If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 1:6-2:6; 4:7-5:5)
When we say, “Love is perfected,” we mean that love has reached its goal. There is one word for “perfected,” and it is the same word Jesus said when he died: “it is finished.” That takes three words in English, but one word in Greek: tetelestai means it is “finished”. Tetelomenē is the love that is perfected and has reached its goal. It is “love to the end.” That is literally what it means. “Love to the end. To the goal.” “It is finished,” says Jesus as he dies for us to take away our sins and give us eternal life. This is the “perfected” love John is talking about.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear. Imperfect love, however, does not drive out fear. The torment of a guilty conscience, or a love that holds back, makes us angry and resentful, killing our peace. If you are agitated and angry, it is because you are afraid, and if you have fear, it is because you do not have that perfectly obedient and perfectly trusting love that comes from God. If we love God and love each other, we have boldness at the judgment; fearlessness. Perfect love abandons everything and throws itself into the arms of God.
So basically, if you want to say you love others, you must keep the commandments of God. Your love for others is flawed and misguided if you are not obedient to God’s commandments. It is a false love. It is not how Jesus loves.
In this passage, St. John says that if you do not obey Jesus’commandments, you have no communion with him. You are not his partner. You are not part of his Church if you do not follow his commandments. Those words are like a sharp dagger. Do not think that just because St. John always talks about love, he never talks about the fearsome justice of God. This is very serious. St. John the Theologian is an Apostle and a spiritual father. He is not a teddy bear. He is the Apostle who lay on Jesus’ chest at the supper, the one who refers to himself as “the disciple Jesus loved.” But he preaches about the fearsome God, not a tame God.
It doesn’t matter how much you think you love others, how much compassion you think you feel for others; if you are not obedient to the people God has put in authority over you, you do not love in the fullest sense. St. John says if you do not obey God, your love is not “perfected.” And God calls you to obey those in authority over you.
This perfected love is love that “has reached its goal.’ Obeying God is the fullest expression of love. Obeying God and those he has given authority over you was the point all along. God loves his people, and he creates order and harmony for his people. Your one-on-one experience is part of the plan of God for his people. First and foremost, his commandment is that you observe the loving, life-giving order. Serve others in an ordered, chaste, humble manner. Love your neighbour by getting along with all your neighbours. That is God’s love for you, and that is how you show God’s love to the world. That is the true heart of love. You are not one with Christ, who died and “finished” and perfected our salvation, if you do not obey him. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. There’s that word again. He perfects our faith. Without obedience, there is no perfect love nor perfect faith.
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For this reason, you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour.
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:1-10)
All Christians must also submit to the church’s authorities, children must obey parents, wives must submit to their husbands, and servants must obey their masters. I take this not as a law that justifies slavery, but rather, employees should obey their employers and do an honest day’s work. Young people must respect elders. We must all fear God.
We modern Western Christians, even when we become Orthodox, love our sentimentality, individualism and our customized experience of Christianity. When we tell ourselves that we are loving and empathetic, many of us do love others and do have empathy. Yet, sometimes we show love and empathy because we want to be accepted by the people we have say we love. Sometimes, we get angry on behalf of others, and our actual motivation is to be accepted by them or to be seen as compassionate. Often, our righteous anger is merely a way of pretending to be compassionate and loving. It is often born out of our fear of being judged by the world. But that is not actually love. It is not God’s love.
If we do not have a love that goes all the way to obedience, love that goes “to the end” and pushes through to humility, it is not the perfected love. If we do not have that love, we become (secretly) afraid of the last judgment. We think, “Well, at least I have helped the poor and needy and lonely. At least, I advocated for the people that the world tells me are victims. Perhaps it will make up for my lack of obedience and my ambivalence towards the difficult words of Christ.” Keep serving, but serve Jesus’ way.
Showing charitable empathy and compassion is a wonderful thing. The man who came to Jesus and said he obeyed all the ten commandments was told, “You lack one thing. Go sell everything you have and give the money to the poor.” He was only lacking one thing. Only one thing. We should infer that he had all the other necessarythings. Compassion for the poor was not the only thing necessary; it was the one thing that he lacked.
