1-3 Letter of John

8/14/2019 1-3 Letter of John

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This first letter of John, inseparable from his Gospel, reminds us that the Christian wayis nothing less than a divinization: our own.

From all time the Christian ideal has seemed too pale or too narrow for many people.Without directly criticizing the values of Christianity and its benefits to humanity, they sawit as limiting people. We think of all those, like Marx, who affirmed that a real human lib-eration involves a struggle against faith. We think of those who today rely on science towiden the possibilities of life. We again think of all those who, shunning western activism,seek in oriental wisdom a way to the Absolute which they have failed to see in Christianfaith.

Even for Christians, the sentimental religion springing from enthusiasm for Jesus, thegood Master teaching universal love, often hides an ignorance of the ambitions of faith. Forin Jesus it is God himself we want to reach, we are seekers of truth and we want to mergeinto this truth from which we have come.

John affirms in this first letter: If you have the Son of God you have total truth, you areon the way to authentic love and you are in communion with God himself.

However, perhaps, we are deceiving ourselves when we pretend to be in Christ. This iswhy John specifies the criteria, the conditions enabling us to verify if we are truly walkingin the light and living in Love:

In Christ we recognize God himself; yet we must always remember to interiorize hisactions, his mission, his way of being human. We believe we have been reborn from God: that does not mean that we are above his

commandments, nor that we should neglect daily efforts to be worthy of him. Faith has renewed our knowledge of God. What matters most is to understand his

love and, for that, there is no better teaching than that of the cross.

This letter of John seeks to settle many doubts and confusion concerning Christian faith.It was written when Gnosticism or knowledge was beginning. Gnosticism involved anelaborate system that included many elements, already present in the so-called Asian reli-gions, namely, from the Roman province of Asia, todays Turkey. Paul had already encoun-

tered them some thirty years before (see Captivity Letters) and now John was noticing theexpansion of Gnosticism.

The Gospel of John had freed from all ambiguity the faith in Christ, Son of God and di-vine person, born from God and having returned to God. But Gnostics were always ready to


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grasp onto beliefs they ran across in order to recast them into their endless tales. Gnosticstried to integrate the person of Jesus into their intellectual dialectics, their conflicts of angelsand spiritual powers. Jesus did come from God although he was only a spirit. He only had ahuman appearance and he did not die for us. Redemption continues to be a process throughwhich divine sparks come out of matter and what matters to them is to know the secrets ofthese celestial conflicts. Gnostics claimed to be spiritual and yet, while they condemned mar-

riage, they did not see anything wrong with sexual freedom.Therefore, it was necessary to reaffirm that Jesus was fully human: he was the Christ

who had come in the flesh. Several times, the letter will refer to the sacrifice and to the bloodof Jesus.

Some people think that this letter sought to correct some abusive interpretations thatcould be given of Johns Gospel. It must have been written around 95100.

1 JOHN 1854


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1This is what has been fromthe beginning, and what we

have heard and have seen with ourown eyes, what we have looked atand touched with our hands, I meanthe Wordwho is Life

2The Lifemade itselfknown, wehave seen Eternal Life and we bearwitness, and we are telling you of it.It was with the Father and made him-self known to us.

3So we tell you what we haveseen and heard, that you may be infellowship with us, and us, with theFather and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

4And we write this that our joy

may be complete.

Walk in the light

5We heard his message fromhim and announce it to you: God islight and there is no darkness in him.

16 If we say we are in fellowship

with him, while we walk in darkness,we lie instead of being in truth. 7Butif we walk in the light, as he is in thelight, we are in fellowship with oneanother, and the blood of Jesus, the

Son of God, purifies us from all sin.8 If we say, We have no sin, we

deceive ourselves and the truth is notin us. 9 If we confess our sins, he whois faithful and just will forgive us oursins and cleanse us from all wicked-ness.

