ACC ~ 1 John 2 v1 - 17
OVERVIEW:
Sin is to be avoided as far as possible, but when it occurs we have someone who will plead our case with the Father, Jesus Christ, who has paid the price for our sins. The way to be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments, an injunction that the Fathers interpreted as having two dimensions. At one level it meant holding the orthodox belief that the Son of God had become incarnate. In practice it meant loving others and fighting against the power of evil. As the Lord is an advocate (GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS) on our behalf before the Father (AMBROSE), so also the Spirit is an advocate whom he sent after his ascension (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, ORIGEN). Our judge himself becomes our advocate (AUGUSTINE, MAXIMUS OF TURIN). The Lord intercedes for us not only by words but also by his active compassion in taking our sins upon himself. While Christ’s humanity pleads for sinners, his divinity propitiates their sin (BEDE).
Those who say that they know God must also keep his commandments (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, DIDYMUS, ANDREAS). Love is the sure sign that we know God (DIDYMUS, HILARY OF ARLES, BEDE). We dwell in God by faith, hope and love (LEO, HILARY OF ARLES) and by following in his footsteps (BEDE). The darkness of perversion is passing, and the light of faith is working in us according to God’s foreordained plan (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA). God’s commandment cannot be called new with respect to God, but from the human point of view it was a mystery hidden in the Creator from the beginning (ISHO‘DAD), bringing the new person into the light of love (BEDE, ANDREAS, HILARY OF ARLES). God’s commandment to love is old because it had been around since the beginning of time (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, DIDYMUS, ANDREAS), but it is also new, because it poured the desire for new light into our hearts (BEDE). When John wrote to different age groups in the church, the Fathers invariably interpreted this in spiritual terms. The children were new converts, the young people were those still battling against sin in their lives, and the fathers were the mature believers—there was no correlation to physical age (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, BEDE, ANDREAS, OECUMENIUS).
One who comes to baptism or to the Lord’s Supper with hatred toward another believer is still imprisoned (CAESARIUS OF ARLES) in the darkness, even if one thinks oneself enlightened (BEDE, ANDREAS), until one turns and repents and loves (HILARY OF ARLES). It is a law derived from nature that we should do good to those who are of the same nature as we are (THEOPHYLACT). Whoever hates a brother has already extinguished the lamp of love and therefore walks in darkness (ORIGEN). This path leads finally to hell, because such a person voluntarily withdraws from the light of Christ (CAESARIUS OF ARLES). The devil has blinded such a person’s inner vision (BEDE, ANDREAS).
The forces ranged against God and his people are variously referred to as the “evil one” and as the “world,” but there is little practical difference, since the devil is the prince of this world, and these terms refer to his temptations and the means that he uses to persuade us to fall into his power. The Christian life is a spiritual battle against everything the devil is and does to subvert us from the service of God. If one wants to be a friend of God, one must turn away from love of the world and the things that are in the world (DIDYMUS, CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA, SEVERUS, SYMEON). Learn to use the world as needed, but do not love it inordinately (BEDE), for it is soon to vanish (HILARY OF ARLES). Let the power of the eyes be focused on the light, not given over to error. That power is available for the enjoyment of life, so it must turn away from what causes death (EUCHERIUS). The lust of the flesh is what pertains to our physical appetites, whereas the lust of the eye and the pride of life are what pertain to the vices of the soul, such as inordinate self-love, which does not come from the Father but from the devil (HILARY OF ARLES). Every sort of wickedness is described in these brief phrases (BEDE). By sinning habitually against one’s own body, one is left marooned by the Creator of the body (AUGUSTINE). The lust of the world is destined to disappear. There will be no place for it in the new creation (BEDE, ANDREAS, OECUMENIUS).
2:1 | An Advocate with the Father
SON AND SPIRIT. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: For just as the Lord is an advocate on our behalf before the Father, so also there is an advocate whom he deigned to send after his ascension. ADUMBRATIONS.
GOD’S POWER FLOWS. ORIGEN: How could Jesus have become an advocate and propitiation without the power of God which completely destroys our weakness, a power furnished by Jesus which flows in the souls of believers? COMMENTARY ON JOHN 1.241.
