The apostle John, the son of Zebedee and the brother of the Apostle James, is one of the six characters in the New Testament who bears the name Ἰωάννης "John". After John the Baptist, John Zebedee is the second most frequently mentioned bearer of this name in the New Testament. We encounter him 30 times, especially in the Synoptic Gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles. The article focuses on John Zebedee in the Lukan double work, where he appears in 7 scenes in the Gospel of Luke (5:1–11; 6:12–16; 8:40–56; 9:28–36, 49–50, 51–56; 22:7 –13) and in 6 scenes in the Acts of the Apostles (1:12–14; 3:1–10, 11–26; 4:1–22; 8:14–25; 12:1–2). The detailed exegesis of these texts helps us outline the main characteristics of the portrait of John Zebedee and point out his role and importance in the Gospel of Luke and in the Acts of the Apostles. The Lukan double work clearly indicates that John Zebedee, apart from the Apostle Peter, held an important position in the early Church, which corresponds to Paul’s testimony in Gal 2:9.
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