10 If we say that we do not sin, wemake God a liar, his word is not inus.

Fulfill the commandment of love

1My little children, I write to youthat you may not sin. But if any-

one sins, we have an intercessor withthe Father, Jesus Christ, the Just

2

1.1 The Word: see John 1:1. John willnot speak about miracles, or revelations, or se-

crets jealously kept by some initiates. The truththat he relates to us is both simpler and moredivine than all this: God, the Eternal Life, hascome to live with us.

Life became visible. Do not look for mira-cles or miraculous powers. Do not expect fan-tastic revelations about the beyond. Life wasrevealed as the gift of the Father, the rebirth ofa humanity without hope, the divine smile, theunexpected visit of the one seeking to sharehis life with humans (Pro 8:31). We will notfind life in mere books, but through commun-ion with those who have seen and experiencedit before us, and who became his Church.

5. But if we walk in the light: this is theChristian life.

Over and beyond other truths which peoplediscover, there is a light (an evidence or a pres-ence) which is total Truth and which cannot bedivided: one is or is not in the light. It does notgive knowledge directly, but affects the wholeperson who acts, lives, and walks in the Light.Those walking in faith discover this light andfind themselves freed from many obstacles:

the partial vision of one who is enthusias-tic for a cause but ignores other issues that areequally important, of one who orders one partof his life but leaves in disorder other parts;

the restlessness of one who does not havea goal and who silences his doubts by throwing

himself into frantic activity; the sectarianism that prevents us frombeing universal brothers and sisters.

Little by little faith opens for us a global vi-sion of human reality. The first criterion toknow if we are walking in the light: have wegiven up sin? John here denies what certainpeople say: Since we are Christians, we areunited to God and so the sins of the body arenot important.

John declares that if we decide for God, wecannot continue to surrender to sin. Obviously,no one is without sin; we all need the salvationof Christ; but forgiveness itself compels useven more to stay away from sin.

John invites us to confess our sins to God,that is to say, to admit humbly before God thatwe have sinned, but with confidence in hiskindness. If this attitude were not present, thesacrament of confession would be worthless.On the other hand, confessing our sins in thesacrament of penance helps us keep our heartsopen to God.

2.1 Second criterion for love of God: toobey the commandments that are summarizedin love. Do we perhaps pretend to know Godand to believe? If so, it must be measured bythe love we have for others.

2:13;Jn 1:1;

1:14

Jn 1:4

Jn 17:20;1Cor 1:9

Jn 8:12;3:12

Heb 9:4;Rev 1:5

Pro 20:9;1K 8:46;Job 9:2

Rom8:34;

Heb 7:25

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One. 2He is the sacrificial victim forour sins and the sins of the wholeworld.

3How can we know that we knowhim? If we fulfill his commands.

4 If you say, I know him, but do

not fulfill his commands, you are aliar and the truth is not in you. 5But ifyou keep his word, Gods love ismade complete in you. This is howwe know that we are in him:

6he who claims to live in himmust live as he lived.

7My dear friends, I am not writingyou a new commandment, but re-minding you of an old one, one you

had from the beginning. This oldcommandment is the word you haveheard.

8But, in a way, I give it as a newcommandment that is true in himand in you, because the darkness ispassing away and the true light al-ready shines.

9 If you claim to be in the light buthate your brother, you are still indarkness.

10 If you love your brothers andsisters, you remain in the light andnothing in you will make you fall.11But if you hate your brother you arein the dark and walk in darkness

without knowing where you go, forthe darkness has blinded you.

12My dear children, I write this toyou: you have already received theforgiveness of your sins through theName of Jesus. 13Fathers, I write this

to you: you know him who is fromthe beginning. Young men, I writethis to you: you have overcome theEvil One. My dear children, I write toyou because you already know theFather.

14Fathers, I write to you becauseyou know him who is from the be-ginning. Young men, I write to youbecause you are strong and the Word

of God lives in you who have indeedovercome the Evil One.

15Do not love the world or whatis in it. If anyone loves the world, thelove of the Father is not in him.

16For everything in the worldthe craving of the flesh,the greed of eyesand people boasting of their su-

periorityall this belongs to the world, not

to the Father.17The world passes away with all

its craving but those who do the willof God remain for ever.

