John the apostle and evangelist.

John the son of Zebedee, the elder John, John the seer.

Attributed text(s).
Gospel of John 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-21.
Epistle 1 of John 1-5.
Epistle 2 of John 1.
Epistle 3 of John 1.
Revelation 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16, 17-22.

Related text(s).
Four gospels.
Catholic epistles.
Acts of John.

Useful links.
John in the Online Encyclopedia.
John in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

John the son of Zebedee is called along with his brother James in Matthew 4.21 = Mark 1.19 = Luke 5.10, after which event he surfaces frequently in the gospel narratives. He makes the first quartet in every canonical list of the disciples in Matthew 10.2 = Mark 3.17 = Luke 6.14 and Acts 1.13. He witnesses the healing of the mother-in-law of Simon in Mark 1.29 (refer also to Matthew 8.14 = Luke 4.38). He asks Jesus about another exorcist in Mark 9.38 = Luke 9.49. It is John along with James his brother who asks Jesus about the prospect of casting fire on a Samaritan village in Luke 9.54. In Matthew 20.20-24 = Mark 10.35-41 Jesus has occasion to tell John and James that they too will drink from the same cup and be baptized with the same baptism as Jesus himself. He, along with Peter and James, are the only disciples to witness the raising of the daughter of Jairus in Mark 5.37 = Luke 8.51 (refer also to Matthew 9.25), the transfiguration in Matthew 17.1 = Mark 9.2 = Luke 9.28, and the Gethsemane agony in Matthew 26.37 = Mark 14.33 (refer also to Luke 22.39). He is one of four disciples to hear the Olivet discourse in Mark 13.3. John and Peter are the ones who Jesus sends to prepare the Passover in Luke 22.8.

In the gospel of John itself he never appears by name, but only as one of the unnamed sons of Zebedee in the Johannine appendix (at John 21.2) and, in the judgment of many, as the unnamed beloved disciple (John 13.23-25; 18.15-16; 19.26-27, 35; 20.2-10; 21.7, 20-24). In Acts 3.1-11 he performs a healing along with Peter, and is arrested with Peter in Acts 4.1-22 for that action. In Acts 8.14-17 John is sent with Peter as an emissary from Jerusalem to Samaria. In Acts 12.2 Herod puts his brother to the sword. Paul mentions him only once, in Galatians 2.9, as one of the pillars of the Jerusalem church, along with James and Cephas.

The Bible has five works in three different genres that are attributed to John the disciple of the Lord, to wit, the gospel, three epistles, and the apocalypse.

Papias claims to have inquired as to the words of the elders, and includes two Johns on the list of disciples whose sayings he sought out (Eusebius, History of the Church 3.39.4; Jerome, On Famous Men 18). Are they the same John? Or two different Johns? I myself, like Eusebius, favor the latter.

Jerome, On Famous Men 9:

Ioannes apostolus, quem Iesus amavit plurimum, filius Zebedaei, frater Iacobi apostoli, quem Herodes post passionem domini docellavit, novissimus omnium scripsit evangelium, rogatus ab Asiae episcopis, adversus Cerinthum aliosque haereticos et maxime tunc Ebionitarum dogma consurgens, qui asserunt Christum ante Mariam non fuisse. unde et compulsus est divinam eius nativitatem edicere. sed et aliam causam huius scripturae ferunt, quod cum legisset Matthaei, Marci, et Lucae volumina, probaverit quidem textum historiae, et vera eos dixisse firmaverit, sed unius tantum anni, in quo et passus est, post carcerem Ioannis, historiam texuisse. praetermisso itaque anno, cuius acta a tribus exposita fuerant, superioris temporis antequam Ioannes clauderetur in carcerem, gesta narravit: sicut manifestum esse poterit his qui diligenter quatuor evangeliorum volumina legerint. quae res etiam διαφωνιαν, dissonantiam, quae videtur Ioannis esse cum caeteris, tollit. scripsit autem et unam epistolam cuius exordium est: Quod fuit ab initio, quod audivimus et vidimus oculis nostris, quod perspeximus et manus nostrae contrectaverunt de verbo vitae, quae ab universis ecclesiasticis et eruditis viris probatur. reliquae autem duae, quarum principium est: Senior electae dominae et natis eius, et sequentis: Senior Caio charissimo, quem ego diligo in veritate, Ioannis presbyteri asseruntur, cuius et hodie alterum sepulcrum apud Ephesum ostenditur, etsi nonnulli putant duas memorias eiusdem Ioannis evangelistae esse, super qua re cum per ordinem ad Papiam auditorem eius ventum fuerit, disseremus. quarto decimo igitur anno, secundum post Neronem persecutionem movente Domitiano, in Patmos insulam relegatus, scripsit apocalypsim, quam interpretatur Iustinus Martyr et Irenaeus. interfecto autem Domitiano et actis eius ob nimiam crudelitatem a senatu rescissis, sub Nerva principe redit Ephesum, ibique usque ad Traianum principem perseverans, totas Asiae fundavit rexitque ecclesias, et confectus senio, sexagesimo octavo post passionem domini anno mortuus, iuxta eamdem urbem sepultus est.

