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Andreas of Caesarea

Late Patristic · AD 500–800 · 414 passages across 10 books

Commentary

1–20 of 414
1 John 1:2

(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

John says this with reference to the close union of the Word with the flesh. Or perhaps he says this with reference to the resurrection, considering the way in which it was made known to the apostles by the action of Thomas. That proved that Christ rose again with the same flesh in which he had been crucified.

CATENA

1 John 1:3

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

What did they proclaim, but that eternal life has appeared to us and that we have become witnesses of it? What you gain from this proclamation is the right to share this experience with us. For the one who is in fellowship with us has fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, and since you share in the same fellowship, we shall all have joy together, in that we have been united to God.

CATENA

1 John 1:5

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

What is this message? It is that eternal life has appeared to us. For the Father so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, and this is what we proclaim to you—that the Word of God who has come into the world and become a man is both God and light.

CATENA

1 John 1:6

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

John says that if we sin we have no fellowship with God, but if we do the works of light, then we have fellowship with one another.

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1 John 1:8

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

This is how John describes the Jews who dared to say: “Let his blood be upon us and upon our children,” as if they could crucify Christ without being sinners. If we say such things, we deceive ourselves.

CATENA

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we acknowledge our sin and confess it, he will forgive it, and not only that one but all our sins. For when a person repents and is baptized into the name of Jesus Christ, God forgives all his sins which he has committed both against himself and against heaven.

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1 John 1:10

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

If we say that we have not sinned, we reject his word, which is spirit and life.

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1 John 2:1

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

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.

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1 John 2:2

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

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.”

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1 John 2:3

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

John shows here that true knowledge means demonstrating that one is faithful to Christ by obeying his commandments.

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1 John 2:4

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

It is obvious that the person who does not keep God’s commandments has no knowledge of him.

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1 John 2:7

Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

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.

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1 John 2:8

Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

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.

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1 John 2:9

He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

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.

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1 John 2:11

But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

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.

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1 John 2:13

I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.

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.

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1 John 2:15

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

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.

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1 John 2:16

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

None of the vain pleasures of corruption will last. They are temporal and will fade away and in fact are flimsier than any cobweb.

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1 John 2:17

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

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.

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1 John 2:18

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

The antichrist will come at the end of the world, and the heresies have already announced his coming, for they are his friends and brothers, since they both blaspheme Christ.

CATENA

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