An old commandment, because it is thefirst one we learned in the Church; a new com-mandment, because the world must con-stantly, and in new ways, discover the powerof love.

15. Third criterion: not to love the world.Note how John begins by rejoicing with hisreaders because they know the Father. It is nota matter of hating the world that Christ cameto save (see commentary on Jn 3:17). Yet thelife and history of people manifest a deepalienation: this is the power of the evil spirit.John calls the world all the evil current pre-vailing in it. According to John the world isthe deceitful life which people live when theycease to seek the Fathers will, and when theyoppose Christ. Two contrary forces coexist inthis world of ours and also in people: what

comes from the Father and is forever; andwhat is planned and desired by humans whenthey forget their condition and dignity as chil-dren of God: greed and pride that lead them todeath.

There is something more to say about thisnot loving the world. Even though all thatcomes from God is good: the sunlight, love,what emerges from human intelligence andhands, yet the whole creation is worth nothingif we compare it with God.

As long as we look upon the world as thegreat gift that God gave us and we feel ac-countable to him for its progress and develop-ment, the world is good for us. As soon as weconsider the world as our thing, use it or neg-lect it according to our fancy, or if we think wecan change it alone and by force, it becomesour worst enemy, an idol that enslaves us and

Col 1:20

Jn 14:21

Jn 13:34;15:12;

Rom13:12

Pro 4:18

Jn 12:35

Rom12:2;

Jn 17:14;Jas 4:4

1Cor7:31

1 JOHN 2 1856


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Reject the antichrist

18My dear children, it is the lasthour. You were told that an antichristwould come; but several antichristshave already come, by which weknow that it is now the last hour.

19They went out from us thoughthey did not really belong to us. Hadthey belonged to us, they would haveremained with us. So it became clearthat not all of us were really ours.

20But you have the anointing fromthe Holy One, so that all of you havetrue wisdom.

21 I write to you, not because youlack knowledge of the truth, but be-cause you already know it, and lieshave nothing in common with thetruth. 22Who is the liar?

The one who denies that Jesus isthe Christ.

This is an antichrist, who deniesboth the Father and the Son. 23Theone who denies the Son is withoutthe Father, and those who acknowl-

edge the Son also have the Father.24Let what you heard from the be-ginning remain in you. If what you

heard from the beginning remains inyou, you, too, will remain in the Sonand in the Father. 25And this is thepromise he himself gave us: eternallife.

26 I write this to you thinking of

those who try to lead you astray.27You received from him an

anointing, and it remains in you, soyou do not need someone to teachyou. His anointing teaches you allthings, it speaks the truth and doesnot lie to you; so remain in him, andkeep what he has taught you.

28And now, my children, live inhim, so that when he appears in hisglory, we may be confident and notashamed before him when hecomes.

29You know that he is the JustOne: know then that anyone livingjustly is born of God.

1See what singular love the Fa-ther has for us: we are called

children of God, and we really are.This is why the world does not knowus, because it did not know him.

3

is the source of rivalries. Christians committhemselves to the world (first case) but not withthe world (second case). They keep their free-dom as children of God or they are no longersons and daughters because of their love forthe world.

18. Fourth criterion: to be sure we arewalking in the Light, we must reject the an-tichrist and remain steadfast in the faith and inwhat faith teaches. The believers of Johnsdays knew that before the glorious return ofChrist, an antichrist would appear. John says:the person who denies that Jesus is the Christalready is an antichrist. Today there are stillmany people who make a distinction: on onehand the man Jesus, lost in the mist of legendand on the other hand an idealized Christadored by believers. John says: The one whohas come in history, he himself is eternalGod.

You received from him an anointing, andit remains in you. John not only speaks of the

anointing of oil in baptism and confirmation.Christ signifies precisely, he who isanointed, and this anointing was the presencein him of the Spirit of God, his Father. Johnadds: You cannot receive passively just any in-struction in the Church, but you must discernwhether the word of God is being faithfullytransmitted.

