Saint John The Evangelist

Bob Weed – Kingman Lodge # 22

The question “Whence came you?” and the answer, “From a Lodge of the Holy Saints John at Jerusalem” is puzzling. There is no historical evidence that either of the two saints were ever members of the craft. But, as they were adopted as Patron Saints, there came the idea of a sacred Lodge in the Holy City, presided over by the Saints John. No such lodge ever existed. It is simply an ideal but without such ideals, our lives would be dull and drab. The basis of the question and answer is that we come from an ideal or spiritual lodge that each of us builds within the confines of our own minds. That Lodge is supported by Faith and Wisdom, represented by the Holy Saints John. We were placed upon the first step of a Mason to receive from the Worshipful Master those necessary instructions to enable us to build our own Moral and Masonic building. We carry the teachings and codes of Masonry with us in our daily lives in the real world.

IN THE BIBLE

Christian Tradition says that John the Evangelist was one of Christ's original 12 apostles : the only one to live to an old age ( by some accounts 100 years); and not martyred for his faith. John the evangelist is associated with Ephesus, where he is said to have lived and been buried. Some believe that after a long life he was exiled to Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelations.

Wikipedia says this about John.:...John the Evangelist (d. ca. 100 A.D.) Yohanan (standard Hebrew) means “the Lord is Merciful” (also in Tiberian Hebrew .. Beloved Disciple). This is traditionally the name used to refer to the author of the Gospel of John and the 1^st Epistle of John. The identification with the author of the second and third epistles of John and the author of the Book of Revelation is debated. The distinction is that “John the Presbyter” and John of Patmos might be the name of “John the Revelator”. The argument is made that it is a different person due to the difference in tone and method of writing. ( the argument from the other side is that the later epistles and the Book of Revelation were divinely inspired, vice being historical or instructional)

The word SAINT comes from the Latin 'Sanctus' meaning : One officially recognized, especially through canonization, as preeminent for holiness; or one known for piety or virtue. A patron saint is a saint to whose protection and intercession a person, a society, church, or a place is dedicated. It can also mean an original leader or prime exemplar.

The word APOSTLE comes comes from the Latin word apostolus which means to send. The dictionary says that an apostle is one who is sent on a mission, or a a person who initiates a great moral reform or who first advocates an important belief or system.

Freemasonry evolved from the trade guilds of the middle ages. The trade guilds adopted one or more patron saints to represent their guild and to ensure their success. Remember, the men were probably deeply religious but they were also very superstitious. Therefor they felt the need to rely on saints and other supernatural benefactors for aid, assistance and protection.

British lodges and lodges that follow the British model (India, Australia, and most of the rest of the world) have taught the following traditions.....and legends:

Masonic tradition and our lectures tell us that originally all lodges were consecrated to the GAOTU and dedicated to King Solomon as the mythical founder of Craft Masonry and its first most excellent grand master.

From the time of the Babylonian captivity to the coming of the Great Teacher the lodges were dedicated to Zerubbabel (the builder of the second temple).

From the time of the carpenter from Nazareth to the final destruction of the Temple by Titus, lodges were dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

Because of the many massacres and disorders which attended the final destruction of the temple, Freemasonry sank into decay. At a general meeting of the Craft, it was decided that the principal reason for the decline was the lack of a Grand Master to patronize it.

Masonic leaders of the day deputized 7 of their number to call on Saint John The Evangelist, who, at the time was the Bishop of Ephesus, requesting him to assume the office of Grand Master. He responded that, although he was well advanced in years ( about 90), yet having been in the early part of his life initiated into Masonry, he would accept the office. He completed by his training and learning, what St. John the Baptist had completed by his zeal. He thus drew what Freemasons term Parallel lines. Since that time, Masonic Lodges have been dedicated to the Holy Saints John. (Most of this is pure myth , no matter how logical it might sound.)

Lodges in the US are dedicated to the Holy Saints John which is why, in every well regulated lodge, there is a certain point within a circle bordered by two perpendicular lines representing these two saints. Although there are references to the Holy Saint John in various Lodges centuries ago, Masonic Scholars agree that only when the Grand Lodge was formed in England in 1717 were Freemasons found to hold festival meetings on either or both June 24 and December 27. (prior to that time, the parallel lines were said to represent Moses [faith] and Solomon[wisdom]) In 1812 the UGL of England adopted the change to the Holy Saints John to eliminate any charges of sectarianism.