COMFORTER AND INTERCESSOR. ORIGEN: Let us consider whether the title advocate (“paraclete”) means one thing when applied to the Savior and another when applied to the Holy Spirit. In regard to the Savior “paraclete” seems to mean intercessor, for in Greek it bears both meanings, comforter and intercessor, but according to the phrase which follows, in which it is said that he is the propitiation for our sins, it seems that it must mean intercessor, because he intercedes with the Father for our sins. When used of the Holy Spirit, however, the word paraclete ought to be understood as comforter, because he provides comfort for the souls to whom he opens and reveals a consciousness of spiritual knowledge. ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 2.7.4.
THE MEANING OF HIS ADVOCACY. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: We have an advocate, Jesus Christ, not indeed someone who prostrates himself before the Father on our behalf—such an idea is slavish and unworthy of the Spirit! It would be unworthy of the Father to require this, as also for the Son to submit to it, nor is it right to think such things of God. But by what he suffered as man, he as the Word and counselor persuades the Father to be patient with us. I think this is the meaning of his advocacy. THEOLOGICAL ORATIONS 30.14.
GLORY IN HIS ADVOCACY. AMBROSE OF MILAN: I will not glory because I have been redeemed. I will not glory because I am free of sins but because sins have been forgiven me. I will not glory because I am profitable or because anyone is profitable to me but because Christ is an advocate on my behalf before the Father, because the blood of Christ has been poured out on my behalf. ON JACOB AND THE HAPPY LIFE 6.21.
YOUR ADVOCATE BECOMES THE JUDGE. AUGUSTINE: If you should have a case to be tried before a judge and should procure an advocate, you would be accepted by the lawyer and he would plead your case to the best of his ability. If, before he has finished his plea, you should hear that he is to be the judge, how you would rejoice, because he could be your judge, who shortly before was your lawyer. SERMONS 213.5.
JUDGE AND ADVOCATE. MAXIMUS OF TURIN: Christ is a judge when he sits and an advocate when he rises. It is clear that he was a judge to Jews but arises as an advocate for Christians. On the one hand, standing before the Father of the Christians, even though they are sinners, he pleads their cause, while on the other he sits with the Father of the Pharisees, who are persecutors, condemning their sins. Angry with the ones, he wreaks harsh vengeance on them, while he gently has mercy on the others, interceding on their behalf. SERMONS 40.3.
ACCUSING ONESELF. GREGORY THE GREAT: There is a problem here. A righteous advocate never takes unrighteous cases, which ours of course are. What can we do, dear brothers? The only way to get around this is to follow what Scripture says: “The righteous man accuses himself first of all.” Therefore a sinner who weeps over his sins and accuses himself is set on the path of righteousness, and Jesus can take up his case. SERMONS ON EZEKIEL 1.7.24.
THAT YOU MAY NOT SIN. ANDREAS: John knows that those who have been enlightened have not been given an impassible nature, but neither have they been let out of prison in order that they might sin. CATENA.
HE TOOK OUR SINS UPON HIMSELF. BEDE: There is no contradiction between what John is saying here and what he has just said in the first chapter, namely, that it is impossible to live without sin. There he warned us with great foresight and concern for our welfare that we must be aware of our human frailty and not think that we are somehow innocent. Here, following on from that, he tells us that if we want to avoid all blame for our sinful state, we must do our utmost to live in such a way that we are not bound by it, but rather put it away from us as firmly and as conscientiously as we can, so that we can overcome at least the greater and more obvious faults that we have. … The Lord intercedes for us not by words but by his dying compassion, because he took upon himself the sins which he was unwilling to condemn his elect for. ON 1 JOHN.
THE POWER TO FORGIVE SINS. OECUMENIUS: John calls Jesus our advocate because it is he who prays to the Father for us. In saying this he is speaking in a human way and within a human context, just as elsewhere he says: “The Son can do nothing by himself.” He puts it this way so that the Son will not appear to be the Father’s opponent. For that the Son has the power to forgive sins is clear from the case of the paralytic, and by giving his disciples the power to forgive sins, he shows that he can also share his power with others. COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
2:2 | The Expiation for Our Sins
NOT FOR OURS ONLY. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Christ saves from all sin. He converts some by punishing them and others by their own free will and with the dignity of honor. ADUMBRATIONS.