His anointing (Spirit) teaches you allthings. In writing that, John had in mind theprophets who were the animators of thechurches: through their inspired words theSpirit taught the community (see Acts 14:2and 1 Thes 5:19). Today the Spirit also main-tains us in the truth through the leaders of thecommunity and those who teach but we arenot dispensed from seeking by ourselves themeaning of the Word and discerning what oth-ers tell us.

3.1 Here begins the second part of theletter: we are Gods children and we must liveas such. How do we prove that we are Gods

2Thes2:4;

1Tim 4:1

Acts20:30;

1Cor11:19

2Cor1:21;

Jn 14:26

Jn 8:44

Mt10:33;

Jn 5:23

Jn 15:7

Jn 17:2

Jn 16:13

1Cor 1:8

Jn 16:3;1Cor1:21

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2Beloved, we are Gods childrenand what we shall be has not yetbeen shown. Yet when he appears inhis glory, we know that we shall belike him, for then we shall see him ashe is. 3All who have such a hope try

to be pure as he is pure.4Anyone who commits a sin acts

as an enemy of the law of God; anysin acts wickedly, because all sin iswickedness. 5You know that he cameto take away our sins, and that thereis no sin in him. 6Whoever remainsin him has no sin, whoever sins hasnot seen or known him.

7My little children, do not be ledastray; those who do what is right areupright, just as Jesus Christ is up-right. 8But those who sin belong tothe devil, for the devil sins from thebeginning.

This is why the Son of God wasshown to us, he was to undo theworks of the devil.

9Those born of God do not sin, forthe seed of God remains in them;they cannot sin because they are

born of God.10What is the way to recognize the

children of God and those of the de-vil? The one who does not do what isright is not of God; so, too, the onewho does not love his brother or sis-ter.

11For this is the message taught toyou from the beginning: we mustlove one another. 12Do not imitate

Cain who killed his brother, for he be-longed to the Evil One. Why did hekill him? Because he himself did eviland his brother did good.

13So, be not surprised, brothers ifthe world hates us; 14we love our

children? According to the same criteria thatwe have already seen: breaking away from sin,

keeping the commandment of love, proclaim-ing our faith. There are many ways of sayingwe are Gods children. One person might sim-ply think: God loves people means thathuman beings have great dignity. Here Johncalls our attention to two points:

you are sons and daughters, but in orderto become like God, do not seek anything elsebut to be perfect as God is perfect;

you are children who will return to the Fa-ther. Do you really think about the unique andtranscendent end for which God has chosenyou? Being aware of this, let us understandthat God purifies us in a thousand ways, be-cause only in this way can we attain our goal.

We shall be like him: sharing all that God isand somehow becoming God with God (see1 Cor 13:13). Those who now bear their livesof suffering with Christ will be transfigured likehim (Mk 9; Col 3:4). Then the universe willreach its goal, having the children of God asits center (Rom 8:19) or better, the New Crea-ture.

Those born of God do not sin (v. 9). Thisappears exaggerated, but being children ofGod is not a fantasy: we have really begun alife in truth and in love. To the person who hasbeen reborn, it becomes impossible to commitreal sin: to deliberately refuse to love, or to for-

give or to continue to struggle. But we pray tothe Father: Lead us not

7. Keeping the commandment of love iswhat distinguishes Gods children.

Most people are accustomed to thinkingthat the world is divided into two opposed fac-tions. Some see an exploiter or exploited inevery person. Others see only liberals and con-servatives. Others see black and white. Johntells us what is the dividing line between peo-ple: those who love and those who do notlove. Because believers are in the camp ofthose who love, they will be persecuted. Theircompanions and compatriots will not forgivebelievers for not sharing their own hatred andsectarianism.

He who hates his brother is a murderer.All murders and massacres spring from hatredand grudges. When war suddenly devastates acountry, it is due to the fact that many peoplewere resentful toward others, and others, ineven greater numbers, refused to make sacri-fices to settle their difficulties and tensions.

The practice of love never weakens us ascan happen with other forms of sacrifice donewithout love. Rather, it transforms us intoGods likeness and we are no longer fearful ordistrustful of him.

