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Estilo de vidaTranscripción
00:00Brothers, it is necessary that we now delve into this letter of John
00:29And we're going to start at the beginning. This letter also has an introduction that we can...
00:35Call it the prologue, as in the Gospel of John, but this time it's very short. It's only
00:42four verses, but in which we find a true invitation to contemplation
00:48of the mystery of Jesus. I will read from the text of the Jerusalem Bible. Chapter
00:571 verses 1-4. That which existed from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
01:05seen with our eyes, what we beheld and felt with our hands concerning the word
01:12We proclaim to you the life. Indeed, the life appeared, and we who have seen it
01:20And we bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and
01:28which was revealed to us. We announce to you what we have seen and heard, so that you too may be able to hear.
01:35be in communion with us. We are in communion with the Father and with his
01:43Son Jesus Christ. We write this to you so that our joy may be complete.
01:52Brothers, surely just by listening to this text you are already thinking about
01:59the prologue to the Gospel of John. Yes, there is a very strong affinity in the vocabulary that
02:06We can even compare them in the following diagram. On the one hand, in John's letter, in the first
02:16The verse says, from the beginning. And the Gospel of John, the prologue, the first verse, says
02:24In the beginning. In the first letter of John, it says "we have" and speaks of having an experience. While
02:34that in the prologue of the Gospel, in verse 14, we have contemplated his glory. In verse
02:44In the first part of John's letter, in this prologue, we are told about the logos of life or the word of life, the verb of
02:54life. As John said in the prologue of his Gospel, in verse 4, "in her was life." In the
03:03The word, in the logos, was life. In the first letter of John, in verse 2, John speaks
03:10Life became tangible. We touched it, we felt it, our eyes saw it. And in the prologue, in the
03:19Verse 14, which is somewhat the center of the prologue of the Gospel, says the word became flesh.
03:27Returning to the letter, it says in verse 2, "Life was in the Father." And in the prologue of the
03:38In the Gospel, verses 1, 2, and 18, we are told that the word, the logos, was with God.
03:48So, we see these, with this structure, with this scheme, the similarities between the two
03:55prologues. But, it is important to point out a very important difference. It is that the prologue of the Gospel
04:04John insists on the coming of the Logos, of the Word, into this world. The coming in our
04:12flesh. This only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, took on human flesh. That is what the prologue of the Bible says.
04:20Gospel. And the prologue to the first letter will not say otherwise. But it will make it explicit.
04:28placing the emphasis, rather, on the effects of this incarnation. On the fact that God takes our
04:35Meat, there are these effects. And these effects reach us through testimony and proclamation.
04:43of those who were witnesses. Now, when I speak of the effects of the incarnation of the Word, of Logos,
04:51which will be explained in the first letter of John, is the entire letter of John. That is to say, because the
04:57Logos, the word became flesh, I must live brotherly love, live in the light, live in communion with the
05:04with each other, etc. Topics that will be explained in this and the next session.
05:10Okay, regarding the prologue of this letter. The prologue has as its center, its heart,
05:19the word of life, the logos of life, which will be explained in a section, which we can say
05:28parentheses, which is in fact verse 2. This verse 2, from the first chapter of the letter,
05:36It's like an explanation, a comment that Juan himself makes, a parenthesis to help us understand.
05:44Understand what? That this logos, which was invisible in God, was revealed to us alive and as life.
05:53He is our life. He is our life. He is the life that is in God and that comes to us.
06:03Now, it is very important to look at some of the words, some of the concepts that this prologue gives us.
06:10In verse 1, it says, from the beginning. This can be interpreted in two ways.
06:22On the one hand, the eternal beginning in God, before the creation of the world, as explained in the prologue of the Gospel.
06:33But also, on the other hand, at the beginning of this letter, that is, the word "beginning" in the prologue of this letter,
06:42It can also be interpreted as the beginning of the Gospel proclamation.
06:48To show how the beginning of the preaching that was given to this Johannine community.
06:57When was this announcement made?
07:01Since the logo was embodied, it lives its passion and sends its disciples on mission.
07:09This would be the point at which the logo has manifested itself.
07:17In any case, this double interpretation, what we must see is that the central theme of this prologue is the logos of life.
07:29The logos that gives life, the word of life.
07:31In the Gospel of John, it speaks of the logos that becomes flesh and pitches its tent among us.
07:39Verse 14 of the Gospel, chapter 1, the prologue.
07:43Now, in the first letter, the logos becomes visible, it manifests itself.
07:52And that is the emphasis of this letter, of the prologue of this letter.
07:55Yes, the logos became incarnate, but now I tell you that this incarnate logos manifests itself.
08:04And this is the truth of our Christian faith.
08:08The logos took on flesh at a certain moment in history.
08:12The incarnation happened.
08:14This logos, this word, came to meet us.
08:19And there were men and women who found it.
08:23What John is saying is that God is not just a revelation that reaches the heart of man, the mind of man.
08:30No, the incarnation is a verifiable, palpable, real, historical fact.
08:37Jesus became flesh and we cannot become his disciples, we cannot be Christians without going through what we might call the carnality of the logos.
08:48In other words, I cannot be fully Christian without recognizing that Jesus became man, that is, that the logos became flesh, took on flesh.
09:00Now, in verse 3, John says, the prologue says, so that they may live in fellowship with us.
09:09What does it mean?
09:11The author here indicates the purpose of his writing.
09:15Which is it?
09:16Communion.
09:18But pay attention here, this communion is twofold.
09:22First, fraternal communion is expressed among brothers, and then communion with God.
