John

John, the brother of James, is remembered as, "The Apostle of Love." Jesus called the two of them, "The Sons of Thunder,{ which suggests that they were men of a fiery temperament. John is described as, "The Disciple whom Jesus loved." The Apostle Paul links him with Peter and James as, "Pillars of the Church," indicating his stature as a leader. There is evidence that he took his brother’s place as head of the church at Jerusalem following James’ death. The chalice and serpent are symbols of a tradition that an attempt was made to kill him with poison; a fate from which he was spared by the intervention of a snake that drank the poison in his stead—an example of alleged exorcism in the early Church.

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