According to the long-standing tradition of the Church, John, the son of Zebedee and brother of James, was both an Apostle and the source of the Fourth Gospel. He was moreover the Beloved Disciple. Scholars discuss the validity of this tradition. From a spiritual and faith perspective, any mystery surrounding John's identity serves to highlight one truth: He wrote his Gospel not for his own human glory and reputation but to bring us to faith in Jesus as the Saviour.

We may also note the close connection between John and Peter, especially noted in John's Gospel from the arrest of Jesus in the Garden through to the Acts of the Apostles. John always respectfully deferred to Peter. Both John and Peter were real historical men, but in the Gospel they serve also as symbols, John representing the contemplative and Peter the hierarchical Church.

Meditation teaches us that all of us must have a "Peter dimension" to our lives: we must belong to the Church as faithful followers of Jesus, but we must also be like John, with a contemplative spirit that fosters within us a strong spiritual life that guides us to become, in our own way, Beloved disciples within the Church.