Apostle John

John was born in Galilee to his father Zebedee and mother Salome. John was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, along with his older brother James, who was beheaded in Jerusalem (Acts 12:2). John and James were fishermen on Lake Galilee, and Jesus called them to follow him along with Andrew and Peter.

At the beginning of the Roman attack on Jerusalem, around 66, John moved to the city of Ephesus in the Roman province of Asia with an unknown number of Christians. Because of Paul’s earlier three-year ministry in Ephesus, there was a growing Christian community there when John arrived.

John served as the bishop of Ephesus and the Roman province of Asia for the next thirty years. He wrote the Gospel of John, three letters, and the book of Revelation. John lived to an old age and died a natural death in Ephesus around 95.

Today, you can visit the Church of the Apostle John that was built over his grave.