Commentary: 1 John

Prologue (1:1-4)

Like the Gospel of John, 1 John begins with a prologue. In fact, many of its terms (including "the beginning," "the word" [Gk. logos], "life," "testify," "the Father," and the "Son") echo the Gospel's prologue. Some of these expressions are found throughout John, and others are at least distinctively Johan-nine: what we have heard and seen (John 3:32); and complete joy (John 3:29; 15:11; 16:24; 17:13). The prologue thus seems deliberately intended to plunge the reader into the Johannine world of language and thought, whether or not its author is also the author of the Gospel.

To grasp the structure of the prologue one must contend with its nearly impossible grammar. The first verse actually consists only of a series of relative clauses and a prepositional phrase standing in a kind of apposition to them. The Greek reader expects eventually to find a verb governing all these relative clauses, and that verb can only be "we declare" in verse 3. (Hence some English translations, including the NRSV, insert another "we declare to you" in v. 1.) Verse 2 is really an interruption explaining "the word of life." Verse 3 then resumes verse 1, finally delivering the main verb. But that is not quite all, for the "interruption" in verse 2 repeats "life" and "we have seen" from verse 1, and also introduces "we declare" and "the Father," which will appear in verse 3. Thus, verse 2 is not merely an interruption but a bridge between verses 1 and 3, and verse 3 summarizes both of the first two verses before moving onward. This is underscored by the repetition of "revealed" in an inclusion that ties together the beginning and the end of verse 2.

Though the result is grammatically poor and literarily awkward, this all seems quite deliberate. It succeeds in conducting the reader from the events of the past, when "the life" was revealed, to the present testimony of the author who is in fellowship both with the readers and with God. The placement of "his Son Jesus Christ" at the end of verse 3 both dramatically introduces by name the one who has been the subject all along, and sonorously rounds off the whole construction. Verse 4, however, is thereby left somewhat dangling.

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The deliberate echoes of the prologue to the Fourth Gospel may be meant to begin the author's critique of the interpretation of Johannine tradition put forward by the opponents. The Gospel's insistence on the divinity and preexistence of the one who came into the world would have supported the opponents' Christology very well. The author thus starts by attacking these opponents on what may have been some of their own favorite ground.

"What was from the beginning" (v. 1) is an obvious allusion to John 1:1, which itself alludes to Gen 1:1. There are some significant changes, however. First John uses a neuter pronoun ("what") instead of masculine ("who"), and says "from the beginning" rather than "in the beginning." In the Gospel "the beginning" clearly refers to the beginning of all things. Here, however, it seems to mean the beginning of the Christian tradition in the revelation of Jesus. The neuter pronoun, the incarnational language, and the absence of reference to the creation all suggest this, as does a comparison with the other instances of things heard "from the beginning" in these epistles (1 John 2:7, 24; 3:11; 2 John 5-6). First John is not concerned with the existence of the divine Word in the beginning, but with the persistence of the true message, "the word of life," since the beginning (see John 5:24; 6:63, 68; 8:51). Nevertheless, the allusion to the Gospel prologue inevitably reminds the reader of the absolute beginning, and it is clear from verses 2-3 that the subject of the message is the eternal divine life incarnate.

The emphasis on sense perception in verse 1, however, climaxing in "touched," recalls the physical human reality that was also part of the Johannine tradition "from the beginning." It underscores a central aspect of 1 John's message, that Jesus Christ truly came "in the flesh" (4:2; 2 John 7), that he was a real human being, not just a divine spirit, a reality that the opponents downplayed. In another classically Johannine formulation in verse 2, we learn that it was life itself, which had been in God's presence (see John 1:1), that was revealed in Jesus. This manifestation of life corresponds to the incarnation of the Logos in John 1:14. However, the author has again modified the Johannine terms. The Gospel of John never uses "life" in this fashion as virtually a title for Jesus, nor does it call the incarnation itself the "revelation" of the incarnate Christ (see also 1 John 3:5, 8; contrast John 1:31; 2:11; 7:4; 21:1, 14; usages similar to 1 John are found in 1 Tim 3:16; Heb 9:26; 1 Pet 1:20). By so closely identifying life with the incarnate one in whom it was revealed, 1 John underlines the need for a faith that takes in the full humanity of Jesus in order to receive the gift of eternal life (see also 2:22-25; 5:11-13). The result is a fully incarnational conception: the divine life was revealed in a visible and tangible person who was witnessed, and this revelation itself is embodied in the message that has been handed on since that beginning.