Every time it (conscience) reproaches us.Doubtless John wishes to say that God knows

Jn 1:12;Rom 8:16;Gal 4:4;

Phil 3:21;Col 3:4;

Rev 22:4;2Cor 3:18

2Cor 7:1

Jn 1:29;1P 2:22

Jn 8:34;Mk 1:24;Jn 12:31

Jn 13:34

Heb 11:4

Jn 15:18;5:24

1 JOHN 3 1858


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brothers and sisters, and with this weknow that we have passed fromdeath to life. The one who does notlove remains in death.

15The one who hates his brother isa murderer, and, as you know, eter-

nal life does not remain in the mur-derer.

16This is how we have knownwhat love is: he gave his life for us.We, too, ought to give our life for ourbrothers and sisters.

17 If anyone enjoys the riches ofthis world, but closes his heart whenhe sees his brother or sister in need,how will the love of God remain in

him? 18My dear children, let us lovenot only with words and with our lips,but in truth and in deed.

19Then we shall know that we areof the truth and we may calm ourconscience in his presence. 20Everytime it reproaches us, let us say: Godis greater than our conscience, andhe knows everything.

21When our conscience does notcondemn us, dear friends, we mayhave complete confidence in God.22Then whatever we ask we shall re-ceive, since we keep his commandsand do what pleases him.

23His command is that we believein the Name of his Son Jesus Christand that we love one another, as hehas commanded us.

24Whoever keeps his commandsremains in God and God in him. It is

by the Spirit God has given us thatwe know he lives in us.

Do not trust every inspiration

1My beloved, do not trust everyinspiration. Test the spirits to see

whether they come from God, be-cause many false prophets are nowin the world.

2How will you recognize the spirit

of God? Any spirit recognizing Jesusas the Christ who has taken our fleshis of God. 3But any spirit that doesnot recognize Jesus is not from God,it is the spirit of the antichrist. Youhave heard of his coming and evennow he is in the world.

4You, my dear children, are ofGod and you have already overcomethese people, because the one whois in you is more powerful than hewho is in the world.

5They are of the world and theworld inspires them and those of theworld listen to them.

4

and judges us better than we can ourselves. Hedoes it with a love that is lacking in us. Weshould beware of the guilt feelings for faultswhich we have regretted and doubtless re-paired: this form of anguish encloses us withinourselves instead of turning to God who knowswhat to do with ruined lives and make themnew again.

To believe in the Name (v. 23), that is tosay, in the divinity of Christ.

4.1 John underlined the role of the HolySpirit to guide us in the truth, but now he isdealing with the case of the prophets who donot speak according to the faith received fromthe apostles through the Church.

There have always been conflicts betweenthose in authority and those who speak freely.It should be clear that no inspired personwould ever be able to speak against the tradi-

tional faith of the Church. What if it deals withways of being or doing in the Church? Mustwe always support the people in charge in allcircumstances? That would be to forget thatthe Gospel forms free people. We must neverblindly follow the opinion of the pope, or thebishop, or the majority. It is our responsibilityto think for ourselves and to evaluate accordingto the criteria of the Gospel.

Can we then favor those who seem to beguided by the Spirit? If the Holy Spirit reallyinspires them, however much they may criti-cize what must be criticized, they will never at-tempt to divide the Church. The communitymay expel them, but they will not become re-sponsible for the break. Even when the localcommunity rejects them, they will never bewilling to separate themselves from the uni-versal communion of the Church, which, withtime, always recognizes true prophets.

Mt 5:21;Jn 8:44

Jn 15:13

Dt 15:7;Jas 2:15

Mt 7:7;Jn 15:7

Jn 6:29;13:34;

1P 1:22

Jn 14:23;Rom 8:9

Dt 13:2;Mt 7:15;2P 2:1;1Thes

5:20

1Cor

12:3;Rom10:9

Acts20:29;2Thes

2:7

Mt 12:29

Jn 15:19;17:14

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6We are of God and those whoknow God listen to us, but those whoare not of God ignore us. This is howwe know the spirit of truth and thespirit of error as well.