John, the apostle whom Jesus loved most, the son of Zebedee and brother of James, the apostle whom Herod after the passion of our Lord beheaded, most recently of all the evangelists wrote a gospel, at the request of the bishops of Asia, against Cerinthus and other heretics and especially against the then growing dogma of the Ebionites, who assert that Christ did not exist before Mary. On this account he was compelled to maintain his divine nativity. But there is said to be yet another reason for this work, in that, when he had read Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he approved indeed the substance of the history and declared that the things they said were true, but that they had given the history of only one year, the one, that is, which follows the imprisonment of John and in which he was put to death. So, passing by this year the events of which had been set forth by these, he related the events of the earlier period before John was shut up in prison, so that it might be manifest to those who should diligently read the volumes of the four evangelists. This also takes away the discrepancy which there seems to be between John and the others. He wrote also one epistle which begins as follows: That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard and seen with our eyes and our hands handled concerning the word of life, which is esteemed of by all men who are interested in the church or in learning. Of the other two of these the first is: The elder to the elect lady and her children, and the other: The elder unto Gaius, the beloved, whom I love in truth, are said to be the work of John the elder, to the memory of whom another sepulcher is shown at Ephesus to the present day, though some think that there are two memorials of this same John the evangelist. We shall treat of this matter in its turn when we come to Papias his disciple. In the fourteenth year then after Nero, Domitian having raised a second persecution, he was banished to the island of Patmos and wrote the apocalypse, which Justin Martyr and Irenaeus interpreted. But after Domitian was put to death and his acts were annulled by the senate on account of his excessive cruelty, he returned to Ephesus under Pertinax and, continuing there until the time of the emperor Trajan, founded and built churches throughout all Asia, and, worn out by old age, died in the sixty-eighth year after the passion of the Lord and was buried near the same city.

Origen, On Matthew 16.6:

Πεπωκασι δε ποτηριον και το βαπτισμα εβαπτισθησαν οι του Ζεβεδαιου υιοι, επειπερ Ηρωδης μεν απεκτεινεν Ιακωβον τον Ιωαννου μαχαιρα, ο δε Ρωμαιων βασιλευς, ως η παραδοσις διδασκει, κατεδικασε τον Ιωαννην μαρτυρουντα δια τον της αληθειας λογον εις Πατμον την νησον.

But the sons of Zebedee drank the cup and were baptized with the baptism, since indeed Herod killed James [the brother] of John with a sword, and the king of the Romans, as tradition teaches, condemned John to the island of Patmos for testifying for the sake of the word of truth.

Tertullian, On Monogamy 17.1:

Habebunt plane Christo quod legent speciosum privilegium, carnis usquequaque imbecillitatem. sed hanc iudicabunt iam non Isaac monogamus pater noster, nec Iohannes aliqui Christi spado, nec Iudith filia Merari nec tot alia exempla sanctorum. solent ethnici iudices destinari.

They will have plainly a specious privilege to plead before Christ, the everlasting infirmity of the flesh! But upon this [infirmity] will sit in judgment no longer an Isaac, our monogamist father, or a John, a noted voluntary celibate of Christ, or a Judith, daughter of Merari, or so many other examples of saints. Gentiles are wont to be destined our judges.