Well as we’ve seen, the gospel of John is very different than the sinoptic gospels in it’s style, it’s language, and it’s content. In every text that John mentions the beloved disciple, he is mysteriously absent of the parallel in the sinoptic gospels. In fact, the sinoptics don’t even speak of this unknown figure. One text that gives reference to “disciple whom Jesus loved” is John 20, 2, when the evangelist tells that he accompanied Peter to the empty tomb, but it doesn’t reveal his name. The sinoptic gospels have a different version of the story. Matthew and Mark only speak of the women that found the empty tomb. Luke says first that Peter when running to the tomb, then in Luke 24, 24 he contradicts himself saying that “some of those with us went to the tomb,” changing his story. We see that the sinoptics didn’t give a single reference to the beloved disciple, but that John was the only one to speak of him. For this reason we cannot be sure of the name of this disciple.
In another of these differences, John tells us that the beloved disciple was at the foot of the cross with the women in John 19, 25-27, but the sinoptic gospels name only the women and don’t refer to the disciple (Matthew 27, 55-56; Mark 15, 40-41; Lucas 23, 49). It’s an important detail from this famous scene that John tells, but that the sinoptics opted to exclude. This happens many times in the gospel and there is no way to know exactly why. We don’t know if perhaps the author knew something that those that wrote before him didn’t.
With these texts, and any other in the gospel of John, we see that there is never anything said of this beloved disciple. But if we realize, it doesn’t mention the disciple John either. Could this be a coincidence? Some believe this to be true, and others believe that the reason his name doesn’t appear in the gospel is because John himself is the author.
But beyond his authorship of the Gospel, the beloved disciple, whether fact or fiction can be seen as the ideal disciple. Every time he is mentioned, it is to show us what a disciple should do. Obviously, the disciples should have been with Jesus throughout His passion and death. That’s why the beloved disciple is at the foot of the cross. Unlike Peter who seems to always be messing up, it is the beloved or ideal disciple that comes through to show his dedication to the Lord.