God-Love is the source of love 7My dear friends, let us love one

another for love comes from God.Everyone who loves is born of Godand knows God.

8Those who do not love have notknown God, for God is love.

9How did the love of God appearamong us? God sent his only Soninto this world that we might have life

through him.10This is love: not that we loved

God but that he first loved us andsent his Son as an atoning sacrificefor our sins.

11Dear friends, if such has beenthe love of God, we, too, must loveone another.

12No one has ever seen God, but ifwe love one another, God lives in us,

and his love comes to its perfectionin us.

13How may we know that we livein God and he in us? Because Godhas given us his Spirit.

14We ourselves have seen and de-

clare that the Father sent his Son tosave the world. 15Those who confessthat Jesus is the Son of God, God re-mains in them and they in God.

16We have known the love of Godand have believed in it. God is love.

The one who lives in love, lives inGod and God in him.

17When do we know that we havereached a perfect love? When in thisworld, we are like him in everything,and expect with confidence the Dayof Judgment.

18There is no fear in love. Perfectlove drives away fear, for fear has todo with punishment; those who fear

do not know perfect love.19So let us love one another, since

he loved us first.20 If you say, I love God, while

you hate your brother or sister, youare a liar. How can you love Godwhom you do not see, if you do notlove your brother whom you see?21 We received from him this com-mandment: let those who love Godalso love their brothers.

Faith comes from God

1All those who believe thatJesus is the Anointed, are born

of God; whoever loves the Father,

5

7. Here we have the beginning of thethird part of the letter: God-Love is the sourceof love and faith.

God is love (vv. 8 and 16). The supremerevelation, characteristic of the Christian faith.Other religions know of a God who is goodand compassionate: no other religion hasknown that the dynamism of love moves theentire creation and that its source lies in God-Love.

In this beautiful text John insists on the in-separability of love of God and love of ourneighbor. We all know this, but sometimes wemight wonder why it is so. John gives us theparamount reason; love comes from God (v.7). If we can love God, it is because God lovedus first (v. 10); if we love each other it is be-cause Gods love extends among us (v. 12).

John also links love of God and faith in God:

a true Christian believer is somebody who be-gins by believing in Gods love, and that Godis love (v. 16).

He loved us first (v. 10): through his eternalpredestination (Eph 1:4), the sending of hisSon and through his sacrifice (Rom 5:8). If weare authentically loving, we never feel superiornor that we have merits, as do those who boastof their good works. We simply realize that thelove of God works through us.

The lives of those who dedicate themselveslovingly to serving the abandoned, the sick, theelderly, and those no longer useful to society are

justified and so are the lives of those who with-draw from ordinary life to dedicate themselvesmore totally to a more intimate love of God.

5.1 God-Love is the one who asks us tobelieve in his Son, and faith is a victory. John

Jn 18:37

Jn 3:16

2Cor5:19

Mt 18:33

33:20;Jn 1:18;

1Tim

6:16

Jn 3:17

Rom 5:8

Rom8:15

1 JOHN 4 1860


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loves the Son. 2How may we knowthat we love the children of God? Ifwe love God and fulfill his commands,

3 for Gods love requires us tokeep his commands. In fact, hiscommandments are not a burden

4because all those born of Godovercome the world. And the victorywhich overcomes the world is ourfaith. 5Who has overcome the world?The one who believes that Jesus isthe Son of God.

6Jesus Christ was acknowledgedthrough water, but also throughblood.

Not only water but water and

blood.And the Spirit, too, witnesses to

him for the Spirit is truth.7There are then three testimo-

nies:8 the Spirit, the water and the

blood, and these three witnessesagree.

9 If we accept human testimony,with greater reason must we acceptthat of God, given in favor of his Son.10 If you believe in the Son of God,you have Gods testimony in you.

But those who do not believe

make God a liar, since they do notbelieve his words when he witnessesto his Son.

11What has God said? That he hasgranted us eternal life and this life isin his Son. 12The one who has theSon has life, the one who do nothave the Son of God do not have life.

Keep yourselves from idols

13 I write you, then, all thesethings that you may know that youhave eternal life, all you who believein the Name of the Son of God.