FOR THE WHOLE WORLD. HILARY OF ARLES: When John says that Christ died for the sins of the “whole world,” what he means is that he died for the whole church. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
DO NOT REMAIN IN SIN. ANDREAS: John is saying: “I am writing these things to you, not so that you may say that you no longer sin at all, but so that when you do sin, you will not remain in that state, for Jesus propitiates your sins in the Father’s presence.” CATENA.
HIS HUMANITY PLEADS, HIS DIVINITY PROPITIATES. BEDE: In his humanity Christ pleads for our sins before the Father, but in his divinity he has propitiated them for us with the Father. Furthermore, he has not done this only for those who were alive at the time of his death, but also for the whole church which is scattered over the full compass of the world, and it will be valid for everyone, from the very first among the elect until the last one who will be born at the end of time. This verse is therefore a rebuke to the Donatists, who thought that the true church was to be found only in Africa. The Lord pleads for the sins of the whole world, because the church which he has bought with his blood exists in every corner of the globe. ON 1 JOHN.
2:3 | Assurance Through Obedience
KNOWING AND DOING. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: The one who understands will also do the works which pertain to the duty of virtue, but someone who does the works is not necessarily among those who understand. For he may just be someone who understands the difference between right and wrong but who has no knowledge of the heavenly mysteries. Furthermore, knowing that some people do the right thing out of fear of punishment or for some kind of reward, John teaches that a man of perfect understanding does these things out of love. ADUMBRATIONS.
BY THIS WE KNOW HIM. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: Often in the Scriptures the word know means not just being aware of something but having personal experience of it. Jesus did not know sin, not because he was unaware of what it is but because he never committed it himself. For although he is like us in every other way, he never sinned. Given this meaning of the word know, it is clear that anyone who says that he knows God must also keep his commandments, for the two things go together. COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
IF WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. ANDREAS: John shows here that true knowledge means demonstrating that one is faithful to Christ by obeying his commandments. CATENA.
2:4 | You Cannot Claim to Know God If You Disobey Him
“I HAVE NEVER KNOWN YOU.” HILARY OF ARLES: Those who are perishing do not know God, and God will deny that he has even known them, as he himself said: “Depart from me, for I have never known you.” INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
A LIAR. GREGORY THE GREAT: We can be said to be loving God only to the extent that we are keeping his commandments. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 30.1.
THE TRUTH LACKING. ANDREAS: It is obvious that the person who does not keep God’s commandments has no knowledge of him. CATENA.
2:5 | Whoever Keeps His Word
WE MAY BE SURE. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: The person who really loves God keeps his commandments and by so doing realizes that he knows the love of God. Our obedience results in his love. COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
LOVE FOR GOD PERFECTED. HILARY OF ARLES: Love sustains all those who try to put God’s commandments into practice. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
KEEPING GOD’S COMMANDMENTS. BEDE: The person who really knows God is the one who proves that he lives in his love by keeping his commandments. Love is the sure sign that we know God. We know that we are truly children of God when his love in us persuades us to pray even for our enemies, as he himself did when he said: “Father, forgive them.” ON 1 JOHN.
2:6 | Abiding in Christ
THE SAME WAY IN WHICH HE WALKED. LEO THE GREAT: Our hope of eternal life is in him. He is the pattern of our patience. Otherwise we are using the likeness of a false profession if we do not follow the commands of him in whose name we glory. And these would not be burdensome to us and would free us from all dangers, if we would love only what he commands us to love. SERMONS 90.2.
DWELLING IN GOD. HILARY OF ARLES: There are three ways that we dwell in God—by faith, by hope and by love. God dwells in us by patience and humility. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
FOLLOW CHRIST’S FOOTSTEPS. BEDE: Let us follow Christ’s footsteps with the entire effort of our minds. And so that we may deserve to come to the gate of his heavenly kingdom, let us seriously consider entering it by that course of action by which he proceeded when he was spending his life on earth. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.11.
