1 John 2:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Abraham was His Mother's forefather, and the Lord said: Before Abraham was, I am (Jn 8:58). Shall we say that He is before Abraham? Earth and heaven were made before man existed. The Lord was before them, or rather, He is. He spoke beautifully, not saying, "Before Abraham was, I was," but, "Before Abraham was, I am." For if something is said to have been, it is no longer. If something is said to be going to be, it is not yet. But to the Lord it belongs simply to be. Since He is God, He can be. Yet He cannot be in the past or be in the future. With Him there endures one day, but an eternal one. He is not bounded by yesterday and tomorrow. Today's day begins when yesterday ends, and will end when tomorrow comes. But that one day abides there without darkness, without night, without extension, without measure, without hours. Call it what you will. If you wish, it is a day. If you wish, it is a year. If you wish, it is years. For it is said of it: And Your years shall not fail (Ps 101:28). And when was it called a day? When it was said to the Lord: Today I have begotten You (Ps 2:7). He is begotten of the eternal Father, begotten from eternity, begotten unto eternity. He is without any beginning, without any end, without any measure of extension. For He is what He is, and He is He Who is. This is the name He declared to Moses: You shall say to them, He Who is has sent me to you (Ex 3:14). What is there before Abraham? What is there before Noah? What is there before Adam? Hear Scripture: Before the morning star I begot You (Ps 109:3). In the end, He is before earth and heaven. Why? Because all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made. Know this, fathers, because men become fathers by knowing Him Who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men. They are children, they are fathers, they are young men. They are children because they are born. They are fathers because they know the beginning. And why are they young men? Because you have overcome the evil one. In children there is birth. In fathers there is antiquity. In young men there is strength. If young men overcome the evil one, then does he fight against us? He fights, but does he prevail? Is it because we are strong, or because He is strong in us, Who appeared weak in the hands of His persecutors? He made us strong, Who did not resist His persecutors. For He was crucified through weakness, but lives by the power of God. I write to you, children. Why children? Because you have known the Father.

They must serve as a good example for young men and children. To them he ascribes the most perfect knowledge of Him Who is from the beginning, or the Primal One. This means knowledge of Jesus Christ, knowledge that Jesus Christ was in the beginning (Jn 1:1), and is eternal. He is the Creator and Ruler of heaven and earth, the Savior of men, the Only-begotten Son of God, and true God. Such knowledge should serve as a powerful motive to prefer love for the eternal God over every attachment to the corruptible and quickly passing goods of the world. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. Youth is especially subject to the influence of disturbances of the heart and of passions. The enemy of man's salvation uses these as means to enslave Christ's strugglers to himself. But the young men in the spiritual life, using the firmness of their powers as warriors of Christ, have courageously overcome obstacles and conquered the enemy. Since youth also presupposes incomplete knowledge, incomplete experience, and incomplete firmness in action, their victory over the enemy, the devil, should all the more move and inspire them to acquire higher virtues. That is, they must be constant in love for God and in keeping His commandments, and courageous in overcoming the temptations of the world. The devil is especially called the evil one, as the original liar and the father of lies (Jn 8:44). I write to you, youths, because you have known the Father. This is the lower degree of age, or of moral perfection. Knowledge of the Father is ascribed to youths. In natural age it happens that children, when their understanding first opens, know their parents before all else. This is enough for children to nourish a special love for their parents. So too in the spiritual sense, knowledge of the heavenly Father as Creator and Provider of the visible and invisible world, and as Savior of men, should serve as sufficient motive for children to love Him above all. For His sake they must not love the world. They must not weaken their love for the all-good and all-perfect heavenly Father by love or attachment to the world.

We will draw the special attention of the Stundists to the fact that in the Church of Christ not all possess knowledge, but only the fathers. Therefore there are those who need instruction from others, and there are those obligated to share their knowledge with others. This is according to the word of the Apostle Peter: "As each has received a gift, minister it to one another" (1 Pet 4:10).

For the strong, something strong; for men, something manly; for fathers, an example to young men and little ones. “Young men, you have overcome the evil one.” The evil one is the wicked one, or more precisely the author of all evil that is in the world and that opposes every good thing. He is the ancient enemy of God and men, the devil. Youth, both natural and spiritual, is beautiful in its properties and qualities. It is an age of strength, freshness, and flexibility, but also an age of passion and inexperience. It is subject to the strong influence of disturbances and passions of the heart. At the same time, it lacks full experience. The evil one cunningly uses these qualities of youth in order to overpower it and turn it from the proper path of truth. But the young men who are strong by the power of Christ and animated by the Christian spirit overcome all the temptations of the world. They have overcome the evil one, being constant, amid liveliness and receptivity, in love for God and in keeping His commandments. “Little ones, you have known the Father.” The age of the little ones is lower in degree than youth and borders on childhood or infancy, both in natural development and in spiritual perfection. To children is ascribed what is common: forgiveness of sins, as to newborn infants in baptism. To the little ones is likewise ascribed what is common: knowledge of the Father. They have not yet penetrated the mystery of redemption, or salvation. They have not yet known the Son, although they have believed in Him, but have known only the Father. So it also happens in natural age: when understanding first opens, children first of all come to know their parents. For them this is enough to nourish a predominant love for their parents. The same is true in the spiritual age of little ones. Their understanding and love are nourished by the knowledge of the heavenly Father. This love is higher for them than every other love. In this sense the Apostle says that they have known the Father, understanding and knowing Him with the love proper to little ones. Thus to all spiritual degrees, or ages, the high instruction is offered concerning love for God and neighbors and lack of love for the world. It is offered to children, or infants, to little ones, to young men, and to men, or fathers. There is no instruction, or motive, only for old age, perhaps because old age presupposes the highest possible degree of spiritual perfection for man. Thus it neither requires nor needs special motives. It must itself teach children, little ones, young men, and men.

This childlike purity and forgiveness is the most natural motive for children to preserve their holiness from defilement through contact with the sinful and adulterous world. "I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him Who is from the beginning" (1 Jn 2:13). The Apostle moves the fathers by the perfection of Christian knowledge. This is naturally presupposed in them precisely as fathers, that is, as those who have grown and become so perfected in Christian knowledge that they can teach children. "I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one" (1 Jn 2:13). The holy Apostle rightly alludes to struggle and rouses young men to victory, for this age is especially exposed to combat with passions and the temptations of the world. "I write to you, youths, because you have known the Father" (1 Jn 2:13). By this the Apostle impressively sketches the most natural and simple rule for youths: to take examples from the father and to resemble him.

For young men, whose age is marked not only by impulses, but also by strength, freshness, and zeal in the struggle against them, the motive for renouncing the world should be the successes they have already attained in victory over the evil one. It should also be that knowledge of the almighty Word of God which they have already mastered by diligently studying Holy Scripture. For fathers, that is, men who have attained a high degree of moral perfection, knowledge of the Unoriginate is sufficient foundation. This is knowledge of the highest mystery of man's salvation, ordained by God from the beginning through His Only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Love for the Unoriginate should restrain them from attachment to the corruptible and quickly passing goods of this world.