14Through him we are fully confi-dent that whatever we ask, accord-ing to his will, he will grant us. 15 If weknow that he hears us whenever we

wrote the book of Revelation to give hope topersecuted believers, showing them the victorythey share with Christ simply because they be-lieve in him. John repeats the same thing herein a different way.

Our greatest victory is to attain our inheri-tance as children of God and to reach the eter-nal life of God himself. Those who believe inChrist have already come to the Truth, to God.

How may we know that we love the chil-dren of God?John already told us: the personwho loves God also loves his brothers and sis-ters. Here, however, John expresses it theother way around: those who love their broth-ers and sisters are known by the fact that theylove God.

Many things are called love; there may besomething of love in all of them, more or less.The love of God for us and the love that hegives us toward other people cannot be con-fused with other loves. The love springingfrom an authentic communion with God doesnot resemble sentimental love, blind andfickle. Rather, it is effective, both in the sensethat it liberates others and it transforms us inChrist.

Verses 6-9 point out three complementaryaspects of the Christian experience, which are

first seen in Jesus himself. John characterizesthem with three words:

water: water is the symbol of cleanlinessand of new life.

blood: the blood of the sacrifice, thepainful atonement for sin, the blood of martyrs.

Spirit: the uncontainable power that ani-mates Christs witnesses; the amazing creativ-ity of the people and institutions that arerooted in faith.

These three witness to Jesus Christ and theyalso characterize Christian salvation. We caneasily see that they correspond to the threesacraments of baptism, eucharist and confir-mation.

13. In this conclusion, John repeats whathe said throughout the letter: you who believe,appreciate what you have. Do not underesti-mate the step you took in accepting Christ. Ex-plore and look for the riches which are meantfor you and which are found in Him wholoves us (Rev 1:5).

I do not speak of praying about this (v. 16).This sentence is somehow short, John implies:with the certainty that God will give life to thesinner. The will of God remains a mystery,whatever be the confidence we have in him.

Mt 21:22;Rev

12:11;Jn 14:13

1Cor15:57

Jn 19:34

Jn 3:33;5:34

Jn 17:3

Jn 20:31

Jas 1:5

Mt21:22;

Jn 14:13

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ask, we know that we already havewhat we asked of him.

16 If you see your brother commit-ting sin, a sin which does not lead todeath, pray for him, and God willgive life to your brother. I speak, ofcourse, of the sin which does notlead to death. There is also a sin thatleads to death; I do not speak ofpraying about this. 17Every kind ofwrongdoing is sin, but not all sinleads to death.

18We know that those born of God

do not sin, but the one who was bornof God protects them and the evilone does not touch them.

19We know that we belong toGod, while the whole world lies in

evil.20We know that the Son of Godhas come and has given us power toknow the truth. We are in him who istrue, his Son Jesus Christ. He is thetrue God and eternal life.

21My dear children, keep your-selves from idols.

19. The whole world lies in evil. As hasalready been mentioned, this world belongs toGod who made it good. Nevertheless, thisworld is not simply a building site wherein wework. It is first the place where the evil onecompetes with God. The evil one does not sidewith any group, atheist or materialist or what-ever else, but everywhere transforms the bestthings into destroying idolseven amongthose looking for a more perfect life: keepyourselves from idols. This warning of Johnat the end of this letter has special importance;it invites us to remain in the truth of the Word-of-God-made-man without allowing anythingcontrary to it, to enter. For the Church this isa permanent temptationas well as for every

Christian communityto make itself the cen-ter of everything, so that what matters is to re-cruit and to last. Then when institutions believethat unity is assured by increasing authority,political and financial support are sought andmission is replaced with buildings. There are athousand ways of eluding what is provisionalwhile the Spirit always feels more at ease withwhat is provisional. In so doing the Christiancommunity, the whole Church becomes athick wall between God and humans, all themore becoming an idol in wishing to beholy, obeyed and infallible in all its decisions.The Word became flesh, and the Church canonly be the sacrament of God if she remainsweak and vulnerable.