2:7 | The Commandment You Had from the Beginning
THE WORD YOU HAVE HEARD. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: You had the commandment through the law and the prophets. ADUMBRATIONS.
NO NEW COMMANDMENT. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: Some people were apparently objecting that the Evangelist’s teaching was a new thing, and so he had to insist that this was not so. COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
THE COMMAND. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: John is talking here about love. The commandment was not new, because long before that time it had been proclaimed by the prophets. CATENA.
FROM THE BEGINNING. ANDREAS: Someone may ask how it was possible for the hearers of this letter to have known the commandment from the beginning, since they were not Jews (as appears from the end of the letter, where they are told to keep themselves from idols). But is there not a commandment which is old, which has existed from the beginning and which all people everywhere have heard? For everybody, even domestic animals, naturally loves those who are close to them. CATENA.
BOTH OLD AND NEW. BEDE: God’s commandment to love was old because it had been around since the beginning of time, but it was also new, because once the darkness was taken away, it poured the desire for new light into our hearts. ON 1 JOHN.
2:8 | The Darkness Is Passing
THE DARKNESS OF PERVERSION. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: The darkness is the darkness of perversion, and the light is the light of faith, working in us according to God’s foreordained plan. ADUMBRATIONS.
A NEW COMMANDMENT. HILARY OF ARLES: The commandment is true in him because he loved us so much that he died for us, and it will be true in us also if we love one another. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
THE TRUE LIGHT. ANDREAS: The new dimension to the commandment is that now the light has come into the world, our Lord Jesus, because of whom the power of the devil has passed away. CATENA.
THE NEW NATURE. BEDE: The commandment is new in the sense that the old man lived in darkness, whereas the light belongs to the new man. The apostle Paul said the same thing when he wrote: “Put off your old nature … and be renewed in the Spirit.” ON 1 JOHN.
LOVING ENEMIES. OECUMENIUS: The commandment is new in that it is no longer restricted to Israel as it was under the law of Moses. Under that law it was normal to love one’s friends and to hate one’s enemies, as Jesus himself testified. But he then turned that around by saying that we should love our enemies and do good to those who hate us, concentrating on the fact that these people are human beings like ourselves and not worrying about how they feel toward us. COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
NEW IN WHAT SENSE? ISHO‘DAD OF MERV: By “commandment” John means the revelation of the dispensation. It cannot be called new with respect to God, but from the human point of view it was a mystery hidden in the Creator from the beginning. COMMENTARIES.
2:9 | Saying One Is in the Light
LIVING IN THE LIGHT. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: The light is the truth, and a brother is not just our neighbor but the Lord [Jesus] as well. ADUMBRATIONS.
LOCKED IN DARKNESS. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: Perhaps you think that such darkness is like that which people suffer when they are locked in prison. If only it were as easy as that! SERMONS 185.2.
ONE WHO HATES. HILARY OF ARLES: The person who hates is in darkness until he repents or until he discovers love. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
HATE AND LOVE. ANDREAS: How can someone say that he belongs to Christ and at the same time hate his brother for whom Christ died? Or if someone says he belongs to God and yet hates Christ, who has become our brother by becoming a man, he is not of God but of the devil. For if he were of God, he would love the brother who had been sent to him and anointed by grace. CATENA.
LIVING IN DARKNESS STILL. BEDE: The Lord told us to love our enemies, so if someone claims to be a Christian and hates his brother, he is still dead in his sins. It is good that John added the word still here, because everyone is born in the darkness of sin and remains there until he is enlightened through Christ by the grace of baptism. But the person who comes to the font or to the Lord’s Supper with hatred towards his brother is still in the darkness, even if he thinks that he has been enlightened by God, nor can he get rid of the shadows of sin unless he begins to love. ON1 JOHN.
2:10 | Brotherly Love
NO CAUSE FOR STUMBLING. HILARY OF ARLES: Someone who loves his brothers is in no danger of stumbling. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
ONE WHO LOVES HIS BROTHER. BEDE: The person who loves his brother puts up with everything for the sake of unity. Such an attitude keeps us from hurting anyone unduly. ON 1 JOHN.