The stress on physical knowledge in verse 1 is often taken as evidence that 1 John was written by someone who knew Jesus himself. But the probable date of 1 John works against this; in any case, the text here is intended to give testimony, not to report the author's eyewitness status. The notion of testimony to what has been seen (see also 4:14) emphasizes the author's place in the Johannine tradition, indeed in a tradition stretching all the way back to John the Baptist (John 1:32-34; 3:11; 19:35). The use of the first-person plural in the prologue is related to this sense of being part of a corporate tradition. The Greek syntax in verse 3 can best be rendered "we declare in turn to you": the author, or the group that he represents, is a link in a chain of testimony extending from the events of the revelation of eternal life in Jesus to the readers of 1 John. This continuous witness to the message of the revelation authenticates the author's interpretation of that message for the readers.

The ordinary sense of the word "fellowship" (koinonia) is sharing or partnership, a usage that may have been common in the early Christian mission (see the comments on 2 John 11). Here it seems to correspond to the language of mutual indwelling with God and with Christ that is common in John and elsewhere in 1 John (see the comments on 2:6), though it suggests more strongly the importance of a community. Since the word is totally absent from John, its appearance four times in 1 John 1:3-7 is noteworthy. The application of fellowship language to God, which occurs only here in the entire Bible (although it is common in Greek thought), may have originated with the opponents (v. 6). If that is the case, then the author's invitation to fellowship implies an invitation away from them. By putting themselves outside the tradition of witness to the incarnation, thus separating themselves from the light of love, the opponents have cut themselves off from the partnership of the Johannine community and from fellowship with God. The opponents are probably also in view when the author speaks of God's "Son Jesus Christ," since a significant element in his christological message is that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God (2:22-24; 3:23; 4:15; 5:1, 5). These titles are deeply rooted in the Johannine tradition (John 11:27; 20:31), but their use here helps to introduce the specific subject of 1 John.

The statement of the author's purpose for writing in verse 4 may be compared with others in 2:1; 5:13. The joy mentioned here is not merely an emotion, but an eschatological blessing (John 15:11; 16:20-24; 17:13). The author's joy, and that of the group he represents, is complete if the readers are included among those who have fellowship with God and Jesus by adhering to the tradition of witness to the incarnation (cf. the role of John the Baptist in John 3:29; contrast 2 John 12). Thus even the author's fellowship with God is not fully satisfactory without the readers' incorporation.

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First John begins with an appeal to the Johannine community's tradition, presented in a way that asserts a claim to the correct interpretation of that tradition, over against the innovations of the opponents. Unlike the prologue to the Fourth Gospel, however, the "word of life" that was from the beginning is less the personal Logos in whom life came into existence than the message that offers life to its hearers. In the Johannine tradition, this message is primarily about Jesus. But in 1 John 3:14 life is connected with love of one another, and thus the word of life also includes the commandment of love, which is the message heard from the beginning (2:7-11; 3:11; 2 John 5). It is this word, embodied in the human Jesus, that truly gives life.

The readers are linked to this word by the testimony that draws them into fellowship with the author (and the tradition he represents), who in turn is in fellowship with the Father and the Son. This should not be understood as a hierarchy; the readers are not being invited to occupy their place in an institutional diagram. Rather, the author wants to incorporate the readers into the partnership of those who know the life that was revealed, so that the readers may participate with them in their participation with God and with Jesus Christ.

This implies that fellowship with God can really only be gained, not by an independent and individual religious life, but by joining this tradition and its adherents, an implication open both to a fully hierarchical ecclesiastical interpretation and to the Gnostic concept of a secret tradition that must be received for salvation. Both of these are developments beyond what is present in 1 John, however. The prologue should instead be understood in the light of 4:7–5:5: It is those who share in the mutual love of the true Christian community, marked by its continuity with the revelation of God as love in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, who truly love and know God.

Walking in the Light and Sinning (1:5–2:2)

The first major section of 1 John begins at 1:5 and continues through 2:11. It is marked off by the references to light and darkness in 1:5-7 and 2:8-11; these terms occur only here in 1 John. A series of six "boasts" or claims gives structure to the section. These boasts are probably based on statements made by the author's opponents, which the author regards as false. The section is subdivided into two smaller parts, 1:5–2:2 and 2:3-11, distinguished by the different forms of the boasts: those in 1:6, 8, 10 all begin with "if we say," while those in 2:4, 6, 9 begin with "whoever says."

In this first part, each boast is characterized in terms of truth and lying, and is countered by another "if" sentence that speaks of how sin may be removed (1:7, 9; 2:1). In the first two of these pairs, the boasts and the antithetical sentences are carefully balanced against each other. This symmetry breaks down in the third pair, where the antithesis is separated from the boast by another sentence, and is only implicitly—rather than directly—opposed to the boast. (Thus 2:1a should be taken as being parenthetical rather than as introducing a new section.) Moreover, while the first boast has a claim countered by an inconsistent action (as in 2:4-5, 9-11), the other two have claims that are impossible in themselves.