Mt18:15;

Heb 6:4;10:26

Jn 17:15

Col 1:13

Jn 20:20;Rom 9:5;

Tit 2:13

1 JOHN 5 1862


11/12

1 I, the elder, to the chosen Ladyand her children, whom I love sin-cerelyand with me all who know thetruth2because of this same truthwhich is and will be in us forever.

3Grace, mercy and peace be withyou in the name of God the Fatherand of his Son, Christ Jesus, in truthand love.

4 I rejoiced greatly on meetingsome of your children who live in ac-cordance with the truth, according tothe command we have received fromthe Father. 5And now, I ask you,

LadyI write to you not a new com-mandment but that which we hadfrom the beginningI ask you: let uslove one another.

6This is love: to walk according tohis commandments. And this is thecommandment: that you walk inlove as you have learned from thebeginning.

7Many deceivers have gone out

into the world, people who do not ac-knowledge that Jesus is the Christwho came in the flesh. They are im-postors and antichrists. 8Take care ofyourselves that you do not lose thefruit of your labors, but receive a per-fect reward. 9Everyone who goes be-yond and does not remain within theteaching of Christ does not haveGod. The one who remains in theteaching has both the Father and theSon. 10 If anyone comes to you anddoes not bring this teaching, do notreceive him into your houses or even

greet him.11

Even in greeting himyou would become an accomplice inhis wicked deeds.

12 I have many things to write toyou, but I prefer not to use paper andink. I hope to meet you and speak toyou personally, that our joy may befull.

13The children of your chosen sis-ter greet you.

Chosen lady: this is the way John greets the community of an unknown city. The Churchis chosen and holy, just as the people in it are the chosen and holy ones of God.

John invites the people to have a steadfast and emphatic attitude toward those who donot accept the faith of the apostles. At the same time he reminds them of the fundamental law

for Christians: love.

To remain zealously faithful to the Truth is to love Christ who entrusted this truth to us.We need the whole truth and not only what is most pleasing to people today.


12/12

1 I, the elder, to my dear friendGaius, whom I love sincerely.

2Dear friend, may everything gowell with you and may you enjoyhealth of body and soul. 3 I greatly rejoiced with the friends who arrived

and testified to your faithfulness tothe truth, namely how you walk inthe truth. 4Nothing gives me greater joy than to know that my childrenlive in the truth.

5Beloved, you do well to care forthe brothers and sisters as you do. Imean those coming from otherplaces. 6They spoke of your charitybefore the assembled Church. It will

be well to provide them with whatthey need to continue their journey,as if you did it for God. 7 In reality,they have set out on the road for hisname without accepting anythingfrom the pagans. 8We should receivesuch persons, making ourselves theircooperators in the work of the truth.

9 I have written these words to the

Church. But Diotrephes, who is anx-ious to preside over it, does not ac-knowledge our authority. 10So when Icome, I will not cease reproachinghis manner of acting, since he dis-credited us with words of evil intent.

And not content with that, he doesnot receive the friends and even re-strains those who want to receivethem, and expels them from theChurch.

11Dear friend, do not imitate evil,but only the good. Whoever doesgood is of God. Whoever does evildoes not know God. 12Now aboutDemetrius: everyone praises him,

even the truth itself. We, too, praisehim, and you know that our testi-mony is true. 13 I have many things totell you, but I do not want to do it inwriting. 14 I hope to see you soon, andwe will talk face to face.

15Peace be with you. Your friendsgreet you. Greet the friends for me,each one by name.

To the Christians who knew him, the apostle John was not Saint John, but a man. Fora certain Diotrephes, to whom John gave the responsibility of a community that we do notknow, John was a bothersome old man. In order to better dominate his church, Diotrepheswas cutting off the relationship.

John, however, in his three letters, as in the Gospel, speaks of the communion whichmust exist among Christians. Any church or group must remain open to others, maintainingconstant contact with them. Paul also insists on this responsibility: to welcome in their homesall Christians coming from other places in order to strengthen the bonds of the common faith.

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1-3 Letter of John