. He taught his disciples that the physical world was inconsequential-what mattered was the ascent of the soul into the spiritual world.
These teachings were popular with Gentile believers who already felt disenfranchised by their association with Jews. Gnosticism took the Judaism out of Christianity.
Cerinthus was to John what Simon Magus was to Peter. The church father Jerome explains that Cerinthus motivated John to begin to write:
When he was in Asia [Minor], at the time when the seeds of heresy were springing up (I refer to Cerinthus ….. and the rest who say that Christ has not come in the flesh, whom he in his own epistle calls Antichrists, and whom the apostle Paul frequently assails), he was urged by almost all the bishops in Asia then living, and by deputations from many Churches, to write more profoundly concerning the divinity of the Savior. (Jerome, Commentary on Matthew, preface)
John's first epistle directly confronts Gnostic views. He explained to his readers, "These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you" (I John 2:26).
Cerinthus claimed that the resurrected Messiah was a phantasmic projection of the divine Christ and not a real human being at all. He claimed he had no corporeal form. Other Docetic Gnostics went even further and claimed that Yeshua was not even a human being —He was an angelic, spiritual being projected from the unknown, ultimate God. He had no real human body because all physicality and corporeality are tainted by the evil creator God, the Demiurge (which is how these heretics referred to the LORD).
In his first epistle, John came out swinging at those who denied the humanity of Yeshua - both before and after the resurrection. He spoke in the plural form on behalf of all the apostles who had seen Yeshua with their eyes and touched him with their hands. They knew that His flesh was real flesh, His humanity a real humanity, even when manifested as the eternal life of the resurrected Messiah:
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us. (I John I:1-2)
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.