Verse 1:5 functions as a transition from the prologue ("message" and "proclaim" have the same Greek root as "declare" in 1:3; note also the references to "we," "you," and "hearing"); it also introduces the first boast unit in 1:6-7. At the end of that unit the topic of sin is introduced, which sets up both of the next two boast units. There is thus a kind of "chaining" from one boast to the next. In spite of this, however, there is no terribly clear progression from boast to boast, although there may be some development from the general to the specific.

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Verse 1:5 continues the prologue's theme of the message proclaimed in the tradition, a message evidently first heard from Jesus. "God is light" is an assertion with which virtually everyone in the ancient world—Jew, pagan, and Christian—would have agreed in some form (note Jas 1:17). There is a question, however, as to why someone in the Johannine tradition would say this, and would ascribe such a message to Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Jesus identifies himself, not God, as light (John 8:12; 9:5; 12:35, 46; see also 1:4-5; 3:19). This is part of a pattern in 1 John of applying to God language that the Gospel uses about Jesus (see the introduction), but there seems to be a particular point behind it here.

One might, of course, reason that if Jesus is light, then God also is light, since Jesus fully discloses God (John 1:18; 14:7-11). However, 1:5 is parallel to two other passages in 1 John. In 3:11 the message is defined again, but as the love commandment; and in 4:8, 16 the author asserts that God is love. Since walking in the light means loving one another (2:9-11), it seems clear that the message "God is light" is equivalent to both "God is love" and the message of the love commandment. The relation of this to Jesus becomes apparent when we note that divine love was revealed in his sending as an atoning sacrifice (4:910, 14-16). Because Jesus revealed that God is love, 1 John can say that the message received from him is, "God is light." (It is probably beyond our author's interests, but of course it is also true that the love and mercy of God did play a central role in the teaching of Jesus.)

The dualism of light and darkness is one of the most typical features of the Johannine writings. Light as a metaphor of God occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures (e.g., Ps 27:1; 80:1-3, 7, 19; Hab 3:3-4), and the contrast with darkness is found both in Judaism (e.g., T. Levi 19:1; 1 Enoch 108:11-15; 1QS 1:9-10; 3:19–4:14; Philo Somn. 1.75; Philo Praem. 3640, 45-46) and in other hellenistic religious language (e.g., Corp. Herm. 1.4-6; 7.2). Elsewhere in the New Testament we also read that Christians are in the realm of light while others are in darkness (Acts 26:18; Col 1:13; 1 Pet 2:9). The origins of this one-sided use of the metaphor of light obviously lie in the common association of day with safety and night with danger. It must be balanced, however, against the inclusion of darkness also in divine symbolism in the Hebrew Scriptures (e.g., Exod 20:21; Ps 18:9-12; Isa 50:10-11; see Gaba 1995).

"Walking," as used in 1:6, 7 and in 2:6, 11, is a well-known Jewish metaphor for how one lives (e.g., Ps 1:1; 15:2; Rom 6:4; 8:4; 14:15; for walking in the light of God, or, by contrast, walking in darkness, see Job 29:3; Ps 56:13; 82:5; Eed 2:14; Isa 2:5; 9:2; Eph 5:8; Rev 21:24; and at Qumran 1QS 3:20-21). In the Gospel of John, "walking in darkness" seems to refer to ignorance and lostness (8:12; 11:9-10; 12:35), while here it is ethical. No doubt the author's opponents saw themselves also as "in the light" in Johannine terms. John 3:19-21 may furnish the ground for 1 John's insistence that those who really are in the light are distinguished from those who are in darkness by their deeds, especially since it also speaks of "doing the truth" (AT).

The latter expression occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures (2 Chr 31:20; Neh 9:33), but becomes more frequent in later Jewish religious language (e.g., Tob 4:6; 13:6; T. Reub. 6:9; 1QS 1:5; 5:3; 8:2). The general sense is of acting faithfully, or of truth as one of several virtues to be "done." Here, however, one must reckon with the significance of "truth" in Johannine thought and in 1 John specifically. Truth is a central concept throughout the Johannine writings (e.g., John 1:14, 17; 4:23-24; 8:31-32; 14:6; 16:13; 17:1719; 18:37; 1 John 2:8; 3:18-19; 4:6; 5:20; 2 John 1-4; 3 John 3-4). It means the reality of God, a reality that is eternal but was revealed in Jesus. The contrast between truth and lying, however, is found only once in the Gospel (John 8:44-46), whereas in 1 John it is crucial. Our author is very concerned about lying and liars (cf. 1:10 especially with 5:10; see also 2:4, 21-22, 27; 4:1, 20), and about deceit or error (2:26; 3:7; 4:6). Internal conflicts have torn this community whose tradition was pervaded by the claim to truth. Now truth must be separated from falsehood within the community, and it is this that 1 John sets out to do, by subjecting claims of relationship with God to the test of ethical consistency.