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4A ®jje 1) eralb <©a?£tt£ Tuesday, April 26,2022
Opinions
Ruffin's Renderings: The Beloved Disciple
BY MIKE RUFFIN
ruffinml@gmail.com
You probably know
that there are four
Gospels in the New
Testament. Three of
them—Matthew, Mark,
and Luke—tell the story
of Jesus in such similar
ways that interpreters
refer to them as the
Synoptic Gospels (“syn
optic” means “seeing
together”). The Gospel of
John, on the other hand,
tells the story of Jesus in
a way that differs greatly
from the Synoptic Gos
pels. Scholars sometimes
refer to John’s Gospel
as the Fourth Gospel to
differentiate it from the
Synoptic Gospels.
One of the ways that
the Fourth Gospel dif
fers from the Synoptic
Gospels is its inclusion
of a figure that it calls
“the disciple whom
Jesus loved.” This figure
appears several times in
the Gospel of John, but
none of the other Gos
pels refer to anyone in
that way Scholars refer
to this figure as the Be
loved Disciple (1 reckon
“the disciple whom Jesus
loved” is too wordy),
which they sometimes
abbreviate “BD” (I reckon
they tire of saying “Be
loved Disciple”).
Readers naturally
want to know who the
Beloved Disciple is. The
fact of the matter is that
we don’t know The rea
son we don’t know is that
the Fourth Gospel never
tells us who the person
is. Were 1 forced to make
a guess (and 1 can’t imag
ine why anyone would
compel me to do so), I’d
go with Lazarus, a friend
of Jesus whom Jesus
raised from the dead. 1
would nominate Lazarus
because when his sisters
Mary and Martha sent
word to Jesus that he
was sick, they referred
to Lazarus as “he whom
you love” (John 11:3).
That’s scant evidence, 1
know, but it is evidence,
nonetheless.
Now, some (and
perhaps many) of you
are thinking, “But I’ve
always thought that the
Beloved Disciple was
John, the author of the
Gospel of John.” That’s
what 1 heard during my
growing-up years too,
and it’s what 1 assumed
until 1 attended seminary
and learned about other
options. The Fourth
Gospel does say that the
Beloved Disciple pro
vided source material
for it. At the conclusion
of the Gospel,
right after telling
a story involv
ing the Beloved
Disciple, the nar
rator says, “This
the disciple who
is testifying to
these things
and has writ
ten them, and
we know that
his testimony
is true” (John
21:24). But that doesn’t
necessarily mean that
the Beloved Disciple
is John. Nowhere does
the Fourth Gospel claim
that John wrote it (the
titles of the Gospels
were added later). And
nowhere does the Fourth
Gospel say that the dis
ciple named John and the
Beloved Disciple are the
same person.
It can be difficult to
move beyond what you
first heard or learned.
It’s been some fifty years
since 1 was taught to
assume that the apostle
John was the Beloved
Disciple. It’s been about
forty years since I was
given other options and
decided that Lazarus was
the best candidate. It’s
been about thirty-five
years since 1 decided
to always refer to the
Beloved Disciple as
the Beloved
Disciple in
sermons and
lectures. You’d
think the habit
would be well-
established to
the point of
being automat
ic by now.
You’d be
wrong.
And so it
happened that
1 was preaching on Easter
Sunday 2022. The text
for the sermon was John
20:1-18. The passage
reports Mary Magda
lene’s discovery of Jesus’
empty tomb. The story
includes Mary’s going to
tell Jesus’ disciples Peter
and the Beloved Disciple
about her discovery. It
also reports that the Be
loved Disciple and Peter
engaged in a footrace to
the tomb to investigate
Mary’s announcement for
themselves. My sermon
notes contained several
references to the Beloved
Disciple, which is how 1
referred to that individ
ual in my sermon most
of the time. But despite
my long-held belief that
the Beloved Disciple
probably isn’t John and
despite my intention
and commitment to call
that person the Beloved
Disciple (since 1 think,
but can’t be sure, that
he is Lazarus), guess
what happened. Yep,
twice I said “John” when
1 intended to say “the
Beloved Disciple.” Old
habits and early learning
die hard.
If we accept the Fourth
Gospel’s testimony (and I
believe we should accept
every Gospel’s testimony
about everything, even
though we need to do the
work of coming to terms
with what they actually
say) that the Beloved
Disciple provided source
material for the Gospel,
we are left wondering
why that disciple chose
to remain anonymous.
