Why Include John, But Exclude “The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved”?
There is plenty of additional evidence to show that John was not “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. For example, notice how differently the other Gospel writers treat these two. As noted earlier, John upset the rest of the disciples on at least one occasion (Mk. 10:41). Still the other Gospel writers had no problem including him in their Gospels. John’s name appears twenty times in the other three Gospels (excluding citations that refer to John the Baptist). The other Gospel authors report that Jesus selected “Peter and James and John” for special duties (Mt. 17:1, Mk. 13:3 & 14:33, Lu. 8:51, etc.). Also in Luke 22:8 we see that Jesus picked “Peter and John” to go ahead and prepare the place for his last Passover. We will discuss the significance of these ‘special assignments’ a little later. The point being made is that the writers of the other three Gospels are more than willing to tell us about John’s involvement in Jesus’ ministry. They openly refer to John’s presence and his actions