But for you, it might be the other way around. You can give everything to the poor, but if you have contempt for the commandments of God, you do not have communion with Christ. There is no communion with Christ or with your fellow man unless you have the kind of love that expresses itself in righteousness and obedience. Jesus assumed all of humanity. If you do not love him the way he said, you do not love humanity. He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” That is the full and truest kind of love. And it is not sensational, it doesn’t get anyone’s attention, and you cannot self-congratulate quite as much because it doesn’t feel euphoric. You can “remain” in that perfect love, however, by continuing to obey God when your flesh is kicking and screaming. You must remain, stay faithful. If you remain in him, you have consistency and steadfastness in obedience. Then you “love to the end” and without exception.
One of the clearest signs of a false love is when you cannot get along at home, at work or in the other places where you feel most at home and therefore take the most liberties. Sometimes that place where we feel most at home is even in our church community. In private, or in a space where you are familiar with people and feel safe, your fear often manifests as anger and judgment. We are not polite at home in the same way we are with strangers. We do not self-censor with people who are familiar the same way we do with strangers. We do not always care how we make our spouse feel, or our children.
If we are compassionate towards one person or one group of people but angry and hateful towards those who are closest to us, that is because we do not have the fullness of love, perfected love. Real love casts out fear, but false love hides our fear. And when we are afraid, we get angry, hate and lash out. In those familiar safe places, the truth about our ability to love comes out whether we like it or not. What do you actually love?
Does the word “obedience” sound like a prison to you? If so, you have not learned to love. What does God say that you should be doing in your home? In your marriage? Towards your parents or siblings? What is God calling you to say or do in relation to your children? For example, paying attention to them, or perhaps confronting them if needed, being present, putting down the devices, and daring to call them out from behind theirs. What form of self-control or obedience is God calling you to in the home, at work or in your community? This is the place where God wants to make you perfect in love.
Start to “love one another as God loved us” at home, or where you feel most athome. Perhaps this is the lunch room at work, or wherever you have the opportunity to let your hair down. Perhaps you are in the habit of speaking some unpolished truths about your co-workers or your boss. Start to “love one another as God loved us” there. Then you will no longer fear the judgment day. You will no longer be angry and hateful.
You will no longer want to censor God and his Church if you have the fully obedient love of Christ. You will no longer have a secret faith that is almost the same as the Church you belong to. You will no longer be defensive or controlling if you obey the people God has called you to obey. When you are submissive to the people God has called you to be submissive to, fear goes away, and then anger goes away.
The people outside your inner circle will still be there. They will still need your love. The poor, the needy, the lonely, the outsiders will still be there, and you can still serve them. But now it will be less a matter of dulling your own guilty conscience with a self-congratulatory love. Now it will be a love that points towards Christ because you will not only have empathy, you will also have holiness! And that is Jesus’ love; real love. It is the fullness of love.
The whole truth of love is that it is not only meek and compassionate, but also holy. Jesus’ love is empathy, shedding tears for the ones who suffer, and holiness at the same time. When Jesus reached the tomb of his friend, Lazarus, he wept. He explained to Lazarus’ sister that he, Jesus, is the resurrection and the life. Jesus is both the resurrection and the life. If he were just the resurrection, he could raise Lazarus. But he is also the life, meaning he is the life we lead, the lifestyle. Jesus is the way we walk and the way we live. He helps us and reforms us. That is his perfect love. Compassion is holiness, and calling the world to holiness is how we shine the light of the gospel in the darkness of sin and death.
Is your love for the vulnerable both a compassionate love anda love of holiness and obedience? Go home, and go to work, go to where you are most at home and look at your ability to love people compassionately there, in that place. Do you have peace? Do you act in a way that brings peace to the people closest to you? Do you have enough courage to obey? That is real courage. Go there and look at yourself honestly, repent and you will have the answer as to whether you have perfect love.
Now when Jesus came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”
Jesus answered, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
Theuy reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.”
So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.”
Jesus said, “Then I will not tell you by what authority I do these things. But tell me what you think: a man had two sons, and he went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ The son answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then the man went to the second son and said the same thing. And the second son answered, ‘Yes, sir. I will go.’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?”
