This will be a quick one.
I am convinced that John used this expression about himself very deliberately. (Eg John 13:23)
This way of talking about himself might seem somewhat boastful. He never refers to himself by name, or as “me” only as “the disciple Jesus loved.”
But my point of view is that he used this description as a deliberate alternative to “the disciple who loved Jesus”, which no doubt, he did.
John states in his first letter that “We love, because he (meaning God) first loved us.”
In other words, our ability to love as Christians (to love God and to love our neighbour) is the fruit and result of God’s amazing love towards us, working powerfully in us.
John is not suggesting Jesus loved him more than anyone else, but simply that Jesus loved him before John loved him back. From this point of view, I find this phrase quite touching and humbly true.
We likewise could refer to ourselves as the disciples Jesus loved.
