John had a very strong personality, the type that took a bulldozer with whale-sized harrows to move... dude could die for an opinion and would go to any extent to establish his point of view – even if it meant burning down an entire village... sounds like a new testament Elijah without regards for the change in covenants...
One wouldn’t really blame this assertive bum, not with an elder brother like James around... Day in day out in the coasts of Capernaum, brawls broke out on fishing turfs and these brothers came to adapt to the coarse lifestyle of staying firm with your opinions even if you were wrong... That was the only way to earn respect on the turf... either you toughen up or you just get your “weak” self out of the way!
It was never a case of “let’s reason” but “you’ve got to see things my own way ...else”... you know the caustic drill... Business was good; money was never a problem with a large fishing trough berthing every day with tons of sea merchandise for a vibrant commercial nerve in Israel; strategic partnerships with the likes of Pete & Andy made sure, competition was low; mama had the home front on check; & everything was all dandy except for the fact that John’s bigotry had the whole dock clamouring for his skin.
No doubts, John was one of the finest around as far as fish game was concerned (That’s why the customers could not resist his merchandise) but this bigotry, brashness & strong personality was fast chopping off the good graces... The reason why Johnnie did not have to think for long to follow Jesus...
Even after hooking up with Jesus, it took a while to get his bigotry out of the way... remember when the disciples were asked to go to Samaria to prepare the way for Jesus? John & his brother suggested they call down fire from heaven to consume the entire village, just because the village would not receive their gospel... Sci-fi!
Same John came to be known as “John the divine”, the only one to be given that title... he so spent time immersing himself in the love of Christ that he was the only one amongst all the apostles to flesh out the love of God towards man in all his writings... No wonder he called himself the “disciple whom Jesus loved”... Doubt not that this understanding is the reason why he was the only one to stay with Jesus through his ordeal, even to the cross, after the rest had scampered and stayed scattered...
Selfish Johnnie was so transformed to the extent that even after being dropped in boiling oil... pause, rewind & replay... “boiling oil”... He came out unscathed... wow! A clear evidence that he was not just flipping pages when he wrote that “love conquers all fears, ills, persecutions & challenges...”
If anyone deserved to be given the visions in Revelations, do you think it would have be Johnnie? How could God trust a man that was once selfish to the “ISH” to proclaim this vision? God doesn’t see the way we see!
Even if you are struggling with selfishness and the weakness of bigotry (it’s not a weakness in all cases), God will still use you... are there times when you feel like you simply cannot apprehend this “Love” message? Look up the books of 1st, 2nd, & 3rd John for consolation and see a man that was once worse than you reel love like a cinema screen!
Allow the potter do his work...Your selfishness is not an excuse... Remember... Jesus never asked for golden, silver or diamond vessels... He only needed yielded vessels... yielded vessels usually bear ills but always turn out to be the best vessels for transmission...
