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The letters of first, second and third John first
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John is actually anonymous but second
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and third John are written by someone who is
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called "The Elder". Now the language and
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style of all three of these works are
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identical to each other and to John's
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gospel and so most people think that all
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of them come from the disciple that
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Jesus loved now that could be John the
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sons of Zebedee, one of the twelve
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apostles, or it could be another John
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among Jesus's earliest disciples known
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as John "The Elder". Whichever John it was he's
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now in his old age and he's overseeing a
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network of house church communities that
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are likely around the city of ancient
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Ephesus. Now, from clues within the gospel
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and from these letters
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it seems that these communities were
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made up mostly of Jewish followers of
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Jesus and that they had recently gone
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through a crisis that motivated John to
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write these letters. He mentions that a
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group of people have broken off from
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these churches these people no longer
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acknowledge Jesus as Israel's Messiah or
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as the Son of God and they're stirring
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up hostility among those who stayed
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faithful to the churches. In fact, second
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and third John clearly addressed this
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conflict. Second John is a warning to a
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specific house church. There are people
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who deny Jesus John calls them deceivers
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and they're probably going to come
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looking for validation or support and
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this church community is not to offer
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any. Third John is actually written to a
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member of one of these house churches,
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a man named Gaius, and the elder asked him
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to welcome legitimate missionaries who
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are going to arrive soon. He has to tell
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him to do this because the leader of
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that church community , Deotrephes, is
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acting like a jerk and he's rejecting
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anybody associated with John the Elder.
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and so these letters give us a window
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into the tension and conflict that John
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faced in these churches and first John was
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written as a response to all of this, as
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a form of damage control. The Elder
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assures those who still believe in the
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Messiah, Jesus, that God is with them as
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they adhere to the truth. And so all of
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this helps us understand the uniqueness
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of first John which is actually not a
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letter at all.
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It reads more like a poetic sermon sent
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to these churches. John says that he's
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not communicating new information. In
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fact almost all of the key ideas and
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words in first John come right out of
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Jesus's teachings in the Gospel of John
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and so John's goal is to remind them and
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persuade these Christians to stay true
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to what they already say they believe,
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The poetic quality of John's sermon is
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really cool
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he doesn't develop his ideas in a linear
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or logical way rather he uses a
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well-known technique of ancient rhetoric
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called amplification. S o John has just a
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few core ideas he wants to communicate
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about life and truth and love
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and he's going to cycle around these ideas
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repeatedly each time offering a little
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bit different of an angle or emphasis. He
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uses a lot of hyperbole, uses very stark
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contrast with simple images of light and
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dark and love and hate and good and evil
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but don't let the simplicity of first John
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fool you. This work is deeply profound.
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There's a clear introduction to first John
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and then a clear conclusion and the
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flowing cycles of the sermon in between
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these two don't follow any kind of rigid
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literary design, but there do seem to be
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two larger sections each one is marked
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off by the introductory phrase: "This is
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the message", and then each is followed by
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a repetition of images about how God is
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first light and then how God is love and
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all of the ideas in these two parts flow
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out of and cycle back into these two
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core ideas. So, the introduction is very
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similar to the prologue of the gospel of
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John. It has echoes of Genesis chapter one
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and proverbs chapter eight. John speaks of
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the "word of life" that was with God in
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the beginning. For John the word God
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refers to both the Father and the Son
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who came to bring life into the world.
