We declare…what was from the beginning—what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, …and touched with our hands—concerning the Word of life. ·This life…—the eternal life that was {toward} the Father—…was revealed to us... ·so that YOU[i] also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ·We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. ·…God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. ·If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; 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… ·If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:1-7,9 NRSV {S4A})

I am writing these things to YOU so that YOU may not sin. But if anyone does sin we have an Advocate[ii] [Gr. parakleetos] {toward} the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ·and [Gr. kai] he is the Atoning Sacrifice[ii] for our sins. ...·Whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has {been matured}. ·By this we may be sure that we are in him: ·whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked. ...·I am writing YOU… because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining... ·—to YOU, [dear children] [Gr. teknia], because YOUR sins are forgiven on account of his name. ...·I am writing to YOU, {little boys and girls} [Gr. paidia], because YOU know the Father. …·Let what YOU have heard from the beginning abide in YOU... ·Abide in him so that when he [appears, we may be confident and unashamed before him]... ·See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called “children [Gr. tekna] of God”. That is what we are…·…·now! What we will be has not yet been revealed, [but…when he appears], we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. ·All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (1 Jn.2:1-2,5-6,8,12,14a,24a,28; 3:1-3 NRSV {S4A} [NIV] )

God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his [Son, the only begotten], into the world so that we might live through him. ·...He loved us and sent his Son as an Atoning Sacrifice[ii] for our sins. ...·We know we abide in him and he in us because he has given us of his Spirit... ·and that the Father has sent {the} Son as the Savior of the world. ...·So we…believe the love that God has for us... Those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them. ·Love has {been matured with} us in this, that we may have [confidence] on the Day of Judgment, because as he is so are we in this world. ·There is no fear in love, but {mature} love drives out fear; for fear has to do with punishment. Whoever fears has not {been matured} in love. (1 Jn.4:9-10,13-14,16-18 NRSV {S4A} [Amp])

After receiving the Spirit (4:13), John finally understood two things about Jesus. The man he had walked with for several years is the uncreated Word [Gr. logos] of God. But more than just seeing an eternal person, John had also witnessed, in Jesus, an eternal relationship— Life that was directed 'toward[iii] the Father’. And by the Spirit, he and all his fellow disciples had come into this same ‘fellowship with the Father’ as his sons and daughters [Gr. tekna] (3:1)[iv]. Even ‘boys and girls’ [Gr. paidia] (Med.#25) could know the Father. And as we obey Jesus' words and ‘walk as he walked’ here ‘in this world’, God's love is ‘matured’ in us. And we become increasingly more confident in our relationship with our Father, such that we are becoming increasingly more like Jesus.

God's light is already shining in us by the Spirit, yet even Spirit-filled believers who enjoy this family fellowship can again end up ‘walking in darkness’. John wants to help people avoid falling back into sin in this way. So in the course of his letter he identifies four dark paths that can keep Christians from enjoying and growing in confident fellowship with the Father. In this meditation we will look at fear as the first of these dark paths. Later we will look at compromise (Med.#53), hatred (Med.#54) and deception (Med.#55). And in each of these meditations we will apply John's prescription for how to return to the light.

John doesn't mention ‘fear’ right away, but when he does, he associates it with the fear of judgment and punishment that produces feelings of shame and a lack of confidence in God's presence. Fear will keep Christians from being ‘matured’ in the Father's love for them, and from choosing to live close to him. Our Father wants us to grow up in his love so that long before Jesus' return and Judgment Day, we will already be walking in the light of his presence—as confident and mature (adult) sons and daughters. Does this describe you? Or are you walking along the dark path of fear in some way?

As children we all experienced fear of punishment: either when we did something wrong, or when a powerful person acted in an unjust or unpredictable way. Who were you afraid of as a child? A parent or an older sibling; a teacher, a school director or a class bully; a policeman, or men in general; black men, or white people in general? Such childhood fears—of being hurt, shamed, judged, etc.—can resurface to dominate our adult life, especially when exacerbated by politicians, the media or super-religious people. Even Christian preachers use fear of God's judgment to try to scare people into repentance and living righteous lives. Also Bible teachers, by a faulty interpretation of what John tells us to do when we sin, contribute to an unhealthy fear of our Father.

