As we read the writings of John—whether it be the Gospel, or Epistles, or the Apocalyptic Vision, commonly called the Book of Revelation—we cannot fail to catch such a glimpse of the true man that we no longer wonder that this one of the chosen twelve should be spoken of as the one "whom Jesus loved," "the Apostle of Love," and by many such beautiful cognomens. We know from our own experience that love attracts love, and therefore we wonder not that the great, loving heart of Jesus should go out in such a flood of love to this disciple, the youngest of the little band of chosen followers; for in the bosom of that one it found a more responsive and sympathetic chord than in the bosoms of the others; and further, Jesus the enlightened, could read the character of the man before him and read it aright.
John wrote after all the other writers of the New Testament had closed their earthly careers. He had most probably read all the Gospels, and Epistles, and the historical book called the "Acts of the Apostles;" and perhaps he saw one great defect in all their work: that while they had been successful in their efforts to prove that Jesus was indeed the long-promised Messiah, as prophesied by Isaiah and the noble company of seers of old; that while they had been successful in planting the Gospel, in establishing churches, and in much other similar work, yet he could see that these earlier writers had failed to catch the beautiful side of Jesus' character; had not altogether made plain to mankind that this Jesus was the personal embodiment of Love; and thus he begins his Gospel to show the "Love " side of Jesus; and all through that Gospel we can see the golden warp of Love and the silver woof of Love's outgrowth—kindness in word, in deed, in thought—a "Love Divine, all Love excelling."
Who, that reads carefully, and studies thoughtfully the Gospel of John, ever fails to see the beautiful light which radiates from this Gospel; or who can deny that this Gospel is one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, "Love story " ever written by man? It matters not where we open this Gospel and read, every chapter, every verse is full of and radiant with Love; and this one thought, "The Love Incarnate—dwelling among men," pervades the whole from beginning to close.
