r nowhere appears, but
the charm of his spirit pervades the whole book.

In the designation which he adopts for himself, there is a fine
revealing of character. There is a beautiful self-obliteration in the
hiding away of the author's personality that only the name and glory of
Jesus may be seen. There are some good men, who, even when trying to
exalt and honor their Lord, cannot resist the temptation to write their
own name large, that those who see the Master may also see the Master's
friend. In John there is an utter absence of this spirit. As the
Baptist, when asked who he was, refused to give his name, and said he
was only a voice proclaiming the coming of the King, so John spoke of
himself only as one whom the Master loved.

We must note, too, that he does not speak of himself as the disciple
who loved Jesus,--this would have been to boast of himself as loving
the Master more than the other disciples did,--but as the disciple whom
Jesus loved. In this distinction lies one of the subtlest secrets of
Christian peace. Our hope does not rest in our love for Jesus, but in
his love for us. Our love at the best is variable in its moods.
To-day it glows with warmth and joy, and we say we could die for
Christ; to-morrow, in some depression, we question whether we really
love him at all, our feeling responds so feebly to his name. A peace
that depends on our loving Christ is as variable as our own
consciousness. But when it is Christ's love for us that is our
dependence, our peace is undisturbed by any earthly changes.

Thus we find in John a reposeful spirit. He was content to be lowly.
He knew how to trust. His spirit was gentle. He was of a deeply
spiritual nature. Yet we must not think of him as weak or effeminate.
Perhaps painters have helped to give this impression of him; but it is
one that is not only untrue, but dishonoring. John was a man of noble
strength. In his soul, under his quietness and sweetness of spirit,
dwelt a mighty energy. But he was a man of love, and had learned the
lesson of divine peace; thus he was a self-controlled man.

These are hints of the character of the disciple whom Jesus loved, whom
he chose to be his closest friend. He was only a lad when Jesus first
met him, and we must remember that the John we chiefly know was the man
as he developed under the influence of Jesus. What Jesus saw in the
youth who sat down beside him in his lodging-place that day, drank in
his wo