Walking in the Light of God—Lectionary Reflection for Easter 2B (1 John 1)

1 John 1:1-2:2  New Revised Standard Version

1 We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ² this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— ³ we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him, there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; ⁷ but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  

2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ² and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

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                Jesus has risen from the dead. That is the good news we proclaimed once again on Easter Sunday. We will continue to celebrate that message until we reach Pentecost Sunday (though in reality, we should celebrate the resurrection every Sunday and not just during one season of the year). The Gospel for the Second Sunday of Easter takes us to the story of Thomas’s encounter with the risen Christ. He won’t believe the message of the resurrection until he sees Jesus for himself. Thomas gets his wish. As for the rest of us, Jesus tells Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (Jn. 20:19-31).

                As a reflection of what we read in the Gospel of John, the reading from 1 John, which accompanies the reading from the Gospel (the epistle readings for Year B come from 1 John—see my book The Letters of John: A Participatory Study Guide for more background on this letter). In this epistle, or perhaps better, this sermon, the author of 1 John writes: We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life” (1 Jn. 1:1). This is the word to those of us, who, unlike Thomas, do not have the benefit of a personal visitation from the risen Christ. We might not have the opportunity to see or to touch him in the way Thomas is said to have experienced the resurrection. Nevertheless, we can receive this testimony offered by the author of John and in believing it, we can receive the eternal life that God has for those who believe. Having received the testimony, the admonition is to walk in the light, as God is light.

                Regarding this letter that looks more like a sermon or an essay than a letter, we know not its author or the date of its creation. Tradition connects it with John, son of Zebedee. It is presumed by tradition to share its authorship with the author of the Gospel of John. It does have similarities in style and vocabulary. We cannot know any of this for sure, but it likely comes from the same community that produced the Gospel. 

                This is the message that the author wants to pass on to the community: “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all” (vs. 5). Not only is God light, but “if we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true” (vs. 6). On the other hand, “if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (vs. 7). John connects God’s identity as light to our walk of faith. Fellowship is dependent on walking in the light of Christ. As Charles Couser points out, that ‘light’ is not a cosmic or intellectual symbol but is clearly an ethical one.” [Feasting on the Word, p. 397]. We are called upon to walk in the light, but John is realistic. He understands that we are likely to sin and fall short of what it means to walk in the light. In fact, if we say we do not sin, then we lie. But, if While sin is likely to occur, they will be cleansed from sin through the blood of Jesus. John seems to understand that sin is likely to occur because he tells the reader that if we say we do not sin, we lie, but if we confess our sins, that is, we’re honest about who we are, then we will be forgiven.   

                When it comes to sin, John wants to encourage his readers to pursue a life without sin. That should be our goal, to live in perfect harmony with the will of God. However, sin is likely to persist. So, this call to live a life without sin is aspirational. Now, John, at least to this point in the sermon, hasn’t defined sin, but we can use our own definitions of sin to interpret the message here.

                Although John is realistic about our propensity to sin, he does offer a solution to our problem with sin. When it comes to the propensity to sin, we are told that we have an advocate, a defense attorney, who will speak on our behalf. The Greek word translated here as “advocate” is parakletos. It’s the same word that appears in the Gospel of John, where Jesus speaks of the coming of the Spirit (Jn.16:7-11). In this case, the author of the letter uses parakletos to describe the work Jesus engages in as our advocate when charged with a propensity to sin. Not only does Jesus serve as our advocate, but he is also the atoning sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the entire world (1 Jn 2:1-2). Even as John doesn’t define what he means by sin, he doesn’t define atonement (Gk. Hilasmos). It’s unlikely that John has in mind here a form of penal substitution. Quite possibly he has in mind the idea that was prominent in Jewish literature of the era, in which the intercession of martyrs on behalf of the people might bring forgiveness (2 Maccabees 12:39-45). There is nothing here about the death of Jesus placating an angry God. What he does assume is that Jesus’ death on the cross mediates to us God’s forgiveness, doing so as our intercessor/advocate. He does this not for us only, but for the kosmos as well. Thanks be to God! And let us also walk in the light, even as God is light!

LeCompte, Rowan and Irene LeCompte. Christ shows himself to Thomas, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54879 [retrieved April 4, 2021]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/maryannsolari/5119341372/.