The first explanation I
remember hearing was
that humility inspired
this disciple to choose
anonymity. A cynic might
wonder if the opposite
is true—if the disciple
might have used the
designation “the Beloved
Disciple” as a way of
claiming that Jesus loved
the Beloved Disciple
more than he loved the
other disciples. If I have
to choose between those
two options, I’ll go with
humility.
Still, at first glance, the
designation “the dis
ciple whom Jesus loved”
seems to claim that Jesus
and that disciple had
a special relationship.
But when you stop and
think about it, you real
ize that all disciples of
Jesus have such a special
relationship with Jesus—
that is, Jesus loves all
of us. Jesus gave his life
for all of us, and Jesus is
committed to all of us.
We can’t know for sure
who the Beloved Disciple
in the Fourth Gospel is,
but we can know for sure
that every one of Jesus’
disciples is his beloved
disciple.
I am Jesus’ beloved
disciple. You are Jesus’
beloved disciple.
As was the case with
the original Beloved
Disciple, so too we can
rest in the assurance that
Jesus loves us.
And as was the case
with the original Beloved
Disciple, so too we can
testify to the difference
that experiencing Jesus’
love makes in our life.
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native
who lives and works in Macon. His
new book, Praying with Matthew,
is available at helwys.com and at
Amazon.
Sean of the South
Mama's boy
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Good Citizens award and JROTC
Medal presented by Daughters
of the American Revolution
SEAN DIETRICH
I was raised by
women. After my father
died, it was women who
stepped in and taught me
how to be a man. I am
a card-carrying mama’s
boy.
It was women who
instructed me to be re
spectful, patient, diligent,
sincere,
atten
tive,
spiri
tual and
most
impor
tantly,
how to
put the toilet lid back
down.
Women taught me to
revere heaven, country,
neighbor, and dog. They
taught me to wash my
hands before meals, to
say my bedtime prayers,
and I was taught to refer
to my elders as ma’am,
sir, or whenever I was I
trouble, “your honor.”
And so it was that my
youth was shaped by a
gaggle of aunts, cousins,
and matronly women
who wore bath powder
and polyester pants. I
grew up being carried to
and fro by females. It was
a wonder I ever learned
to walk.
When I was a baby, it
was women who dressed
me in ridiculously
frilly outfits for Sunday
service, such as yellow
jumpsuits with white pat
ent leather shoes. And
they dressed me like this
until I was in my early
thirties.
It was women who cut
my hair. My mother gave
me haircuts on the front
porch with a stainless
steel mixing bowl placed
over my head. She used
a pair of equestrian hair
clippers which predated
the First World War,
draped me in a bath tow
el and gave me a popular
hairstyle common among
Navy SEALs.
But I am grateful
for women. For it was
women who taught me
to believe in God, and
how to memorize Bible
verses. Throughout the
years, these maxims and
proverbs have stuck with
me. Such as the verse:
“And the Lord doth
go before thee; he will
be with thee, he will not
fail thee, neither forsake
thee: fear not, neither be
dismayed.”
And it was my aunt Eu-
lah, the fiery Pentecostal,
who made me memorize
uplifting verses to en
courage me during dark
times:
“Let him that hath
understanding count the
number of the antichrist:
for his number is six hun
dred threescore and six.”
It wasn’t just my fam
ily’s women who raised
me. It was the women in
our community. Church
ladies. Teachers. Neigh
bors. Other people’s
moms.
When I hit my teen
years, women were still
very central to my life.
There was always an
older woman emerging
from the shadows trying
to feed me.
I remember when I
was 16,1 dated a young
woman whose grand
mother sincerely be
lieved that I was on the
brink of serious malnour-
ishment. I would show
up on my date’s doorstep
and an old woman would
answer the door.
“You’re looking
skinny,” she’d say. “Are
you hungry?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Would you like some
thing to eat?”
“No, thank you. I just
ate supper.”
“How about a chicken
leg.”
“Really, ma’am, I’m
okay.”
“Some chess pie?”
“No, thank you,
ma’am.”
“How about a tall glass
of milk?”
“No, thanks.”
“Are you sure? Be
cause if you were any
skinnier, I’d have to alter
your pants so you only
had one back pocket.”