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And so those who saw and heard and
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touched the Son are called "we". John's
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referring to himself and the apostles
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who were eyewitnesses of Jesus and so
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now, "we" have a message for "you" the next
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generation of Jesus's followers. So when
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the Apostles share the word of life with
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others, these others are also brought
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into fellowship with the Father and the
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Son through the Apostles The word
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fellowship here is "Koinonia" in Greek, it
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means "a participation" or "sharing" when
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people hear the message about Jesus
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through the Apostles that
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message brings them into a real
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relationship with Jesus himself and into a
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real participation in God's own love and
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life. And so this flows right into the
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first main section. This is the message:
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God. Is. light. This is the message of the
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Apostles that the God revealed in Jesus
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is light. And so, if people want to
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participate in God's own life through
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Jesus they need to keep walking in the
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light which is a really cool image but
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what does it mean? It means for John to
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keep Jesus's commands. A nd that's hard so
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when you fail Jesus's atoning death will
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cover for your sins and then once again
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you're called to get up and obey Jesus's
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teachings. But which one of he's
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teachings? John reminds the churches of
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Jesus's "old / new command" given to the
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disciples at the Last Supper, that they
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love one another as he loved them. Doing
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this is walking in the light. Now, if
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God's light is now shining through Jesus
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then that means the world's darkness is
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passing away, which also means that God's
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children already, in this moment, have
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victory over the sin and evil and death
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that reigns in the world. And so that
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leads John to challenge the churches:
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"Don't love the world". Because it's
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passing away too.
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He's referring here specifically to
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pride and sexual corruption likely these
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are problems connected to the conflict
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that was happening in the churches. And
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so this leads John to warn the churches
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about these people who have left the
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communities and who deny Jesus as the
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Messiah. John calls them the anti
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messiahs and deceivers but he's
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confident that those who still know the
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truth about Jesus are in fact the true
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children of God and they are loved by
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the Father and they show that they're
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part of God's family when they do
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righteousness and when they love one
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another
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unlike the deceivers, who are generating
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anger and strife and division. And so the
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transitions into the second main section
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of the sermon. This is the message of the
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Apostles ,John says, that: God. Is. Love. and
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so God's children should love one
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another and avoid hatred.
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Don't be like Cain from Genesis chapter
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four, John says, his hatred led him to
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murder his brother.
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But for Christians, love is defined
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by giving up one's life as a sacrifice
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for the well-being of others.
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That's what Jesus did, and when God's
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children trust in that love for them
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it changes them. And so, John warns once
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again of the deceivers. This time he
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calls them "false prophets". When they deny
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Jesus is the Messiah, they apparently
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claim to speak for God but John says to
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test the spirits. If anyone claims to
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speak on God's behalf but doesn't focus
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on Jesus as the Crucified Son of God,
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they do not speak for God, John says.
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God's true children will Center their
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whole lives on the crucified and risen
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Jesus because that's where we see God's
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true heart revealed. We see on the cross
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that God is a being of total self giving
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love, and that love is what compels
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Jesus's followers to love others in the
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same way. And when people meet this God
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of love it does away with fear and angst
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foreve. Which is part of what John means
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by "having victory over the world". When
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you realize that God so loves you that
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he is crazy about you despite your
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deepest flaws and failures, that love
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becomes the thing that grounds your
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entire life.
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This love is what comes through trusting
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in the crucified Jesus, it comes through
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trusting God's testimony about Jesus
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given by the Spirit and is trusting in
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the message from the Apostles about
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Jesus. And when God's love gets ahold of you
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it opens up eternal life.It's a life
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permeated with God's own presence and
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life and love and it begins now carrying
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on into eternity .And so, this leads John
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to the climactic conclusion of his
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sermon. He says: "We know the Son of God
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has come
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and so we can know the one who is true
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and we are in the one who is true in his
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son Jesus the Messiah. This is the true
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God and eternal life."
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Now if your heads kind of spinning after
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hearing that sentence and you're
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wondering ."wait, who is the one who is
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true?
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Who is the one who gives true life? Is
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that Jesus or is it God?". And John's
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answer is of course: "Yes". John doesn't
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know any God apart from Jesus and when
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he and the other apostles encountered
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Jesus they discovered the God who loves
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us so deeply that He has chosen not
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exist without us
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despite our failures. And this God is so
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surprising,
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so unexpected, that John's final words
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call us to keep away from idols. That is
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to resist any temptation to remake the
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surprising God in our own image, to know
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Jesus is to know the God of creative
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life giving others centered love. This,
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John says, is the one true God and that's
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what the letters of John are all about.
