A Label Worth Wearing
“The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus . . .” (John 13:23)
“Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved . . .” (John 19:26)
“She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved . . .” (John 20:2)
“Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It’s the Lord!’” (John 21:7)
Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved—” (John 21:20)
Do you know what I love about each of these verses? The person described as “the disciple Jesus loved” is the author of the book where these verses are found. The Apostle John never named himself in the book of John as “John” or “I,” only as “the disciple Jesus loved.” Pretty bold, right? It might even hint of arrogance, as in Jesus loved me more than the other disciples.
God is funny. If you don’t believe me, allow me to remind you that the Bible contains a talking donkey, a prophet swallowed by a fish and spit out three days later, and a zealous preacher who taught so long that poor Eutychus fell out the window to his death three stories below, only to be raised to life . . . and the preacher, Paul, continued preaching!
I love the humor sprinkled throughout the Bible, including John referring to himself as “the disciple Jesus loved.”
What if instead of a bit of arrogance, or a comparison with the other disciples—
What if that was how John chose to be identified?
Many of you know that I am a freelance writer, proofreader, and copy editor. A recent trend in editing style guides is to identify a person as an individual first, not a person labeled with a disability, disease, etc. So, editors are instructed to change an instance such as “a disabled person” to “a person with a disability”—a welcome change, for sure.
We love labels. Some we wear with pride: wife, mom, CEO, volunteer. Others we wear with shame: loser, addict, failure, unloved.
I imagine John would be happy to share his label with each of us—the disciple Jesus loved. A disciple is a follower of Christ. And we know that Jesus loves us, since John told us so (John 3:16). What might my life look like in a week, a month, a year if I began to label myself this way in every situation?
When I am struggling to measure up to expectations at my job, I could remind myself that I am the disciple Jesus loves.
When I cannot keep up with the demands of my schedule . . . I am the disciple Jesus loves.
When I am devastated by the outcome of this situation . . . I am the disciple Jesus loves.
When this relationship seems beyond repair . . . I am the disciple Jesus loves.
I think John was onto something. I can picture him recording the miracles of Jesus and the sacrifice He paid for us on the cross, overwhelmed again and again (five times throughout the book of John, in fact) that Jesus loved him. He was the disciple Jesus loved, and he wanted everyone to know it.
Will you join me in creating a new narrative for yourself? We are no longer failures or losers. We are the disciples Jesus loved. That’s a label worth wearing.
