s knit with the soul of
David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul, so at this first meeting
the soul of John was knit with the soul of Jesus in a holy friendship
which brought unspeakable good to his life. There was that in Jesus
which at once touched all that was best in John, and called out the
sweetest music of his soul.

"Thou shall know him when he comes
Not by any din of drums,
Nor the vantage of his airs;
Neither by his crown,
Nor by his gown,
Nor by anything he wears.
He shall only well-known be
By the holy harmony
That his coming makes in thee!"

John calls himself the "disciple whom Jesus loved." This designation
gives him a distinction even among the Master's personal friends.
Jesus loved all the apostles, but there were three who belonged in an
inner circle. Then, of these three, John was the best beloved. We are
not told what it was in John that gave him this highest honor. He was
probably a cousin of Jesus, as it is thought by many that their mothers
were sisters. This blood relationship, however, would not account for
the strong love that bound them together. There must have been certain
qualities in John which fitted him in a peculiar way for being the
closest friend of Jesus.

We know that John's personality was very winning. He was only a
fisherman, and in his youth lacked opportunities for acquiring
knowledge or refinement. If Mary and Salome were sisters, the blood of
David's line was in John as well as in Jesus. It is something to have
back of one's birth a long and noble descent. Besides, John was one of
those rare men "who appear to be formed of finer clay than their
neighbors, and cast in a gentler mould." Evidently he was by nature a
man of sympathetic spirit, one born to be a friend.

The study of John's writings helps us to answer our question. Not once
in all his Gospel does he refer to himself by name; yet as one reads
the wonderful chapters, one is aware of a spirit, an atmosphere, of
sweetness. There are fields and meadows in which the air is laden with
fragrance, and yet no flowers can be seen. But looking closely, one
finds, low on the ground, hidden by the tall grasses, a multitude of
little lowly flowers. It is from these that the perfume comes. In
every community there are humble, quiet lives, almost unheard of among
men, who shed a subtle influence on all about them. Thus it is in the
chapters of John's Gospel. The name of the write