A Meditation on 1 John 3:11-24

At the end of their time wandering in the wilderness after the miraculous events of the Exodus, Israel was about to face one of its biggest challenges—they were about to lose Moses. The further we get into the celebration of Easter the lessons begin to prepare us for one of the greatest challenges the early church faced—what would they do when Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father?

Anytime there is a transition in leadership it is all too common to revert back to old behaviors. First John warns us that “We should not be like Cain.” Cain allowed the envy of his brother to build up into anger which eventually ended in murder. Cain blamed his brother for his own shortcomings. This behavior was most likely learned from his parents when they blamed everyone but themselves after sinning in the garden. It is so easy to point the finger and play the blame game. It never ends well. In contrast, John tells us another way, “We are to believe in the name of Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he commanded us.” -1 John 3:23 Having lost Jesus through the Ascension (while gaining the presence of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit), John reminds the disciples and the early church that the heart of Jesus’ teaching was that they love the Father and love each other. This love was the mark of the early church. Non-believers would say of the Christians, “See how they love each other!”

When a leader moves on it is all too easy to forget their teaching or “commandments.” It didn’t take Israel long to dance around the golden calf when Moses was away up on the mountain. It would not have taken much for the early church to forget the commandments of Jesus, except that Jesus reminded them on his last night with them to “Love each other as I have  loved you.” John was simply reminding them of the heart of Jesus’ message.

Today’s collect challenges us to “so perfectly know Jesus to be the way, that we steadfastly follow in his footsteps in the way that leads to eternal glory.” John repeats this thought with slightly different words when he states that we “are to believe in the name of Jesus Christ.” This is a far greater task than simply calling Jesus Lord with our lips. It means that we are to completely trust in Christ and his work on the cross. Our love for Christ and his “name” is to be so great that we will seek to be like him and live the way he lived, loving that which he loved. In other words, we can’t act like Cain and say we believe in the name of Jesus.

The lessons from this Sunday challenge us to avoid past behaviors like Cain and instead to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Cain leads to blame, anger, and ultimately death. Belief in Jesus and walking in his way leads to forgiveness, love, and ultimately eternal glory and life. The choice is ours.

†Bp Mark