The Letters of John. Robert D. Cornwall
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of the conflicts that have emerged is the identity of Jesus. John’s opponents may have held docetic or gnostic views of Jesus and were attempting to bring these views into the church, causing division and thus harm to the congregation. The opponents message appears to be that Jesus did not come in the flesh (2 John 7-9), contradicting the message of the community as found in the Gospel of John, which declared that the Word became flesh and dwelt among humanity (John 1:14). In the end, John faces an age-old problem, that of division and schism, which often creates a sense of hatred toward those with whom one disagrees.
The Themes
Clifton Black suggests that readers keep in mind six primary themes that are present in the letters. First, there is the declaration that God is light (1 John 1:5). The second theme is the interpretation of the tradition the author has been expounding. The third theme is eschatological (unlike the Gospel, which demonstrates what is known as “realized eschatology,” the letters speak of the imminent closing of the current age. This is, according to the author, the “last hour.” The fourth theme has to do with Jesus becoming flesh. Continuing with Jesus, “he is the expiation for our sins.” This is an important theme that will need some attention. The final theme is the one which we have come to identify with these letters and that is the call to love.5 We will want to pay attention to each of these themes as we contemplate these letters.
The Tradition: (1 John 1:1-4)
The Gospel of John starts with words that reflect the opening words of Genesis 1: “In the beginning.” 1 John opens with: “We declare to you what was from the beginning.” This usage is intriguing. The author of the letter wants the reader to go back to the beginning of things, though unlike the Gospel, the letter starts with the incarnation and not the creation. As with the Gospel, 1 John begins with a theological prologue. In this case, the prologue focuses on the tradition passed down to the community that reveals what the author(s) claim to have heard, seen, and touched. In the concern of the letter’s author about beginnings, it is appropriate to recall what the Gospel had to say about beginnings. The Gospel opens with the declaration that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The author of the letter seems to pick upon this theme, for the author takes up that which has been heard, seen, and touched. The emphasis of the Gospel on the incarnation, on the embodied nature of Jesus, is picked up by the author of 1 John.
What the author claims to have heard, seen, and touched, is “the Word of life.” The letter testifies to this Word (logos) that brings life, so that the readers might be in fellowship with the author (who has seen and touched this word), even as the author is in fellowship with the Father and the Son. Notice that while this is not a Trinitarian statement, it does suggest what some call a binatarian or dyadic relationship between Father and Son. Finally, this witness to the Word of Life, which leads to fellowship, is written so that the joy of the author might be complete. Whomever is the intended audience, the author is concerned about the state of their fellowship. They’re concerned that members of the community have become disconnected to the tradition that goes back to Jesus, and they want to restore them to the right path (a theme that is present throughout the letter). This should give us some hints as to what we will encounter going forward. If fellowship has been broken, the question is how should it be restored?
John is concerned that the readers of this essay are in danger of becoming separated from the Word of Life, to which John bears witness. This reference to the Word of Life hearkens back to the declaration in the Gospel that the Word (Logos) is God (John 1:1), and incarnate in the person of Jesus (John 1:14). John wants to reconnect those who have gone astray to the tradition.
The author(s) declare what was from the beginning, that which they saw with their eyes and touched with their hands. As we’ve noted, the authors would not have been eyewitnesses, but in claiming to be witnesses to Christ’s life and ministry they claim to be bearers of a tradition that goes back to the eyewitnesses. They are claiming for themselves the right to interpret the ministry of Jesus, so that all might be in fellowship with the Father and with the Son. This emphasis on seeing and touching is an important one for the community of John, because the adversaries we’ll meet seem to deny the full meaning of the incarnation. The opponents, the ones who have departed the community, appear to take a docetic view of Jesus. The author(s) of the letter appear to claim that they are the correct or orthodox interpreters of the tradition passed down from the Beloved Disciple, that is the message of the Gospel of John. As Raymond Brown puts it: “The Prologue sets the tone for I John in terms of a polemically exclusive claim, namely, that the proclamation about Jesus made by the author represents the authentic Gospel stemming from a true witness to Jesus, and those who refuse to accept it have communion with neither the Father nor Son.”6
This may be a theological polemic with Christological implications (did Jesus really have flesh?), but 1 John also has a practical focus. John is concerned about the nature of the fellowship (koinōnia) present in the community. The Gospel never uses this word, but it becomes important in the Letter. The issue here is two-fold—communion with God and communion with the congregation. The adversaries have broken fellowship with both God and congregation, causing a disruption in the community. The reason for the letter is restoration of communion with God and congregation, so that their joy may be restored.
Questions for Meditation and Discussion:
1 What do we know about the authorship and context of the Johannine letters? Does this make a difference in the way we approach these letters?
2 Whether they share authorship, there seems to be a connection between the Gospel of John and the Letters. Both have theological prologues. Reading the Prologue of John (John 1:1-18), and comparing it with the Prologue of 1 John (1:1-4), what themes and words are found in the two Prologues? If we add in 1 John 1:5, does this add anything to the conversation about prologues? What do the similarities suggest?
3 The Gospel of John starts with the declaration that in the beginning was the Word (Logos), which is God. It then declares that this Word became Flesh. In 1 John, we have reference to the Word (Logos) of Life. If we assume a dependence by the letter on the Gospel, what can we say about this “Word of Life?”
4 What do you make of the author’s insistence that the message they declare is one that was from the beginning, and that they have heard, seen, and touched the Word of Life? Without reading the remainder of the letter, what might these words suggest about the author’s concerns?
5 The author(s) speak of their desire to have fellowship with the reader. Do you sense in this that something is disrupting their fellowship/communion?
6 Considering this word about fellowship/communion, what barriers to fellowship can emerge within a congregation? Why do these emerge? What can be done about them?
7 The author(s) declare that their joy would be made complete if fellowship is restored. What is joy that we should desire it?
Exercise:
While we speak of these three documents as letters of John, 1 John lacks traditional markers of a letter. To gain a better sense of what these markers are, find a Bible dictionary and read articles about epistles and letters. Then compare the opening and closing verses of the three letters of John with a Pauline letter such as 1 Corinthians or Galatians. Note the differences and keep them in mind as you continue reading the letters of John.
A Call to Prayer:
As we go forth from this place, having shared in the light of God, may we carry that light into the world, so that God’s grace might be revealed to all. Amen.
2 Judith Lieu, I, II, III John (New Testament Library), (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), kindle loc. 182-184.
3 Raymond Brown, The Epistles of John (The Anchor Bible). (Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1983), p. 160.
4 C. Clifton Black, “The First, Second, and Third Letters of John,” New Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes,