Today is the Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist. This is the disciple John, the one we hear in the group “Peter, James and John.” He is called an Apostle, because it means “one who is sent out.” All the disciples (followers) of Jesus became Apostles when He sent them out to tell the world who He is and what He has done for us through His life and death and resurrection.

He is also called an “Evangelist.” We call the ones who wrote the Gospels “Evangelists,” because it means “Good News.” In the Gospel that bears his name, John refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” That was not to imply that Jesus didn’t love the others, but to affirm that John knew without at doubt that he was loved be Jesus.

John wrote a lot about love, as he did in John 3:16 and throughout the three epistles/letters that bear his name. John also wrote the last book in the Bible, Revelation, which is a vision of the end times. Even in this book that is often confounding, he writes of God’s love for us.

As we remember John today, I share with you the beginning of his first letter. This is also a description of God’s great love for us, even though it does not use that word. It speaks of the arrival of Jesus here on earth as one of us, the event we continue to celebrate this season. It reminds us that it was because of our sin that he came, to give us the remedy we so desperately needed, a remedy that was for the whole world. And it encourages us to live new lives in response to this Good News.

1 John 1:1–2:2 ¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our joy complete. ⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. ⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. ¹ My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.