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From: 1 John 3:11-21
Loving One Another
Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. [13] Do not won-
der, brethren, that the world hates you. [14] We know that we have passed out
of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love remains in
death. [15] Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no
murderer has eternal life abiding in him. [16] By this we know love, that He laid
down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. [17] But
if any one has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his
heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? [18] Little children, let us
not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.
[19] By this we shall know that we are in truth, and reassure our hearts before
Him [20] whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts,
and He knows everything. [21] Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we
have confidence before God.
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Commentary:
11-22. St John begins this important passage on the subject of brotherly love
with the same elevated tone as in 1:5. As usual with his style, it is difficult to di-
scern any rigid arrangement of concepts, but there is a clear connection of ideas,
expressed in paradoxes and contrasts. 1) Statement of the central theme — the
commandment of love (v. 11). 2) Its counterpart is the sin of Cain (v. 12); those
who do not practice brotherly love are as much murderers as he was (vv. 13-15).
3) Our model (a new contrast) is Christ, who gave His life for us (v. 16); brotherly
love, following our Lord’s example, must go beyond mere talk; it must show itself
in deed and in truth (vv. 17-18). 4) The consequence of brotherly love is total con-
fidence in God, who knows everything (vv. 19-22).
This passage of St John has led to many beautiful, touching commentaries by
the Fathers of the Church. “I believe this is the pearl the merchant in the Gospel
was looking for, which when he found it led him to sell everything he had and buy
it (Mt 13:46). This is the precious pearl—charity; unless you have it, everything
else you have is of no use to you; and if you have it alone, you need nothing else.
Now you see with faith; later on you will see with intuitive vision; if we love now,
when we do not see, what degree of love shall we not attain when we do see!
And, meanwhile, what should we be doing?
We should be loving the brethren. You may be able to say, I have not seen God;
but can you say, I have not seen man? Love your brother. If you love your brother
whom you see, you will also see God, because you will see charity, and God
dwells within it” (St Augustine, “In Epist. Ioann. Ad Parthos, 5, 7).
11. The new commandment of brotherly love, which Jesus expressly taught at
the Last Supper (cf. Jn 13:34-35 and note) is the “message” which Christians
have learned from the beginning (cf. 1 Jn 2:7). There is no more sublime com-
mandment, and all the commandments are summed up in it. As St Augustine
explains, “Everyone can make the sign of the cross of Christ; everyone can an-
swer, Amen; everyone can sing Alleluia; everyone can have himself baptized,
can enter churches, can build the walls of basilicas. But charity is the only thing
by which the children of God can be told from the children of the devil. Those who
practice charity are born of God; those who do not practice it are not born of God.
An important mark, an essential difference! You may have whatever you like, but
if you lack this, just this, everything else is of no use whatsoever; and if you lack
everything and have nothing but this, you have fulfilled the law!” (”In Epist. Ioann.
Ad Parthos, 5, 7).
12. Cain is the prototype of those who belong to the devil; not only because he
took his brother’s life by violence, but because the hatred nestling in his heart
prevented him from recognizing his brother’s goodness. The same reaction can
happen today: “Because you don’t know, or don’t want to know, how to imitate
that man’s upright manner of acting, your secret envy makes you seek to ridicule
him” (St. J. Escriva, “Furrow”, 911).
13. In this verse, an aside breaking the flow of the argument, St John seeks to
encourage all Christians, particularly his immediate readers who were probably
experiencing persecution (perhaps that ordered by the emperor Domitian). Je-
sus clearly predicted that His disciples would be persecuted as He was (cf. Jn
15:18-22).
For a Christian, difficulties should provide an opportunity to show firmness in the
faith and not be sad or discouraged (cf. Jn 16:1-4): “If you are reproached for the
name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests up-
on you” (1 Pet 4:14).
14-15. The Christian life involves passing from death to life, from sin to grace.
Anyone who does not practice the commandment of love “remains in death
(sin)”.
“Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer.” This unambiguous statement e-
choes the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: “every one who is an-
gry with his brother shall be liable to judgment” (Mt 5:22). The internal sin of ha-
tred has the same malicious root as the external act of murder.
By speaking in this way, St John makes it crystal clear that hatred of one’s
neighbor is incompatible with the Christian faith.
16-18. From Jesus the Christian learns what love is and what demands it makes
— not only through His sublime teaching (like that about the Good Shepherd in
John 10:1ff or His discourse at the Last Supper) but above all by His example:
“He laid down His life for us”, by dying on the cross. We “ought” to so the same;
the Greek word St John uses implies a duty. That is, the precept of brother love
imposes an obligation for two reasons — by the very nature of things, since all
men are brothers and children of God; and because we are indebted to Christ
and must respond to the infinite love He showed by giving His life for us.
Using an example very like that in the Letter of St James (cf. Jas 2: 15-16), he
shows that true love expresses itself in actions: anyone who “closes his heart”
when he sees others in need does not truly love.
The saints have constantly reminded us of St John’s teaching: “what the Lord de-
sires is works. If you see a sick woman to whom you can give some help, never
be affected by the fear that your devotion will suffer, but take pity on her: if she
is in pain, you should feel pain too; if necessary, fast so that she may have your
food, not so much for her sake as because you know it to be your Lord’s will.
That is true union with His will. Again, if you hear someone being praised, be
much more pleased than if they were praising you” (St Teresa of Avila, “Interior
Castle”, V, 3. 11).
19-22. The Apostle reassures us: God knows everything; not only does He know
our sins and our frailties, He also knows our repentance and our good desires,
and He understands and forgives us (St Peter, on the Lake of Tiberias, made the
same confession to Jesus, “Lord, you know everything, you know that I love
you”: Jn 21:17).
St John’s teaching on divine mercy is very clear: if our conscience tells us we
have done wrong, we can seek forgiveness and strengthen our hope in God; if
our conscience does not accuse us, our confidence in God is ardent and bold,
like that of a child who has loving experience of his Father’s tenderness. The love
of God is mightier than our sins, Bl. John Paul II reminds us: “When we realize
that God’s love for us does not cease in the face of our sin or recoil before our of-
fenses, but becomes even more attentive and generous; when we realize that
this love went so far as to cause the Passion and Death of the Word made flesh
who consented to redeem us at the price of His own blood, then we exclaim in
gratitude: ‘Yes, the Lord is rich in mercy’, and even: ‘The Lord IS mercy’” (”Re-
concilatio Et Paenitentia”, 22).
This confidence in God makes for confidence in prayer: “If you abide in Me, and
My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you” (Jn
15:7; cf. 14:13f; 16:23, 26-27).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.