And now I ask you,
dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we
have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
THE STUDY:
The phrase dear lady addresses again “the chosen lady” (v 1). As before (v 1),
it may address the church symbolically. Although the word “dear” has no warrant in the Greek, it reflects the respectful tone
that kyria intends, much like the
English “ma’am.”
John has come to the main message
of his letter and asks for the recipient’s undivided attention.[1]
The command to love was not a new one. It recalls Jesus’ words, “This is my command: love each other,” in
John 15:12 and 17. The elder varies the language by using we (twice in v 5 and again in v 6). This makes it clear that he
situates himself among those who love one
another.
John’s Gospel echoes in v 5 in the
words from the beginning. At times in
the letters, “beginning” recalls Gen
1:1, the origin of the cosmos. More often it refers to the early days of the
gospel among the community (see on 1 John 1:1; 2:13, 14; and possibly 3:8).
They had heard the command to love from John. That tradition continued to call
for Christlike behavior, selfless love
for one another.[2]
WHAT WE CAN WALK
AWAY WITH ….
- We walk away with the understanding that this thing called love is found at the very beginning of time and is to be selfless in nature. Just as John reminds us in this letter, sometimes we need to be pointed back to the beginning: LOVE!
CONCLUSION:
As a minister I have encountered so many
questions about God: How did He create the world; Where did God come from; and
the list goes on. The one question that is not asked frequently enough is, “WHY?”
Why does God continue in this relationship with mankind? There are so many
questions affiliated with this, but they all start with “why.”
The answer
can be found at the beginning of John 3:16, “God so loved the world …” The
answer to the question ‘why” is LOVE! We have to remember, love is a choice and
not based on emotion. Trust me, there are days when my wife is not pleased with
me but she still loves me. There are days when my friends or family members are
not happy with me but they still love me. All of this is an example of selfless
love!
John
reminds us today that to be like Christ we are to exhibit SELFLESS LOVE. Just
like God, who has many of his creation rebuking, cursing, or mocking his name, He
chose to love us anyway. We will have individuals in or lives that don’t
deserve our love, but we are to love them anyway. It's the right choice to make!
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
[1]
Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 14: New Testament
commentary : Exposition of James and the Epistles of John. New Testament
Commentary (378). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
[2]
Williamson, R. (2010). 1, 2, & 3
John: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible Commentary
(188–189). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.
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