Several years ago, I read a short piece from BibleGateway.com that showed estimated dates when New Testament books came out. One thing struck me then and I couldn’t stop thinking about it–the Gospel of John came out fifty years or more after the Crucifixion of Christ! What did John do all those years? Over time, my interest grew and that’s why I started The Last Disciple Series.

Now, there are three published books in the series. Book Four is scheduled to be released in February 2025:

John Waited For Fifty Years

John had to have been well over seventy years old when the Gospel of John came out. He waited for decades before he felt ready to tell the story of Jesus. Though he got a late start, he was prolific once he got going. Here are the books he wrote:

• The Gospel of John
• The Letters or Epistles of John
• The Book of Revelation

John Was Loyal

Of all twelve disciples, John was the most loyal. Peter wanted to be loyal, but his human nature led him to deny knowing Jesus. Three times.

Judas Iscariot, of course, betrayed Jesus and paid the price for his disloyalty with his life. But the other disciples all scattered, presumably out of fear. They were nowhere to found when Jesus was tried, tortured, and crucified.

John was the only one present at the trial and the Crucifixion. That may be why Jesus placed his mother Mary under John’s care and protection. Here is the moment when Jesus demonstrated his trust:

But standing by Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ Therefore when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.

John 19:25-27

So Many Questions…

I don’t know about you, but when I read this verse above, questions popped up in my feverish brain. Of the four women mentioned, one is not named. Who was the one called ‘his mother’s sister’ and, if she is his mother’s sister, then she must also be Jesus’s aunt.

Who Was The Mystery Woman?

I think the woman referenced in this mysterious phrase (‘his mother’s sister’) is none other than Salome, John’s mother. If she is Jesus’s aunt, then John must be his cousin, right?

Another question is why does John refer to himself as the disciple Jesus loved or simply as the other disciple? Of all his family members, only his mother, his aunt, and his cousin were present at the most important moment in his life. They risked death to be with him out of love.

Maybe that’s why Jesus was so close to John. They were cousins. And John was the only disciple brave and loyal enough to watch the trial and death of his leader and his cousin.

Mary & John

I also wanted to know how Mary and John got along after Jesus put her under John’s protection. The Bible is silent on this. In fact, we know very little about how the disciples lived and died after the time of Christ.

Early church historians agree, and it seems likely, that John would have faithfully cared for Mary, the mother of Jesus, for the rest of her life. But this is not mentioned in the Bible.

Before his books began coming out, the last thing we heard in the Bible about John was from the Book of Acts.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria.

Acts 8:14 NIV

The trip referenced occurred no more than a few years after the Crucifixion. But then that’s it. Radio silence. The latter part of Acts is all about Paul and his missionary journeys.

Research Resources Used In The Series

Because there was very little Biblical information abou the later life of John, I began reading other sources. Other than the Bible, I have used many other resources. As all are available on Amazon.com, I did not include links. In general, I read them in Kindle editions, but they can also be purchased in hardcover or paperback. In one case I read the book on Google Books.

If you’re interested in research like this, I’ve listed all the major sources I’ve used in the back of each of the books. Here are a few examples:

• A History of Antioch in Syria, Glanville Downey, Princeton Legacy Press
• Josephus Flavius Complete Works, Flavius Josephus, Translated by William Whiston, Annotated Classics
• Saint John and the Close of the Apostolic Age (Illustrated), Constant Fouard (Author), Gustav Dore (Illustrator), Lex de Leon Publishing
• St. Polycarp of Smyrna, Greg Gordon, Early Church Father Series
• The Church History of Eusebius, Translated by the Rev. Arthur Cushman McGiffert, Ph.D, First published by W. B. Eerdmans publishing Company, in 1890. Copyright © Arthur Cushman McGiffert. This edition published in 2019. Beginning and End Press
• The Life of Flavius Josephus, Flavius Josephus, Translated by William Whiston
• The Search for the Twelve Apostles, William Steuart McBirnie, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

My fascination with the Apostle John continues to this very moment. In writing these books, my goal is to lift up the name of Jesus by writing faithful and carefully-researched accounts of the life of John and many other early Christians.

Now that book four has been written and is ready to be published, I’m going back to my research and writing for book five.

Yours in Christ, Kurt