One reference stated that “Saint John the Baptist was the original saint of Freemasonry and when a candidate was raised, he underwent a Masonic 'Baptism'. The act of baptism was common in the operative Lodges. As the years passed there was heated discussion of the practice. Many claimed it was an imitation of the Christian sacrament, and that part of the ritual was stricken for all time. ( If they had known the true origin of the purification by water, they would have understood that the act of baptism was in existence long before Christianity or John the Baptist.)

After the lodges dropped the ceremony of baptism, the symbol of the white apron was born and the symbolism of the Masonic baptism was transferred to the apron. At this time, Saint John the Evangelist was added as being symbolic of the “brotherhood of man”. Saint John the Evangelist was designated as the Patron of the Fellowship and Brotherly Love embodied within the lodge. Saint John the Baptist was the patron of the newly raised Master Mason ( symbolic of not just a new member but a new brother dedicating himself to the fraternity).

OK, Saint John th Evangelist. He was one of the 12. He was also known as:

St. John the Divine

St. John the Theologian

St. John of Charity

St. John the Apostle

He was the son of Zebedee, and the brother of St. James the Great, and he and his brother were called the sons of thunder. He was called the beloved disciple and was the only one of the 12 who did not forsake the Great Teacher at the hour of his Death. It was there, at Golgotha, that the Great Teacher made him the guardian of His Mother.

Hew spent his later life in Jerusalem and Ephesus. He founded many churches in Asia Minor , and later became the patron saint of Asia Minor. He lived to an extreme old age dying in approximately 101 A.D.. He died in Ephesus, where a stately church was erected over his tomb. It was later converted to a beautiful mosque.

In his old age, when unable to do more, he was carried into the assembly at Ephesus where he said, Little children, love one another. He remarked that if they followed his simple commandment, it would be enough.

By History, custom, tradition and ritualistic requirements, the Craft holds dear the days of Saint John the Baptist on June 24 and Saint John the Evangelist on December 27.

Saint John The Evangelist came into our fraternal system sometime around the close of the 16^th century. We find the earliest reference to St. John the Evangelist in Edinborough about 1599.

“St. John's Masonry” is a distinctive term for Scottish Lodges, many of the older of which took the name of the Saint. In its early records, the Lodge of Scion and Perth is often called the Lodge of Saint John, and the Lodge possesses a beautiful mural painting of the Saint on the east wall of the Lodge room.

The real explanation of the significance of the Holy Saints John in Freemasonry is not to be found in the history of the craft. It is found in the dim and remote history of religion. The festival days of the Saints are as old as the ancient systems of worship of fire and sun. Old Feasts and festival days were not lightly given up. Hence, clever men in the early days of Christianity turned pagan festivals to Christian usage. The old celebrations of summer and winter solstice became the Saints Johns' days of the middle ages.

Saint John the Baptist was a stern, just man; intolerant of sham, pretense or weakness of spirit.

He was a man of mighty faith and scorned those who were weak and succumbed to the temptations of the earthly world.

Saint John the Evangelist has had a many books written about him. He is recognized the world over as the apostle of love and light, the bringer of comfort to the grief stricken. He brought courage to the weak, help to the helpless and strength to the failing. All of the writings of Saint John the Evangelist would fit into a very small booklet but ancient legends about him persist. Among them are the following:

(this came from the book The Man in White by Johnny Cash)

1 – Emperor Dometian had him brought to Rome, beaten, poisoned and thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil. The cauldron got so red hot that it burst , but John stepped out unharmed from the fire and oil and was banished to Patmos instead.

2 -Aboard ship, he purified vessels of seawater for drinking.

3 – The ship was wrecked and all but St. John were killed. He was washed up on the shore of Ephesus at the feet of one of his followers.

To this day, pilgrims to his tomb, claim that on the anniversary of his burial every year, the air is filled with sweet smelling dust and the lucky few who are in the tomb at the time are healed.

When we stop to consider that each of the 12 original disciples carried a slightly different message to the world, and all were martyred, with the single exception of the Evangelist and his simple message of Brotherly Love, should we accept that as an omen or sign of what the Great Architect of the Universe really wanted mankind to know?

Is the importance of the simple message of Brotherly Love so strong that it has served as the very footstone of Freemasonry for all of these countless centuries?

Each Mason must find his own answers to those questions. In your search for answers, remember the Worshipful Master's benediction at the closing of every Masonic Lodge:

“May Brotherly Love prevail, and every moral and social virtue cement us.”

© Copyright 2007. Kingman Lodge No. 22, F.&A.M.; Grand Lodge of Arizona. All rights reserved.