6th April 2014Questions... Questions...
Questions, questions…
Life is full of them. The Bible is full of them. We, ourselves, are full of them, and children, well…anyone who’s ever had a four year old will marvel at just how many they can come up with!
But with every question there is a real thirst to know more. Of course, not all questioners are seeking the truth, some are just plain nosey; while others skirt around the edge’s causing confusion and difficulty rather than coming straight to the point. Nod if you can think of someone like that! And Wise King Solomon had more than his share of awkward questions.
One person who always set out to alleviate awkwardness and be uncomplicated, and generally managed it was Saint John, and for the next few weeks we will look in more depth about what we know about him, his writings, and learn more about the Jesus he knew as he saw him.
There is a wonderful saying that ‘John is like a magic pool in which an infant can paddle and an elephant can swim’. His language is generally uncomplicated, and the syntax and vocabulary he used are simple but oh so powerful.
His Gospel, the fourth, fell out of favour in the 19th century, as the search for the ‘real Jesus’ continued, and people favoured Mark’s writings, being more historical. Thankfully, contemporary interest in the early church has restored him and his works. John is credited with not only that 4th gospel, but also a series of epistles which were placed almost at the end of the Bible. You might hear someone reading in church say, ‘herein endeth the epistle’. An epistle is simply a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually in the form of an elegant and formal letter with emphasis on instruction and information.
Even though at the time of writing, John was between 50 and 60 years of age, he would have been one of the youngest followers at the time Jesus was alive on earth. So, having written a fairly comprehensive gospel, why would John have felt the need to write these letters to people?
Well, it was written to counter docetism, which is the posh name for a heresy declaring that Jesus did not come "in the flesh", but only as a spirit. The letter also outlined how Christians are to discern true teachers: by their ethics, their proclamation of Jesus in the flesh, and by their love.
We can assume that John was living in Ephesus at the time of the writings, as that was where he died around the year 100AD and much like St Paul, John wrote his letters to encourage Christians. He wanted them to know the truth. Then they would, hopefully, recognise false ideals, subsequently then knowing how to turn back to Christ. Some people in these churches believed wrong things. The people who had taught them these wrong things had been members of the church. However, they had moved away from the faith and they had left the church (1 John 2:19). So John intended to correct these wrong ideas in his letter.
One wrong idea was that Christ was not really a man, back to docetism. It was thought that He seemed to be a man but was not a real man. John taught quite clearly that the Son of God came as a real man. He lived his life here on earth as a man. The Christ actually died as a man. The man, Christ Jesus, rose again from the dead.
Some people taught that Jesus was merely a man. They taught that he was not really God. They did not believe that God could die. They said that the Christ came upon Jesus. Then the Christ left him again before he died. John answered this. He showed that Jesus is one with God. He is the Christ, who gave his life for us. No mere man could take away our sins as the Lord Jesus Christ has done.
As I said, John wrote this letter to encourage the Christians. He wanted them to know the truth. Then they would recognise false ideas. The letter shows that Christians are children of God. They know God as Father. If God is their Father, then they are all brothers and sisters. John shows them the kind of life