And then the lady
would feed me so much
blackberry pie that I
would take a nap on
their couch while my
date drove herself to the
movie theater.
When I was younger,
I was jealous of young
men who still had their
dads. These young men
went fishing all the time
with their fathers. Their
dads taught them how
to use table saws, field
dress whitetails and tur
keys. Their fathers
SEE MAMA’S BOV 5A
For several decades,
the DAR has recognized
exceptional high school
students who demon
strate the qualities of a
good citizen and out
standing cadet.
The good citizens
awards have a long
history that began in
1934 when it was only
awarded to girls. Starting
in 1975, boys were al
lowed to participate. The
high school seniors were
chosen by their peers
demonstrate these four
qualities:
1. Dependability-
which includes truthful
ness, loyalty, punctual
ity and being worthy of
trust.
2. Service - which in
cludes cooperation, cour
tesy and contributing to
the welfare of others.
3. Leadership - which
includes personality, self-
control, ability to assume
responsibility, ability to
inspire others and being
a decision maker.
4. Patriotism - which
includes devotion to and
support of one’s country,
supporting service mem
bers and veterans, work
ing for causes that make
one’s community stron
ger, and appreciating
the cultural and historic
importance of America’s
unique population.
Each winner is given
a pin, certificate and
wallet card. A ceremony
was held on Wednesday,
March 16, 2022 at 3 p.m.
at the Barnesville Lamar
County Library to honor
the recipients and im
mediately following was
a reception. The senior
recipients are: Kadence
Parks from Rock Springs
Christian Academy,
Christian Bostic from
Lamar County Compre
hensive High School
and Addie Travis from
St. George’s Episcopal
School.
The JROTC Medal
has been awarded to
JROTC students since
1967 in recognition of
the JROTC. This is an
important program that
prepares trained officers
for service in the armed
forces. JROTC Medals
are awarded to a cadet of
outstanding ability and
achievement as a junior
in high school. This high
school junior cadet was
selected based on these
principles:
• Recipients must
have demonstrated
loyalty and patriotism
and earned a record of
military and scholastic
achievement so far in the
JROTC program.
• Students must be in
the upper 25% of their
classes in JROTC and in
academic subjects.
• They must show
qualities of dependabil
ity and good character,
adherence to military
discipline, leadership
ability and a fundamental
and patriotic understand
ing of the importance of
JROTC training.
The winner is given
a bronze medal of the
DAR insignia draped on
a blue, red and white
ribbon and certificate. A
ceremony was held on
Wednesday March 16 at
3 p.m. at the Barnesville
Lamar County Library
to honor the recipient
and immediately fol
lowing was a reception.
The recipient is Ray-
chel Caldwell of Lamar
County Comprehensive
High School.
“If you are interested
in researching your
family’s revolutionary
history, we welcome
you to attend one of our
meetings,” said Mary
Beth Larkey. “We meet
the third Wednesday of
every month at 3pm at
the Barnesville-Lamar
County Library.”
MARY BETH LARKEY
UMAR
FUSHBACK
April 24-30
10 years ago
The community cele
brated with community
stalwart Harold Mat
thews as he celebrated
his 98th birthday at his
home on Thomaston
Street.
25 years ago
The annual chamber
of commerce awards
banquet was held. The
winners were Dick Esco,
citizen of the year; Drs.
Mark and Pam Korb,
businesspersons of
the year; Glen Walters,
farmer of the year;
Stanley Rodgers, law
enforcement officer of
the year; Doug Walter,
volunteer of the year;
Lori Hall, STAR student
and Bill Christopher,
STAR teacher.
50 years ago
The Miss Heart of
Georgia Pageant was
scheduled for the week
end at Alumni Memorial
Hall at Gordon. The con
testants were Yvonne
Johnson, Ann Pitts,
Lacy McAbee, Deborah
Burnette, Sheryl Allen,
Fran Burkett, Gay Ken
nedy, Sally Erwin and
Hedy White.
100 years ago
The people of the
community will regret
to know of the death
this past week of Mrs.
J. M. Van Houten, wife
of the superintendent
of the farm of Mr. R.
G. Matthews, in Upson
County. She was a good
woman and her death
is a sad blow to her
husband and four small
children. The funeral
and burial occurred in
Yatesville.
barnesville.com
770.358.NEWS
P.0. Box 220
Publishers
Staff
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