Hey there! So you clicked on this blog probably wondering, “Wait, what!?” but hang on a sec.

There’s a possibility that Apostle John is actually still alive?

Well, maybe.

Let me break it down for you, while that sinks in.

Jesus’s mysterious comment

Consider, in the first place, the peculiar remarks made by Jesus regarding John, when Peter inquired about how John would die. Jesus answered, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” (Jn 21:22). Now, that is not a direct promise that John would live until Jesus came, as John himself points out (Jn 21:23), but it does leave open that possibility.

Historical records

Hippolytus, an ancient historian writes about John getting kicked out to the island of Patmos by King Domitian, where he wrote his Gospel and had some apocalyptic vision. Then, during Trajan’s reign, he was considered to have passed away in Ephesus, but folks couldn’t find his remains (Early Church Fathers, Vol. 5, Hyppolytus on the Twelve Apostles, p535). So, according to the early church, John’s remains were never found and he was consequently PRESUMED dead. Hmm..

Prophecies in Jewish Literature

There is, however, a prophecy in the ancient Jewish literature, the Ascension of Isaiah, that says, these are the days of the completion of the world. A disclaimer here that, I don’t consider non-canonical books trustworthy but this is the same book from which it is understood that Isaiah was sawn in two and killed. So read this with an open mind.

“After it is consummated, Beliar the great ruler, the king of this world, will descend, who hath ruled it since it came into being; yea, he will descent from his firmament in the likeness of a man, a lawless king, the slayer of his mother[Nero–JRJ]: who himself (even) this king. Will persecute the plant which the Twelve Apostles of the Beloved have planted. Of the Twelve one will be delivered into his hands. ” Asc Isa 4:1-3.

Unless God raises up one of the dead apostles, this prophecy strongly suggests that one apostle must survive until Jesus comes, for it is appointed unto men ONCE to die (Heb 9:27).

So did John drink the cup that Jesus prophesied that he would.

The evidence pointing to the fact that John is not dead is compelling, particularly when considering two prophecies that are impossible to fulfill if John passed away a natural death in AD 101. The first prophecy is Jesus’ promise to James and John, the sons of Zebedee (Mk 10:35), that “ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized” (Mk 10:39). This refers to the fate of Jesus’ death on the cross, as mentioned in Jn 18:11, for confessing that He was the Son of God (Mt 26:63-66). According to the Bible, King Herod beheaded James the son of Zebedee to vex the church, seemingly due to James’ testimony that Jesus was the Son of God (Acts 12:2, cp Acts 4:2).

Tertullian documented that John was plunged into boiling oil by the Emperor Domitian in AD 95 (Tertullian, Early Church Fathers, Vol 3, Part Second, The Prescription Against Heretics, Ch 36, p489), and miraculously emerged unscathed. Subsequently, he was sentenced to the mines on Patmos where he received the Revelation. After John was released from Patmos, he returned to Ephesus, from which city he disappeared around AD 100-104. If John died a natural death in Ephesus, as is commonly believed, he did not fulfill the prophecy of drinking the cup that Jesus and James, John’s brother, and all of the other apostles drank. Because God CANNOT lie, and since John did NOT drink the cup that Jesus drank before his disappearance in AD 101, it follows that John must still be alive and is yet to face the fate foreseen by Isaiah.

Prophecy in Revelation that John would preach before many people, nations and KINGS.

The second prophecy that supposedly makes the death of John impossible is the promise Jesus made to John on Patmos. Through His angel, Jesus allegedly promised John, “THOU must prophesy AGAIN before MANY peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (Rev 10:11, cp Rev 1:1). Now, if John was on Patmos in AD 95 when he received and wrote the Revelation, and John was released from Patmos when Nerva came to the throne in AD 96, then it was only 4 years from the time that John was released until he disappeared from Ephesus. At the time of his release, John was nearly 100 years old, and according to history, John was feeble and had to be carried to the services of the church at Ephesus. There is no historical record whatsoever of John fulfilling the prophecy made by the angel in Rev 10:11. There is, however, a promise that John will return and apparently witness to the world at end of the age (see quotation above from Asc Isa 4:1-3). Since God cannot lie, the promise that John must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings must be fulfilled, and in order for it to be fulfilled, there is a likelihood that John is still alive.

Mysterious testimonies

Sadhu Sundar Singh, a well-known Christian evangelist from India in the early 20th century, shared numerous visions and spiritual experiences during his ministry. One of the more intriguing accounts involves his encounter with a man who claimed to have been alive for centuries.

In his biography, it talks about an extraordinary account of finding a three-hundred-year-old man in a mountain cave in Kailas, Tibet with whom he spent some weeks in deep fellowship. These are mountain ranges that are hard to explore, and it’s an unsolved mystery to this day. (Check out Sadhu Sundar Singh’s Encounter at Mount Kailash: The Man Who Lived for Centuries)

My point here is that if Sundar Singh saw a man living for centuries out of plain sight and living there in reclusion, what if we tickle our minds to think John the disciple would be alive as well?

I’m not saying that it is true or it isn’t, but after all, since his body was never found, who knows? Maybe we will get the answers when we reach heaven.