Today is the Feast Day of St. John the Evangelist.
John was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and the brother of James the Greater. In the Gospels the two brothers are often called after their father "the sons of Zebedee" and received from Christ the honourable title of Boanerges, i.e. "sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17). Originally they were fishermen and fished with their father in the Lake of Genesareth. According to the usual and entirely probable explanation they became, however, for a time disciples of John the Baptist, and were called by Christ from the circle of John's followers, together with Peter and Andrew, to become His disciples (John 1:35-42). The first disciples returned with their new Master from the Jordan to Galilee and apparently both John and the others remained for some time with Jesus (cf. John ii, 12, 22; iv, 2, 8, 27 sqq.). Yet after the second return from Judea, John and his companions went back again to their trade of fishing until he and they were called by Christ to definitive discipleship (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20). In the lists of the Apostles John has the second place (Acts 1:13), the third (Mark 3:17), and the fourth (Matthew 10:3; Luke 6:14), yet always after James with the exception of a few passages (Luke 8:51; 9:28 in the Greek text; Acts 1:13).
It is today something a bone of contention among Bible Scholars to dispute which books of the Bible were attributed to him. The books traditionally ascribed to him are The Gospel of John, the three Epistles of John, and the Book of Revelations. I have heard it asserted that the Apostle John wrote anywhere from none to all of these books. In that the books use similar imagery (Christ as the Word, or Christ as the Lamb of God), they are all "Johannine"; whether one believes that there was one John (the Apostle), two Johns (the Apostle and the Evangelist), three Johns (the Apostle, Evangelist, and the Presbyter), or four Johns (the Apostel, the Evangelist, the Presbyter, and John of Patmos). I am willing to accept that there might be two, though I'm not willing to commit to which those are. Draw them from the list as you like and make your argument.
When I was in college, the trend among scholars was to look down on the Gospel of John and to prefer the synoptic Gospels, because of John's "High Christology". That alone made him appeal to me.
Certainly one cannot go higher than this:
1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. He was in the beginning with God. 3. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be 4. through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; 5. the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6. A man named John was sent from God. 7. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. 9. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. 11. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. 12. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13. who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man's decision but of God. 14. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth.
None of this "Jesus was just a man and a prophet" stuff for John the Evangelist; no, he gives no doubt as to the identity of Jesus Christ as God and Man, Word made Flesh.
And not to confuse things for us more, but the John of whom John speaks in verse 6 is not, of course, himself -- but rather John the Baptist. For the Apostle/Evangelist John, of course, always refers to himself as "the apostle whom Jesus loved".
Along with St. James, his brother, he is called, by Christ, one of the "Boanerges" -- the sons of Thunder. I can only wonder what type of temperament these two must have had, for Him who was the Word of God to refer to James and John this way. Surely their tempers must have been impressive. We see some of it in Luke, Chpater 9, verses 50-56:
51. When the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, 52. and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, 53. but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. 54. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?" 55. Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56. and they journeyed to another village.
John is often portrayed as being among the youngest of the Apostles -- as is discussed on the excellent "History vs. the DaVinci Code" site, where he is the apostle in the painting who is mistaken by the DaVinci code conspiracists for Mary Magdalene.
I can only wonder what his reaction to that might be.
Ora pro nobis, Sancte Joannes.