09:30Finally, what is this communion that the prologue of the letter speaks of?
09:35The word that John, the author of this letter, if we can say that it is John, uses is the word koinonia, from Greek.
09:44This is a very important expression that will be here at the beginning of the letter.
09:50In fact, the following verses 6 and 7 will explain what this communion is.
09:58In verse 6, we are still in chapter 1 of the first letter, we read.
10:06If we say we are in communion with him, but it turns out we walk in darkness, we are lying and not acting in accordance with the truth.
10:15Here in this verse 6, John is already giving us a first definition of what this communion is.
10:22Then, right in verse 7, the very next verse, John says
10:28But if we walk in the light, just as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.
10:37and the blood of his Son Jesus purifies us from all sin.
10:42Here John, in this verse 7, is giving us a second definition of what this communion is.
10:49So, communion is going to be one of the main themes, one of the major themes of the first letter of John.
10:58Although the word may not return later, we will find it in the words "to live in" or "to be in."
11:09And clearly, I believe that you, who are already familiar with the Gospel of John, are already regular readers of it,
11:18that the Gospel of John is already his favorite book in the Bible,
11:23What are we hearing in the background?
11:26What can we understand when they speak to us about this communion in the first letter?
11:32Of course, the typically Johannine word from the Gospel, menein, which we can translate as dwell or remain,
11:44very important in the Gospel of John, which is certainly another Greek word,
11:50But it expresses the idea of God the Father who reveals himself in Jesus, Jesus who lives in me and I live in him.
12:00Now, moving forward, we see that this communion is with us, as I had already told you.
12:10Who are this "we"? Why in the plural?
12:13Why does the author of the letter refer to a "we"?
12:17Are there multiple authors?
12:19Certainly, what the author wants to convey to us as his intention, as his purpose,
12:26It's as if he were saying, we announce this message to you,
12:31We who have had the tangible experience of the word of life,
12:37so that you may be in fellowship with us, united with us,
12:43and therefore, you have the same almost sensory experience.
12:48Through fellowship with us, you will enter into fellowship with God,
12:53with God the Father, and with God the Son, Jesus Christ.
12:58Look, because verse 2, which I didn't comment on directly, is very explicit.
13:03It speaks of sensory experiences.
13:06The word we touched, the word our hands felt,
13:10that our eyes saw,
13:11And we can delve deeper, even until we smell,
13:17that we could hug, that we could kiss.
13:22This sensitive experience that the author of the letter had,
13:26I'm announcing it to you so that you can have the same experience.
13:32Perhaps it's not a sensory experience,
13:34But it is an experience of communion.
13:37A communion that makes us brothers, a fraternal communion,
13:41but also a communion that is with God.
13:45And then we understand the "we" of the Johannine community,
13:51of why the author speaks to us.
13:54They recall that at the beginning of this session,
13:57I told them that in the Gospel of John,
14:00chapter 21, verse 24,
14:04The Gospel ends,
14:05We know that this disciple tells us the truth.
14:09The Gospel also ends with a "we".
14:14In other words, the Johannine community is founded,
14:19solidly rooted in the experience of the beloved disciple.
14:24Her experience, which was sensitive,
14:27that their hands touched, that their eyes saw,
14:31This sensory experience is for me.
14:34Therefore, he must remain until the return of Christ.
14:40which is what Jesus himself said about him,
14:43that this disciple must remain until the end of time.
14:49If I want it to stay,
14:51And he's going to add to Pedro, "What's it to you?"
14:55But I want it to stay until my return.
14:58And that is why John's vocation must be prolonged.
15:04This vocation of John, this mission of John,
15:08That is what we,
15:10readers of the fourth Gospel,
15:12we are invited to have,
15:16to experiment.
15:18We cannot read the Gospel of John
15:20and remain as spectators.
15:23No, I discover that the same Gospel of John
15:28It is written by a beloved disciple
15:30or that which is at the origin of this Gospel
15:34And that's what I want,
15:37to identify with this beloved disciple.
15:39I have to close the book of the Gospel of John
15:42saying I want to be that beloved disciple.
15:46And this is what will form the basis
15:49the Johannine community of letters.
15:51It is a community of beloved disciples
15:55who live in communion with one another
15:58and in communion with God.
16:01And that's why,
16:03Verse 4 to close the prologue
16:05It speaks of joy or happiness.
16:08We are writing this to you so that our joy may be complete.
16:11It is the note of joy.
16:13And that is why we understand that Saint Augustine
16:15when I was commenting on this prologue,
16:19says,
16:19He who has ears to hear
16:21he can't help but rejoice at what he hears.
16:25That is, from this letter of John.
16:27Let John speak to us through his letter.
16:30to infect us with their joy.
16:32Let us receive it and above all, let us live.
16:35to experience this joy.
16:38Regarding this joy,
16:40Saint Augustine is going to comment on the
16:43Blessed are those who believe without having seen.
16:45Let us enter, let us enter into this blessedness.
16:49Let us enter into blessedness
16:51of those who believe without having.
16:53And this is the experience
16:54which gives us the prologue of the letter
16:58so that we may have
17:00the same experience,
17:01perhaps no longer sensitive,
17:03but yes in the communion between us
17:05and with God.
17:07May God bless them.
17:08We will continue in another session
17:10about this letter from Saint John.
17:12We'll also see the second and third ones.
17:15Meanwhile,
17:16May God bless them.
17:16Thank you!
17:17Thank you!
17:18Thank you!
17:19Thank you!
17:20Thank you!