Biblical Studies/New Testament Commentaries/The Gospel of John/The Apostle John
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
The apostle John son of Zebedee, one of Jesus' original twelve disciples/apostles, is traditionally viewed as the author of the Gospel of John. According to church tradition he was the only one of the Twelve to live to an old age and die a natural death. This would mean either that he refers to himself in the Gospel, or that the final author/editor/compiler refers to him, as the "disciple whom Jesus loved". This disciple appears to have been present at Jesus' crucifixion, however, which is difficult to fit together with the information from the Synoptic Gospels, which suggest that all of the Twelve fled when Jesus was arrested, and only Peter is said to have followed at some distance (see further Mark 14:50, 54, 66-72).
There is at any rate significant debate about whether the Gospel of John was actually written by John the apostle. From internal evidence, one might conclude that Lazarus was the author, since he is the only named individual specifically referred to as the one whom Jesus loves (John 11:3).