They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.” (Matthew 21:23-32)
Most of the time when we read this, we read the version that does not have the parable about the two sons. But this version helps us see what Jesus was saying more clearly. Let’s consider the context of this conversation that Jesus is having. Jesus is in Jerusalem, teaching big crowds of people. He had just come into Jerusalem a day or two before, at the head of a great crowd who were shouting, “Hosannah, son of David. Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.” He was making a scene. Jesus was criticizing the Jewish authorities who were standing nearby, listening to him. He was defying them more or less to their face. And they asked him, “What authority do you have to do this? Who do you think you are?”
What they are actually saying is, “Are you claiming to be some kind of messiah freedom fighter who is going to start a popular uprising?” They are daring him to admit to being a revolutionary in front of the crowd, because then they can have him arrested. On the other hand, if Jesus chickens out and does not proclaim himself king, so they think, then they have discredited him in front of the crowd. They believed they had cornered Jesus.
Instead, Jesus cornered them. He put them on the spot and said, “What do you think of John the Baptist? Was he a prophet from God or not?”
This confrontation between Jesus and the authorities in Jerusalem took place after John the Baptist had died at the hands of the friends of these religious leaders. The whole crowd there thought of John the Baptist as a martyr. And Jesus was calling the crowds attention to these people’s association with the murders of John the Baptist. He was also pointing out to the authorities, “I can see how scared you are! You don’t have the guts to say what you really think. You were relieved when they killed John the Baptist, but you are too scared to say it.” If they denounced John the Baptist, the crowds would turn on them and blame them for his death.
These same religious leaders had been angry with Jesus because he associated with sinners like tax collectors and harlots – the very people John the Baptist had preached to before Jesus’ ministry. But Jesus says, “John the Baptist convinced tax collectors and harlots to repent of their sins. But you didn’t repent of your sins.”
Now this is the most important point, and it is surprising. The religious leaders were not very religious, actually. They were disobedient. Jesus said as much. Jesus told his followers that the religious leaders pretended to be pious, but they disobeyed God by cheating and lying. They swore dishonest vows in the name of God! They did not keep the laws, even though they judged others. The only difference was that the leaders devised clever ways of making it look like they were obedient.
They were disobedient, and yet they hated sinners. They were disobedient, and therefore, they had no love for God. They said they obeyed the Father, but they actually hated the Father. That’s why they also hated the children of the Father. They even hated the Only-begotten Son of the Father. Disobedience breeds hatred.
Jesus did not condemn the Pharisees for their strict adherence to the law. He condemned them for their pretense. They did not lack love because they were too righteous. They lacked love because they only pretended to fear God, but actually, they were just as much sinners as the others. They hated Jesus because they hated sincerity.
So Jesus tells them this story that we don’t hear very much in Church: the parable of the two sons.
“A man had two sons, and he went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ The son answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then the man went to the second son and said the same thing. And the second son answered, ‘Yes, sir. I will go.’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.”
The one who was obedient (better late than never) had true love for his father. At least he came to his senses and loved his father by obeying him. That is true love.
Listen to Jesus’ words carefully. Jesus never said that what the Pharisees demanded that people do was wrong. He said that they were indifferent to the people for whom the commandments were too heavy. They did not love the people they were supposed to lead and care for. But he did not condemn the law. On the contrary, Jesus told his followers to be more righteous than the Pharisees. He condemned the pretense.
What did the father do in the parable? He did not beat the disobedient son for disobeying. He was patient and went to the second son, giving the first one time to rethink.
The Pharisees were disobedient, and therefore, they were afraid. Because of their fear, they were unable to love the repentant sinners. The fearful and disobedient Pharisees had no fatherly patience with sinners who wanted to change. The Pharisees did not have the light of God. They were children of darkness and were cast out into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Go home and be polite and respectful. Submit when you should submit. Obey when you should obey. Serve when you should serve. Lead with dignity and honour when you should lead. Teach and set an example. Take responsibility.
Spread the life-giving love of God at work. Show gestures of reverence in the holy space of the Church in front of the icons. And then let your mouth be filled with the same reverence for the Church, its leaders and members, when you are downstairs drinking coffee.
“Let our mouths be filled with Thy praise, O Lord, that we may sing of Thy Glory. For Thou hast made us worthy to partake of Thy holy, divine and life-creating mysteries. Keep us in Thy holiness, that all the day we may meditate upon Thy righteousness.”