Anyone who sins, John says, should recall that ‘Jesus Christ, the righteous’ is an ‘Advocate toward the Father…, and [Gr. kai]…the Atoning Sacrifice for our sins’. The church circles of my youth taught me that when I sinned, Jesus acted as a kind of heavenly defense lawyer between the Father and me. My sin makes the Father angry, but Jesus pleads with him to remember how the cross has taken care of it, so he can be ‘just’ and forgive me. This is bad theology because it divides the Trinity, producing in us different emotions towards Jesus (love and gratitude) than towards the Father (fear and avoidance). The theologian lawyers who developed this view probably grew up with easily riled fathers, and so needed mediating mothers to calm their fears. Whatever the reason, their interpretation is faulty because it ignores both the Greek word ‘and’ in the sentence[v], and the parallel way John talks about Jesus as ‘Atoning Sacrifice’ later in the above text—as evidence of the Father's love for us, and as only the second way he demonstrated his love for us by sending Jesus. Theses parallel verses suggest that Jesus being our ‘righteous’ Advocate in heaven is about how our Father sent him so that we might live through him. As Paul says, we are ‘saved’ by Jesus’ life even as we are ‘justified’ by his death (Rom.5:10)!

Jesus himself told John and the other disciples that the Father was sending the Spirit to them as ‘another Advocate’ [Gr. parakleetos] (Med.#51)—in addition to Jesus! So why do we need two Advocates? The Greek word translated ‘Advocate’ can also mean ‘intercessor’[vi]. And Paul, using a similar word, speaks of how both Jesus and the Holy Spirit ‘intercede’ on our behalf. The Spirit does so by reminding us of who we are as 'heirs of our Dad, and by helping us when we feel weak (Med.#5). The ascended Jesus does so by affirming our Father's unconditional and unfailing love, by challenging anyone who tries to accuse us or condemn us (Rom.8:31-39)!

Jesus became our Advocate and intercessor first by living a righteous human life on earth. And now as our Advocate in heaven, he takes away any fear of the Father by holding our place for us in the Father's presence (Med.#44)—giving us confidence both in what ‘we will be’ when we too gaze in wonder upon our Father from resurrected bodies like his, and in ‘what we are now’ as sons and daughters of the Father. According to John, it is this knowledge that motivates us to live pure lives as we walk in fellowship with our Father—through the life of our Eldest Brother—full of faith in his faithful, forgiving love every time we need to confess our sins.

While revising this meditation, I've had to confront a fear—with me since a second burnout in 2010—of being overwhelmed with responsibility for people the Father asks me to help. I've confessed my lack of trust in him; and I'm now listening to the Spirit and to the Scriptures, seeking to learn from Jesus how he walked in confidence with the Father when faced with similar situations. Besides forgiving and healing people, he also challenged them to embrace his salvation as mature adult sons and daughters, by walking in their Father's light by the Spirit—in loving family fellowship with the Father, with Jesus and with each other.

Father, strengthen me with power through your Spirit in my inner being: so that through faith Christ may abide in my heart; so that I may know your great love for me in Christ; and so that when I fall into sin, I may choose to rely on, and abide in your love (Eph.3:14-18; 1 Jn.2:1; 4:16 NIV)

I know that my 'kinsman redeemer' [Heb. goël] lives; as my Eldest Brother he has taken his stand on the earth. Now in heaven he takes my part and has set me close to him, so that one day, from my flesh I too shall look on you; these eyes will gaze on you and find you not aloof. (Job 19:25-27 JB; Rom.8:29b)

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world; have mercy on us.

Spirit of God, come help us live through Jesus our Lord; have mercy on us.

Father God, come fill us with your love and your grace; grant us your peace.

[i] As in my translations, I also render the 2^nd person pronoun here in caps (‘YOU’) if the Greek form is plural—to show when John is addressing members of the church as a group.

[ii] Though the NRSV does not capitalize ‘Advocate’ in this text, it does do so with the same Greek word (parakleetos) in Jn.14:16 to describe the role that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit play in our lives (Med.#51). So I choose to capitalize it here as well. And I do the same with ‘Atoning Sacrifice’—to show the equally great significance of both roles that Jesus plays in our lives.   

[iii] When used with an accusative case, the Greek word pros should actually be translated ‘toward’, Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, 1977, p.541.

[iv] The (plural) Greek word, tekna (‘children’ in 3:1 NRSV) is gender neutral and can be rendered ‘sons and daughters’ when adult children are also in focus (see Med.#5, footnote ii)

[v] The RSV, NRSV, Amp, KJV, and GNB all translate the Greek word kai (‘and’) in 1 Jn.2:2, while the NIV, ESV, HCSB, and NLT do not—supporting the ‘defense lawyer’ theology by implying that Jesus as our Advocate is only about ‘pleading his shed blood’ before God.

[vi] Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, 1977, p.483.