LOVING THOSE OF THE SAME NATURE AS YOURSELF. THEOPHYLACT: Even the Gentiles have always accepted the law or command which appears to derive from nature, that we should do good to those who are of the same nature as we are. The reason for this is that man is a rational and social animal who cannot exist without mutual love. Ancient tales even relate that there were many people who were prepared to sacrifice themselves on behalf of others, and the Savior himself calls this the highest form of love: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends.” COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
2:11 | Walking in Darkness
EXTINGUISHING LOVE. ORIGEN: Whoever does evil and hates his brother has extinguished the lamp of love, and therefore he walks in darkness. SERMONS ON LEVITICUS 13.2.4.
WALKING IN DARKNESS. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: If a man hates his brother, he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going. In his ignorance he goes down to hell, and in his blindness he is thrown headlong into punishment, because he withdraws from the light of Christ. SERMONS 90.6.
LOSING SIGHT OF LOVE. HILARY OF ARLES: The person who loses sight of love will not know which way to turn when it comes to doing good works. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
BLINDED BY DARKNESS. ANDREAS: Those who hate Christ do not realize that they have become the inheritors of eternal fire. This is what the devil makes them suffer, because he has blinded their inner vision. CATENA.
TURNING FROM THE LIGHT. BEDE: The person who has turned away from the light of Christ goes ignorantly into hell, blind and unaware of the punishment which awaits him. ON 1 JOHN.
2:12 | Your Sins Are Forgiven for His Sake
LITTLE CHILDREN. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: “Little children” means those whose sins have been forgiven. ADUMBRATIONS.
BORN AGAIN. BEDE: John calls all those who have come after him in the faith of Christ his children, because they have been born again of water and the Spirit and have received the forgiveness of their sins. ON 1 JOHN.
IN NEED OF INSTRUCTION. OECUMENIUS: John knew that not everyone would receive the gospel message with the same understanding or commitment. Some would respond like children in need of further instruction, and to them he expounds the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ. COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
2:13 | Fathers and Young People
YOU HAVE OVERCOME THE EVIL ONE. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: By “fathers” John means those perfect people who understood everything from the very beginning and readily perceived that the Son had always existed. ADUMBRATIONS.
MATURITY AND IMMATURITY IN FAITH. ANDREAS: The different ages here are to be understood in spiritual terms; they refer to our maturity in faith. First you must become a child and be weaned off evil. It is in this state that you must put off the weight of your old sins. Once you have done this, you can progress to the status of adolescents, when you must struggle against evil. Finally you will be deemed worthy of the deep knowledge of God which characterizes parents. This is the best and truest order of growth toward acceptance by the Father. CATENA.
HUMBLE IN SPIRIT. BEDE: John calls those who are humble in spirit children. The more they humble themselves under the powerful hand of God, the more they will discover of the hidden things of his sublime eternity, as the Lord said: “You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to babes.” ON 1 JOHN.
2:14 | Young Men, You Are Strong
THE WORD ABIDES IN YOU. ORIGEN: In my opinion, if someone is a child inside, then he will appear to be a child on the outside as well, however old he is. The same is true of someone who is an overgrown teenager. But it also follows from this that anyone can be an adult and parent on the inside, whatever age they may be. CATENA.
YOU HAVE OVERCOME. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: By strong “young men” John means those who have overcome their lusts. ADUMBRATIONS.
THE MODEL OF COURAGE. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The young men are a model of courage, the elders are a model of understanding, and the sons and daughters are a model of what it means to be children in Christ. CATENA.
YOU KNOW HIM WHO IS FROM THE BEGINNING. BEDE: Remember that you are fathers, says John. If you forget him who is from the beginning, then you will lose that status. Never forget that you are still young men, which means that you must go on fighting until you win the battle and receive the crown of victory. Be humble, so as not to be killed in battle. ON 1 JOHN.
