Day 359a: 2 John

Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world (2 John 7).

In John’s later years, the church was in the very early stages of defining the Incarnation – what it meant for God to put on human flesh. One group that spurned the growing consensus of the church and specifically the teachings of John was the Docetics. Docetism insisted that Jesus was pure spirit and only appeared to be flesh. Even after the Docetics were gone, their teachings were adopted by the Gnostics, another heretical group.

By emphasizing Christ as spirit and not flesh, they elevated the importance of spirit and diminished the importance of the body; not only his but ours as well. By extension this implies that what we do physically has no impact on who we are spiritually. Carried to its extreme, this allows for vile indulgence of carnal desires.

For a more subtle effect, consider this in light of the teachings from 1 John. If Jesus did not come in the flesh, but instead was only spirit, how does that influence the teachings about love for God and love for others? John writes that if we love Christ we must 1) obey his teachings; 2) love our brothers and sisters; and 3) love them with our actions, not just our words (from 1 John).

Christ put on flesh. So must our claims of loving Christ and loving others.

Thank you, God, for the Incarnation, in which your Son Jesus humbled himself, taking the form of a servant. Help us follow his lead.

TODAY’S MEDITATION

How will your love put on flesh this week?

Day 359a: 2 John

Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. (2 John 7)

In John’s later years, the church was in the very early stages of defining the Incarnation – what it meant for God to put on human flesh. One group that spurned the growing consensus of the church and specifically the teachings of John was the Docetics. Docetism insisted that Jesus was pure spirit and only appeared to be flesh. Even after the Docetics were gone, their teachings were adopted by the Gnostics, another heretical group.

By emphasizing Christ as spirit and not flesh, they elevated the importance of spirit and diminished the importance of the body; not only his but ours as well. By extension this implies that what we do physically has no impact on who we are spiritually. Carried to its extreme, this allows for vile indulgence of carnal desires.

For a more subtle effect, consider this in light of the teachings from 1 John. If Jesus did not come in the flesh, but instead was only spirit, how does that influence the teachings about love for God and love for others? John writes that if we love Christ we must 1) obey his teachings; 2) love our brothers and sisters; and 3) love them with our actions, not just our words (from 1 John).

Christ put on flesh. So must our claims of loving Christ and loving others.

How will your love put on flesh this week?

Day 359: 2 John, 3 John and Jude

Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. (2 John 9)

There are two kinds of people who forsake leadership and run on ahead: 1) children, whose naïveté causes them to ignore the consequences of getting separated from those with more experience, and 2) adults, whose arrogance convinces them they are more qualified to lead because they know better. Either one will get people lost, and both should be cured by growing up.

The writer of 2 John speaks of those who have determined they know better than the teachings of and about Christ... specifically the teaching of his incarnation. These persons who arrogantly think they know better are the Docetics, who insisted that Jesus was purely spirit and only appeared to be flesh. Even after the Docetics were gone, their teachings were adopted by the Gnostics, another heretical group.

The point is, while it's easy for us to point fingers at heretics, don't we have the same headstrong tendencies? Once we think we know the way, why listen to directions? Once we think we know how, why read the instructions? The elder admonishes us to never get too big for our britches. If we know everything, what is there to learn?

Blessed are the teachable. What have you learned this week?

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[T-Shirt Quote: Arrogance is the anesthesia that dulls the pain of ignorance.]