There was reclining on Jesus’ breast one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. John 13:23
One of my favorite studies is on the descriptive names of God that shows His many attributes. One of those names is El Shaddai, which in many English translations is Almight God. But, according to Genesis 17:1 in the Hebrew it means so much more. It is the first time El Shaddai is used and God describes Himself here to Abram when He first promises that he will be the father of many. His descriptive name is in relation to fruitfulness. descendants and nurturing. Because the hebrew word shad means breast.
Because Jesus came to show us God as our Father we often forget about His other attributes. In this case, God’s caring, compassionate, tender and nurturing side, which Jesus showed us so often. It was what John connected with in Jesus when he called himself the disciple Jesus loved. John saw Jesus through different eyes than His other followers, he saw Jesus’ heart. It is this deep selfless love that led Him to be beaten, whipped, tortured and crucified and become sin itself to satisfy the wrath of God. When His sacrifice was accepted, He then made the way for our sins to be paid for and forgiven when accept Him as our Savior and Lord.
What a beautiful picture of rest and trusting in Jesus of John leaning on His chest, next to His heart and receiving all of Who Jesus is. But the best news is, we can have that same kind of rest and trusting, because Jesus doesn’t change. The difference between John and the other followers is that John opened himself up to not only seeing Jesus in all His beautiful facets, but wanting to reflect them himself. The best way we can become more like Jesus, is to read His Word, learn of Him and His ways that they become a part of us. When this happens, we too then will reflect His beauty for all to see.
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