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INSIGHTS ON 1, 2 & 3Â JOHN
Here, nearing the end of his life, with clarity of perspective and singularity of purpose, the Lordâs âbeloved discipleâ sought to revive the faith, love, and hope of his younger readers. He hoped to encourage them to renew an authentic, contagious walk with Christ. And his message of right living in a wrong world is as relevant today as it was then.
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1, 2 & 3 JOHN
INTRODUCTION
In the twilight of his long life, the apostle John gathered his thoughts, surveyed the landscape of the world around him, and then sat down with parchment and ink to sum up his final words to the churches.
So much had changed since he had walked with Jesus as one of the original Twelve. Those brief but impactful three-plus years John spent with Jesus were followed by six long and painful decades. Erosion had set into the life of the church. In many places, the newness of fresh faith had begun to wane now that the church was in the hands of second- and third-generation Christians. A subtle, lethargic boredom had replaced the excitement modeled by those early followers of Jesus. The initial thrill had subsided, the bright flame of devotion reduced to a flicker.
In a setting like that, the subtle seeds of heresy are easily sown and rapidly grown. Cults feed off complacent churches, where ho-hum indifference replaces dynamic enthusiasm. Also, over the course of time, core values like truth, love, and hospitality can begin to be compromised, misdirected, and abused. Tragically, these scenarios were playing out in the church of Johnâs day âand thatâs precisely what led him to write these letters.
1 JOHN
When he wrote the letter known today as 1 John, itâs likely that the aged apostle had more years behind him than he had months ahead of him. He was probably somewhere between 88 and 93 years of age. Letâs just call him a 90-year-old man. Isnât it remarkable that a man at that age was so in touch with his times? In fact, I would argue that because of his age, he saw more clearly than ever. And thatâs what troubled him enough to write this letter.
Here, nearing the end of his life, with clarity of perspective and singularity of purpose, the Lordâs âbeloved discipleâ sought to revive the faith, love, and hope of his younger readers. He hoped to encourage them to renew an authentic, contagious walk with Christ. And his message of right living in a wrong world is as relevant today as it was then.
THE AUTHOR, PLACE, AND DATE OF 1 JOHN
Although the author of this five-chapter message never names himself, several clues point us to the writerâs identity. First, the author clearly places himself as part of a group of apostolic eyewitnesses to the life and ministry of Jesus, noting that âwhat we have seen and heard we proclaim to you alsoâ (1 Jn. 1:3). This narrows our pool of potential candidates and points us to one of the original disciples of Jesus. But which one?
We are helped by the fact that the language, style, and themes of this letter are similar to those found in the fourth Gospel. Although the author of the fourth Gospel is also unnamed, it doesnât take Sherlock Holmes to narrow the possibilities to one. The author of the fourth Gospel refers to himself indirectly as âthe disciple whom Jesus lovedâ (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20). This is undoubtedly a reference to the apostle John for a few reasons. First, he had to be one of the twelve disciples who had personally witnessed the events about which he wrote. In John 21:24, the author said, âThis [disciple whom Jesus loved] is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.â Second, because the description âthe disciple whom Jesus lovedâ implies a close, personal relationship with Jesus, itâs most likely that the author was one of the three disciples in Jesusâ âinner circleâ âPeter, James, or John (Matt. 17:1; Mark 5:37; 14:33). Third, the author couldnât be Peter because he distinguishes himself from Peter (John 20:2), and he couldnât be James because James was martyred too early to have written the Gospel (Acts 12:2). This leaves only one reasonable conclusion for the authorship of the fourth Gospel: John, the son of Zebedee and brother of James (Mark 3:13-17).[1]
Because we have great confidence regarding the authorship of the Gospel of John, we can rely on that knowledge to determine the author of 1 John, which we can then use to determine the authorship of 2 and 3 John. One commentator of yesteryear describes the reasoning this way: âIf the Gospel were wanting, we might be in doubt as to who wrote the Epistles. If the First Epistle were wanting, we might be in doubt as to who wrote the two short Epistles. If the Second Epistle were wanting, we should certainly be in serious doubt as to who wrote the third. But as it is, there is no room for reasonable doubt.â[2]
Because of the close relationship between Johnâs Gospel and the first of these three epistles (1 John), we can identify John as the author of this letter as well. And because of the relationship between 2 and 3 John and their common relationship with 1 John, all the puzzles about authorship fall into place.
The clarity of the authorship of Johnâs Gospel helps us determine the authorship of 1 John, which in turn helps us determine the authorship of 2 and 3 John.
Besides this evidence, among the earliest Christians there was little doubt that the apostle John wrote the fourth Gospel as well as 1 John. In fact, both of these books are included as authentic works of John in the Muratorian Canon, a list of New Testament books used in the church of Rome in the middle of the second century:
Already, in the early second century (around AD 110), one of Johnâs disciples, Polycarp of Smyrna, offered a paraphrase of 1 John 4:2-3, when he wrote, âFor everyone who does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is an antichrist.â[4] In the next generation, Irenaeus of Lyons, a disciple of Polycarp, clearly linked the Gospel of John and 1 John as written by the disciple of that name:
