The Epistles of John, Part 9: Morning, Noon, and Night

Memory is a bit of a double edged component of the human condition.  On the one hand our ability to recall information in a split second can be a tremendously powerful tool.  On the other hand our inability to remember that simple truth that we just thought about five minutes ago can be terribly infuriating.  It certainly doesn’t help the latter issue that we live in an era of modern conveniences and incredible technology.  Many of our most prized inventions (e.g. a calculator) have the unfortunate side effect of eliminating or reducing the need to strengthen our minds through problem solving and memorization.  But technology aside, by no means is this a new phenomenon.  The struggle to sharpen our brains through exercise lest they atrophy from disuse has been ongoing since the human race was first cast into shame and corruption from Adam’s disastrous leadership failure.  This tendency to forget what we should know is one of the core themes that John is confronting in his letter. 

We have already seen its tendrils emerge in the way our author tends to repeat principles that he has already covered (e.g. 1^st John 1:6 and 2:4).  This pattern will continue to be present and will eventually culminate in John’s overall purpose for the whole letter in 5:13.   I believe this goal of remembrance is at the heart of our text this week.

To this point John has been mostly positive.  He has issued some warnings against hypocrisy and has been very blunt in his condemnation of wrongdoing.  But the overall tone has been one of encouragement and rejoicing in some of the great truths we are privy to as children of God.  However, starting in verse 15 of chapter 2 John’s tone is going to move to a darker melancholy as he considers and surveys some of the forces of evil arrayed against “his little children”.  So here in verses 12 to 14 I think he is reminding us of some foundational and encouraging truths before we make the descent into darkness.  It’s as if these three verses are the deep breath before the plunge.

The passage is constructed in a curious fashion that has baffled and caused disagreement among scholars for centuries.  John uses a lyrical, almost poetic pattern that is dissimilar from the rest of the letter.  And he moves from present tense to past tense, seemingly without any particular rhyme or reason.  So in an attempt to decipher what the apostle is trying to tell us in these verses I am going to break from my normal pattern when writing these manuscripts.  Usually, I prefer to move progressively from verse to verse, sometimes breaking an individual verse into its component parts, and talking about each segment in sequence.  But I don’t think that approach will work as well here.  So instead I am going to lay the whole passage out all at once.  Then I’m going to chop it apart as if cutting it into strips with a pair of scissors.  Then I will attempt to piece it back together into somewhat of an outline.  And finally, we will look at what I think the whole thing means.

John begins: I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.  I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.  I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Notice that in this text there are three sets of two complementary statements.  Each pair is addressed to a different age group: little children, young men, and fathers.  Further, each group gets one sentence in the present and one in the past tense.  Let’s split the verses apart and put them back together, grouped according to target audience:

• Little children:
• I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.
• I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.
• Young men:
• I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
• I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
• Fathers:
• I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning.
• I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning.

I think what John is doing with this odd construction is painting a portrait of the life of a Christian.  He is certainly not referring to physical age with his categorizations.  Rather, he is describing three broad stages of a believer’s maturity process.  When someone first repents of their sins and expresses faith in Christ they are a spiritual baby.  The author of Hebrews refers to them as infants (Heb. 5:13).  If we were to frame this in the context of military application we might say these folks are the raw recruits either still in or fresh out of boot camp.  These are the Christians who are in the morning of their spiritual lives.

After this disciple of Christ spends time, perhaps a few years, in prayer, study, and training they could be seen as strong young adults.  They have been equipped with the tools to do battle with the enemy and minister to the needs of others.  Using the military motif again we might describe this group as battle hardened warriors.  These courageous Christians are in the noontime of their spiritual maturity.

Finally, after many years or even decades of walking with the Lord this person has matured into an elder statesman of the church.  They are the grey hairs, clothed with knowledge and crowned with wisdom.  We could liken them to the generals directing battles and coordinating armies.  These wise sages are in the nighttime or the evening of their journey of sanctification.