2:15 | Do Not Love the World
FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: Since the nature of friendship with God is such that if anyone loves this world he is an enemy of God, it follows that if someone wants to be a friend of God and dwell in God’s love, he must turn away from love of the world and the things which are in the world. COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
THE VANITY OF THE WORLD. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: What is there in the world but vanity, which is of no use to anybody? The distractions of the present life are unnecessary and pointless, as is the excessive abundance of worldly passions. CATENA.
THE THINGS OF THE WORLD. EUCHERIUS: Do not love the world or the things in it, says the apostle, for all these things flatter our gaze with their deceptive show. Let the power of the eyes be focused on the light, not given over to error, and since that power is available for the enjoyment of life, let it not receive what causes death. EXHORTATION TO HIS KINSMAN VALERIAN.
THE DESIRES OF THE WORLD. SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH: John means the lusts and desires of the world, which are ruled by the devil. CATENA.
LOVING THAT WHICH VANISHES. HILARY OF ARLES: A wise father warns his children not to love things which quickly vanish away. This wisdom is the crowning glory of the supreme Maker of all things, and it is well-suited to everyone who is righteous. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
AT WAR WITHIN THE SOUL. ANDREAS: Lest anyone think that he has completely broken with the system of this world, John here reminds us that something of it remains inside us and that we are attracted by it because of the desires of our flesh, which are at war with our soul. From this it may be seen that the visible world is no longer loved by those who have risen above it, who no longer contemplate temporal things but gaze on eternity instead. CATENA.
USE THE WORLD AS NEEDED. BEDE: John addresses these remarks to everyone indiscriminately, whether they are fathers, mature in their faith, whether they are just humble children or whether they are young people who are busily engaged in fighting spiritual battles. Whatever their situation, they must all learn to use the world when they have to but not to love it inordinately. ON 1 JOHN.
FLEE THE WORLD. SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN: Let us flee the world. For what have we got in common with it? Let us run and pursue until we have laid hold of something which is permanent and does not pass away, for all things perish and pass away like a dream, and nothing is lasting or certain among the things which are seen. DISCOURSES 2.14.
2:16 | The Lust of the Flesh
VEHEMENT LUST. AUGUSTINE: The stronger and more vehement the lust which is not from the Father but from the world, the more each one becomes willing to accept all annoyances and griefs in pursuing the object of his desires. ON PATIENCE 17.
ENSLAVED TO BODILY DESIRES. AUGUSTINE: This love of the world, which contains in itself the universal lust of the world, is the general kind of fornication by which one sins against one’s own body, in that the human mind is unceasingly enslaved to all bodily and visible desires and pleasures, left marooned and abandoned by the very Creator of all things. SERMONS 162.4.
THE PRIDE OF LIFE. HILARY OF ARLES: The lust of the flesh is what pertains to our physical appetites, whereas the lust of the eye and the pride of life are what pertains to the vices of the soul, such as inordinate self-love, which does not come from the Father but from the devil. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.
CORRUPTION FADES AWAY. ANDREAS: None of the vain pleasures of corruption will last. They are temporal and will fade away and in fact are flimsier than any cobweb. CATENA.
EVERY WICKEDNESS DESCRIBED. BEDE: Those who love the world have nothing but the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. These few words describe every kind of wickedness which exists. ON 1 JOHN.
2:17 | Time and Eternity
ABIDING FOREVER. ANDREAS: In discussing with the Jews, Christ explained: “This is the will of the Father, that you should believe in the one whom he has sent.” The one who keeps his commandments will gain eternal life. CATENA.
THE WORLD PASSES AWAY. BEDE: The world will pass away on the day of judgment when it will be transformed by fire into something better, for then there will be a new heaven and a new earth. The lust of the world will also disappear, because there will be no place for it in the new creation. But the person who does God’s will does not have to worry about this because the things which he desires are heavenly and eternal, so that they do not and cannot change, whatever happens to the world. ON 1 JOHN.
CLINGING TO PERISHABLE THINGS. OECUMENIUS: Wise people do not go on despising the gospel and clinging to the perishable things of this world, for that is just like trying to build a house on sand. COMMENTARY ON 1 JOHN.