Friday, December 27, 2024

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 27th of December 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Happy third day of Christmas to all who observe the Christmas season beyond the holiday. This is the day for the three French Hens—perhaps the “Bresse,” a French hen that lays blue eggs and is called the “queen of poultry.”

And in these “days of Christmas,” the church has historically given some of the bigger “feast days” to her biggest names. Yesterday was “St Stephen’s Day” (we discussed that the first martyr of the church was before), and today is St. John’s Day. This leads us to a favorite game in New Testament studies called “Which John are you talking about and are there a lot or a few or one….” (It’s a mouthful of a game title).

Now, I am not saying we could “rank” the disciples, but let’s…. And if we do, does John get the top spot? Apologies to my Roman Catholic friends, but Peter? There were some big mess-ups, and Peter and John had a foot race according to the Gospel of John, and John won. Depending on how we understand the various other “Johns” who wrote part of the New Testament- we could make an argument that he wrote more of the Bible than any other disciple, lived the longest, and, of course, was the fastest (that seemed an important point!).

According to some of the oldest traditions, John, the young disciple whom “Jesus Loved” (as he called himself), was the brother of James, both fishermen from Galilee and sons of Zebedee. Their mother was the cheeky one asking Jesus if her sons could share some kind of top-level assignment in Jesus’s coming war cabinet.

There is a tradition that their mother, Salome, was one of the daughters of Joseph from a previous marriage. Thus, John would be the Nephew of Jesus, which makes sense to some that then Jesus would “give over” his mother, Mary, at the crucifixion to the care of this close relative.

By the book of Acts, John is one of the two leaders of the church, mentioned with Peter, and is referenced in Galatians as a pillar of the church with Peter and James.

Tradition has him writing the epistles and then, after his arrest and exile to Patmos, to writing the Apocalypse, or “Revelation of Jesus Christ” (singular in the title: there are many “revelations,” but the book is that of “Revelation”)

This would make him the longest-living disciple- tradition has him living up to the turn of the 2nd century around the year 100. Outside of the Canonical books attributed to him or historically assigned to him, there are curious traditions in the extra-biblical tradition of early church “fan fiction.” In these stories, John does the standard extra-canonical wonder-working- my favorite story includes John commanding the bed bugs in his bed to please retreat so that he could get some sleep. He raises the dead, and according to some and a certain reading of John 21, it was claimed that he would NOT die.  However, this was prevalent enough for the 23rd verse of chapter 21 of the Gospel of John to explicitly refute this rumor.

His feast day is in September in the Eastern church because of a document from the East that purported his death in September. But in the West, he has been given a choice feast day: the 3rd Day of Christmas- as John himself was referred to as “the chief evangelist of the Incarnation” with his stunning prologue (which we will hear from in a minute). One of the many miracle stories about John has him being served poisoned wine but surviving. This has led to the tradition in the West on this- the 27th of December- of blessing the wine and then keeping it set aside for the year to be used either for special occasions or for those who have received their last rites and have a drink of it to assist them in the coming transition to eternity. People would bring wine (or any selected beverage) to church on this day, and there was a rite for blessing it: “If it please you, Lord God, bless + and consecrate + this vessel of wine (or any other beverage) by the power of your right hand; and grant that, through the merits of St. John, apostle, and evangelist, all your faithful who drink of it may find it a help and protection. 

So, raise your glass of - whatever- for the Disciple whom Jesus loved- and blessed with foot speed, apparently… today is the feast of John the Beloved Disciple.

The last word for today is not from the daily lectionary, as it would have us in John 21 I’m a fan of the prologue from John 1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome] it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 27th of December 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by the fleet-footed and hard-souled Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who suggests with the prevalence of people saying “revelations,” we just call it “the apocalypse.”- I’m Dan van Voorhis. 

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.