Now, this is merely intended to be a helpful tool for us as we consider what John is talking about in verses 12 to 14.  It certainly doesn’t cover every situation and progression of a believer’s life.  One person may spend a decade or more, far too long really, as a spiritual babe.  This is likely due to either a false profession of faith at the worst or deficient training and equipping by their teachers at best.  Another might be blessed with a strong mentor who trains them rigorously in theology and ministry, resulting in a rapid spiritual maturation.  This one might quickly progress within the space of a few years to what we would consider a father figure in the church.  So don’t read too much into these descriptions.  I think John is just using them as a way to structure his thoughts.  And as we’ll see in a bit, I think the application from each spiritual age group actually applies to everyone anyhow, regardless of where they’re at in their spiritual development.

Now then, let’s consider the first group and what John is teaching them.  He calls them little children and he says two things.  First, he is writing to them because their sins have been forgiven for His name’s sake.  Second, he says he has written to them because they know the Father.  Interestingly, John uses two different Greek words for children here.  The first is “teknia” in verse 12 followed by “paidia” in verse 13.  Both terms mean essentially the same thing.  Some scholars have argued that John used different words because he was not communicating to the same “age group” with these two statements.  But the simplest explanation is that he was merely using synonyms for the sake of variety.  While it’s true that he doesn’t do this with the other two age brackets, I don’t find this a credible enough justification to suppose that John meant anything noteworthy by using two different words.  This gets back to our Scripture interpretation principles that were discussed in week one.  If the text looks like it’s saying something simple, don’t assume it’s any more complicated than that unless you have a compelling reason.

With that in mind, what is the apostle teaching these children?  He begins by reminding them that their sins have been forgiven.  It is an unfortunate idiosyncrasy of English that the sentence had to be structured the way it is.  Because in the Greek what comes first for emphasis is the forgiveness.  It is the grace and mercy displayed by God that John is focused on, not the crime we are guilty of.  The word he chose to use, “aphiemi”, means to send away or depart from.  This is remarkably instructive in considering just exactly how God views our sin post repentance.  He has sent them away from us or caused us to depart from them. 

It’s quite a contrast from how we normally perceive forgiveness.  Our tendency would be to assume that the crime still exists, the guilt remains, and it is only the authoritative response that has altered.  A child breaks a window and their parents forgive them.  But the window is still broken, the child still feels remorse, and more than likely the parents don’t entirely let them forget about it like they should.  But this is not the way it is with God.  He has literally separated us from our sin.  He has covered it over with the blood of His Son.  And He effectively remembers it no more in terms of how He interacts with us going forward.  This Bible truth is monumentally important because if we fail to both understand and take ahold of it we will most likely live defeated, guilt-ridden Christian lives.  We will be susceptible to the arrows of doubt the enemy fires at us.  And we will cast aspersion onto the faithfulness and righteousness of God while we’re at it.  Remember the words of chapter 1 and verse 9: If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

As if the amazing reality of forgiveness at the foot of the cross wasn’t enough, John adds to the bounty of delicious truth for these little children.  He says he has written to them in the past because they know God, or the Father as John puts it.  This is the very same word for “know” that we looked at a few weeks back; “ginosko”.  It means to become acquainted with intimately.  The depth of meaning in this word extends even to the sexual union between a husband and wife.  Someone knowing another in this way doesn’t just know about them intellectually, they know them experientially.

I think this point of John’s carries with it an unspoken implication relating to knowledge.  And indeed I think each of his messages to the three groups of believers all carry an implied point of truth that John leaves unsaid in the text.  As it relates to little children, what is a typical response of a child to the prospect of knowing something?  Most children tend to resist learning, don’t they?  Perhaps it’s not the learning itself they mind but the work that is usually involved.  And of course this doesn’t describe all children; it’s a generality.  But in that general context most children resist knowing simply because they are too young to know.  So I think what John is getting at here is this.  He is encouraging the spiritually immature among us by reminding them that they do know the Father.  This is important to steer them away from the wrong thinking that they cannot be effective in ministry due to lack of experience or knowledge.  The only true absolute requirement for ministering within the body of Christ is to know God.  And John says these young ones already have that in the bag.  Therefore the question “So what are you waiting for” seems to loom over the text invisibly.

