He is Yeshu, son of the priest Yuhanna (John). He was born at a Roman village in Gargar and became a monk at the Monastery of the (Akhsnoye) Stranger Ascetics in the Edessa Mountain. He was elevated to the priesthood shortly before 1191 and became renowned for his asceticism. He moved to the Shiro Monastery where he studied Syriac and excelled in calligraphy. He transcribed many manuscripts on vellum in the Estrangelo script. Manuscripts of the Gospels, are in Paris and the Edessene library in Aleppo. He was known as Yeshu the Scribe. When his piety became well-known he was elected as a patriarch of Antioch, was ordained on August 31, 1208 and named Yuhanon (John). He administered the Church for twelve years until his death in 1220.

He was short and his body withered from ascetic practices. Frequently, he was referred to as Yuhanon Akhsnoyo Kothubo (John the Stranger Scribe), after his monastery, the Monastery of the Strangers. We have read by him four odes in the dodecasyllabic meter on repentance. The first ode is arranged according to the letters of the alphabet. It begins thus: "I shall rise and return to my Father like the prodigal son and be forgiven;" the second one begins with: "Everlasting God whose state is concealed from the heavenly beings;" the third, in four pages, begins with: "Brethren; woe to me, a miserable sinner." It is a profound ode. The fourth one begins with: "I am knocking at your door, Merciful Lord. " There is a copy of the last two odes in Paris in which his name is mentioned as Hananyo the Stranger.

John has also a lengthy liturgy beginning thus: "0 Lord and God of peace and safety and love between the heavenly and earthly beings." This liturgy is clearly ascribed to him, in the Paris copies for in it he is referred to as John the Scribe, the Stranger, and the "Short One." In the Jerusalem copy he is referred to as john the Patriarch and the Stranger Scribe." In the Rome copy, transcribed in 1484, he is referred to as "The Patriarch John who is Hananyo the Stranger." This is also how he is referred to in the copies of Basibrin and Diyarbakir. This liturgy has been mentioned by Baumstark. However, our contemporaries like Rahmani have erroneously attributed it to the Patriarch Yuhanna (John) Shay Allah. In fact, Alphonse Mingana attributed his poems to this latter patriarch.

(History of Syriac Literature and Sciences, Patriarch Ignatius Ephrem I Barsoum, Presseggiata Press, p 149)