John (98 AD)

John, the disciple whom Jesus loved! He is the only disciple of the twelve who died of natural causes.  The Romans actually did try to kill John by boiling him in hot oil.  No doubt he was marred and disfigured yet the older he got, the more he showed Jesus' love.  We know this from his letters written later.  We can get bitter over lifes wrongs or get better by the Spirits help.  There are endless records of John.  He wrote the gospel according to John, 1st-2nd-3rd John as well as the Revelation of Jesus Christ while exiled to the island of Patmos.  I know Jesus loves all His disciples yet there is a special love between Him and those whom, like John, choose to display Jesus through the midst of sufferings in this life.  Paul stated, I want to know Christ more by partaking alongside of my Lords sufferings.  Do you really want to experience a deeper relationship with God?  That path, my friend, is loaded with sufferings!  The temporal sufferings we now experience is never to be compared with the eternal glory that will be revealed soon. Some say he was lucky for being the only one not killed but that would be foolish! I'm sure death didn't scare him and he may have suffered more due to survivors remorse, which is a real thing. Why was I left and all my brothers killed? That, in my opinion, would be more difficult to understand.