The second group that John focuses on is the young men.  I see these as the strong and maturing believers in the church.  They are the spiritual adults who are constantly growing, perpetually serving, incessantly mentoring, and unceasingly evangelizing.  They are truly the lifeblood of the body of Christ.  They are the front lines of defense against the attacks of Satan.  They shield the young believers from the brunt of the assault while they follow the wise counsel and direction of their elders.

This triumphant and majestic motif is how John chooses to address this group.  He reminds them that they have overcome the evil one.  The verb “nikao”, here rendered as overcome, is placed in the perfect tense by John.  This means that it happened in the past but is ongoing through the present, and the results are continuously applicable and relevant.  The full extent of what John is getting at here is terrible important to understand.  You see, the victory being referenced is not an isolated incident that occurred at some time in the past and is over and done with.  Rather, it occurred at a time now past and the results continue on into the present.  This means that the victory of these young adults over the evil one is an ongoing thing that does not cease. 

The enemy is ever vigilant, ever present, and ever prowling as 1^st Peter 5:8 tells us: Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  If you have ever seen a video of a lion, or any other great cat, stalking its prey then you know exactly what Peter is getting at.  The predator is focused like a laser beam upon their task.  Not a muscle trembles.  Not an eyelid twitches.  The entire body is rigid like coiled steel under tension, poised to spring.  It is because of this that the young men must remain on their guard.  They must not trust in a victory they enjoyed five years or even five hours ago.  John insists that they remember these things.

But then he builds upon that core concept of assured victory with his second statement to the adults.  He expands his first sentence and fleshes it out with more detail.  It’s as if John, in considering the first sentence he wrote, realizes that it is insufficient.  It needs more details.  But he decides not to simply edit the existing sentence.  Instead he writes a new one.  Perhaps he wanted to do this for emphasis.  Or maybe he was really trying to maintain his pattern of two thoughts for each group.  Regardless, this is what he says.

It’s not enough for the young men to realize they have achieved continuing victory over the enemy.  They must understand and/or be reminded of exactly how that victory was achieved.  John says it was because they are strong.  There is virility and power in these young Christian dynamos.  But what is the source of that power?  It is the word of God abiding within them.  It is so easy for humans to forget God.  We tend to casually dismiss our dependence on Him at the slightest whim.  As soon as we begin to feel comfortable the allure of self-reliance tends to rise up within us at the same time.  And so John grounds our thinking here.  He reminds us that victory was and is only achieved through strength which only ever comes through the counsel and enablement of the Lord.

This requires self-discipline to go along with that God-dependence.  Studying the Bible intensely and internalizing it within our souls takes time, effort, patience, tears, and sometimes frustration.  It is not for the faint of heart.  John knows that this aspect of the Christian life is the most difficult for active young men and women.  Lives become full, responsibilities mount, and time becomes scarce.  Christian men and women in the prime of their spiritual lives are sometimes the most susceptible to a lack of learning or knowing precisely because of all the activity they are involved in.  Unlike the children who may perceive themselves as too young to know, the adults are sometimes too busy to know.  And in response John wants to slam on the brakes of our spiritual car, stop in the middle of the street, and turn to look us right in the eye with gentle yet firm confrontation over our lackadaisical commitment to the very thing which gave us victory in the first place.

And so we come to John’s final group, the fathers.  These are the spiritual “gray hairs”.  They are the elder statesmen of the church.  The type of folks John has in mind are the ones to whom great respect and admiration should rightly be given.  Proverbs 16:31 describes them this way: A gray head is a crown of glory; it is found in the way of righteousness.  John simply calls them “fathers” but I believe this is what he has in mind in comparison to the other two groups being discussed.

But the teaching John has for these elder Christians is a little surprising.  He does not give them two different pieces of wisdom as he did with the children.  He doesn’t even give them two sentences which build upon each other.  Instead, John writes verbatim the exact same thing twice.  He is writing and has written “because you know Him who has been from the beginning”.  The two questions we need to answer are: why does John write the same sentence both times and what is he trying to teach this age group?

