Dear John letters

Let’s suppose, for the sake of study, that the date the apostle John wrote his three letters was around ninety-six A.D. and that by that time John was already in his late nineties.  We know the apostle was living out his last days as a pastor in Ephesus, Asia (modern day Turkey). John would have been very elderly by now having spent ten years of life in exile on the island of Patmos.

Time wise, it would have been 63 years since the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and 26 years since the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. The initial flame of excitement that spread at Pentecost, giving birth to the church, would have long since gone out, allowing room for other gospels and false teachings to creep in.

 All the other apostles, by this time, had either been martyred or were dead. Even their disciples were getting on in age so that the last group of people to actually have seen Jesus come back from death was dwindling. There was noticeable division and fracturing of doctrine growing in the church as false teachers began to teach that Jesus did not come in human flesh or that He never came back to life after death.

It’s in this climate that the apostle John writes to the faithful in Ephesus, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us- that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you may also have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:1-4. 

John was stating, for the record, the truth about Jesus!

John goes on to write in his second letter “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh” and wanting to underscore the severity of this foundational undermining, John continues, “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God.” 2 John 7-9.

The virgin birth of the Messiah was hinted at as early as Genesis 3:15 where God first promises that He would send the Messiah through the “seed of the woman” (remember the seed comes from the man and the ovum from the woman). Then written in the book of Isaiah some 750 years before the birth of Jesus Christ we find another prophecy of His virgin birth “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14. “Immanuel” actually means “God with us” and is a glorious description of Jesus Christ. The name “Jesus” is Greek for the equivalent Hebrew name Jeshua which is a form of Joshua and is translated “Yahweh is salvation”. It’s interesting that both of these proper names written 750 years apart describe both the purpose/mission of Jesus and His title as the Son of man, God and King of all creation.

John writes in the book of Revelation, chapter 2, how Jesus gives a report card to seven churches located in Asia. To the church in Ephesus, He states how they were doing great in the area of weeding out the false apostles and teachers but that they themselves had left or strayed from their first love. He reminds the church at Ephesus to repent and return to the first works and Him.

According to the letters of John, the proof that we are truly followers of Christ, and have not believed in vain, is that we love the brethren. “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” 1 John 3:16, 17. 

I want to encourage all of you this holiday season to look for ways to reach out to other people in your community who are in need, spiritually, physically and financially. We all need to return to our first love and give God the front seat in our lives by reaching out in love to others. As we give God our love, time and resources we are worshiping Him and proving that we have not believed in vain. 

Let us not put gift buying and holiday traditions above our love for the Lord and one another.