Jesus about Love

"He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."
1 John 4:8

Jesus spoke frequently and profoundly about love, making it a central theme of his teachings. Here are some of his most important statements about love, with verse references:

Love For God and Neighbor

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Matthew 22:37-40, also Mark 12:30-31

Love One Another as Jesus Loves You

No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:12

“A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.”
John 13:34-35

The Greatest Example of Love

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
John 15:12-13

Demonstrating Love By Actions

“If you love me, keep my commandments.”
John 14:15

“Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
1 John 3:18, though spoken by John, this reflects Jesus’ emphasis on action.

Love That Reflects God’s Nature

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”
Luke  6:27–31

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4:7–8, a teaching originating from Jesus.

These verses together encapsulate Jesus’s instructions that love should be the guiding force in one’s relationship to God, to others, and even to enemies, and that it should be shown in both attitude and action.

Who was the Disciple whom Jesus loved?

The disciple whom Jesus loved is widely believed to be John the Apostle, also known as John the Evangelist. This designation comes specifically from the Gospel of John, where the author refers to himself in this way without explicitly naming himself.

Most biblical scholars and church tradition identify this “beloved disciple” as John, the son of Zebedee, who was one of Jesus’s closest followers and who is attributed as the author of the Gospel of John, the three epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation. If that is so, he must have been a young man at the time of Jesus, as some say he wrote his gospel around the end of the 1st century.

The relationship between Jesus and the disciple whom he loved is described in the New Testament as very close, marked by deep friendship, trust, and spiritual intimacy. John is depicted as part of Jesus’s inner circle, present at key moments such as the Transfiguration and the Last Supper, where he is described as reclining next to Jesus and even resting on his chest, a sign of closeness in the cultural context of the time. The term "intimate" in this context denotes deep personal, spiritual, and emotional closeness, maybe even a romantic involvement.

We don't know if this relationship was romantic or sexual in nature. The intimacy described is typical of deep friendship and mentor-disciple bonds in the ancient Jewish world, where same-gender affection and physical closeness were normal among friends and students. John’s closeness to Jesus reflects both personal affection and spiritual trust, so much so that Jesus entrusted the care of his mother to John at the crucifixion.

The relevant Bible verses are found exclusively in the Gospel of John and highlight the unique relationship between Jesus and this disciple. This disciple is also mentioned in connection with Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, showing his closeness and trustworthiness. The following verses collectively illustrate the special bond between Jesus and "the disciple whom Jesus loved," and are cited in Christian tradition as a testament to the depth of love and commitment evident in this relationship.

1. John 13:23 – “Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.”
2. John 19:26-27 – “When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, 'Dear woman, here is your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.”
3. John 20:2 – “So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’”
4. John 21:7 – “Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’”
5. John 21:20 – “Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, ‘Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?’”
6. John 21:24 (identifying the author) – “This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.”

Alternative Views

Most scholars and religious authorities are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Other than the suggestion that Jesus and John had a romantic or sexual relationship, some alternative theories propose that the “beloved disciple” could be Lazarus:

"So the sisters sent to him, saying, 'Lord, he whom you love is ill.'”
John 11:3

"And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him. And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked."
Matthew 14:51-52

The final alternative is even less acceptable to the church, that his beloved disciple was Mary Magdala, with whom he may have had children whose decendants walk among us today.