The answer to the first question, I think, is simply one of emphasis through repetition.  John believes it is critically important that his audience understand this point that he is making.  So he gives them the same medicine, completely unaltered, twice in a row.  It’s the same principle Jesus used repeatedly throughout His ministry when He said “truly, truly I say to you”.  A modern preacher might employ a similar technique when he makes a point twice in his sermon, using different adjectives and sentence structure each time.  The point he’s making is of such importance that he wants to ensure that the people listening hear it clearly.  I think John is doing the same thing here.

And what he is communicating to them is a reminder of their knowledge of Christ.  The phrase “Him who is from the beginning” is a clear parallel with chapter 1, verse 1: “what was from the beginning”.  Only here in chapter 2 John uses a singular personal male pronoun to point to Christ emphatically.  And again, this is not an intellectual knowledge but an experiential knowledge.  These fathers have truly come to know Jesus personally over the course of years or perhaps even decades.

Why would John feel this is such an important point that it needs to be stated twice?  I think it’s because of the probable barrier impeding the continuing sanctification of elder Christians.  With the very young the tendency may be to think that they are too young to know.  Adults may be prone to think they are too busy to know.  But elders may fall prey to a different false belief; that they are too knowledgeable to know.

Think about it.  These are the people who have probably read the Bible from cover to cover dozens of times.  They have been listening to sermons or maybe even preaching them for countless hours.  Bible studies, small groups, Bible schools, conferences, etc.  You name it and these people have probably done it.  And in that environment the human tendency toward self-reliance could very easily creep in and trap the unwary in a net of arrogance and conceit.  So John is determined to point out the fallacy of this type of thinking.  He does this by reminding the elders of the source of their wisdom.  It is Christ through which all knowledge and understanding flows.  He is the fountainhead of our understanding of God because He is the perfect image of God in the flesh (Heb. 1:3).  And the Holy Spirit works tirelessly to point us straight at Him (Jn. 16:14).  So even as Christians develop and mature into strong disciples of Christ they must never forget that it is all about Him, not them.

Having said all of this, I would like to address one final point of interpretation about this passage.  Some scholars contend that there are not actually three groups being addressed by John in these verses.  The argument goes something like this.  Little children, as John uses it elsewhere in the letter, is a general form of address to the church as a whole.  John as the elder and last living apostle, considers every Christian to be His spiritual child to some extent.  So when he refers to little children he is not talking about a particular age group of believers but rather all of them at once.  We can see this usage of little children throughout the letter (2:1, 2:28, 3:7, 3:18, 4:4, and 5:21).  Therefore, what John is really doing here is addressing all of us at once followed by the two sub groups of young men and fathers.

While I understand the point being made by those who hold this view, I find it to be a leap to essentially throw away the pattern of age groups that is evident in the way John constructed this passage.  Furthermore, I don’t think it makes any difference in meaning or application because I believe John was merely using the age classifications as a framework around which to order his thoughts.  The reality is that everything he wrote to each group applies equally to us all regardless of where we are at in our walk with the Lord.

Think about it.  Even if you are not a spiritual child it is no less important to you than it ever was to realize that your sins have been taken away and removed from you by God’s grace and that this is the means by which you are allowed to come to know Him.  Even if you are not a spiritual young man the necessity of taking action to defeat the enemy by growing strong on a steady diet of the word of God does not diminish.  Even if you are not a spiritual father the mandate to guard against arrogance by grounding yourself humbly in the knowledge of Christ is just as applicable to you.

So I think that John’s literary structure in these three verses is just that, a structure, and nothing more.  I don’t think any of us can afford to ignore the advice he is giving out here.  And honestly it lends itself to a rather attractive little equation if we boil the three segments of teaching down to the barest essential elements.  Forgiveness of sins + taking action in sanctification = knowing God.  That is a formula I think all of us can find useful.