1 John 3:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Apostle confirms by example how great an evil it is to hate one's brother. See, he says, Cain hated his brother and killed him, although he was his own brother. Cain was doing the evil works of his father, the devil. Abel, practicing righteousness, was a son in relation to God. Here the devil is set against God, and evil works against good ones. Therefore Cain, being opposed to his brother, killed him. Such is the explanation according to the course of the discourse. But the Apostle John changed this order for a special reason. After mentioning the devil and saying that those who do evil become his children, it was natural for him to set forth as an example the one who, at the beginning of the world, hastened to become a son of the devil through evil deeds. Having said what was needed about Cain and the lot inherited by those who imitate him, he again returns to love.

Must I often repeat to you what the world is? It is not heaven, nor earth, nor all these creatures which God made, but those who love the world. I have often repeated this, and perhaps I have already wearied someone. Yet even now I do not speak in vain, because someone, if asked, might not answer. So let what has been said be fixed in the hearts of the hearers at least by frequent repetition. What is the world? When the word is used in a negative sense, the world means those who love the world. When "world" is said in praise, it is heaven and earth and all God's creatures in heaven and on earth. Thus it is said, "And the world was made through Him" (Jn 1:10).

Here John means the world as the community of those who love the world. It is no wonder that those who love the world cannot love brothers who do not belong to worldly attachments. Their only desire is heaven. For sinners, religion is an abomination, as Scripture also bears witness.

Yet despite such examples, the world has always presented, and still presents, a dreadful spectacle of enmity and discord. But one should not be surprised at this, especially if its hatred is directed against you. The cause of these actions is evident. The world lies in evil, is corrupt, and is plunged into the abyss of impiety. In such a condition, can it calmly endure your holiness and your piety?

"Do not marvel" (Jn 5:28): do not regard it as something strange, extraordinary, or new. From the time of Cain and Abel it began that the children of the devil hate the children of God. The world hates those devoted to God. This always has been and will be, as light is opposed to darkness and good to evil. Such is the image of righteous Abel and wicked Cain. "My brethren": above, the Apostle addressed his readers with the words "children" and "little children" (1 Jn 2:1, 12, 18, 28). Here he uses the word "my brethren," because he is speaking about brotherly love. A little earlier he also called them beloved (v. 2). "If the world hates you": this is a saying of the Lord Himself, repeated here by the Apostle John (Jn 15:18).

The example of Cain might seem too remote and lose its instructive force because of its extraordinary sharpness. Some might say, “Cain is far from us. God forbid that we should come to murder.” Therefore the Apostle further teaches that even an unloving feeling toward one’s neighbor is a death-bearing state. Cain was already in this state, even before he raised his hand against his brother. The murder occurred as the natural consequence of lack of love for his brother. The world that hates the children of God remains in this same state of death.

To show more clearly how the children of God may be distinguished from the children of the evil one by love and hatred, the Apostle cites the example of Cain, the fratricide. According to blessed Theophylact, Cain "hastened to become a son of the devil through evil deeds." By his wicked act he offered, as it were, a sacrifice to the father of lies (see Jn 8:44). Cain's original sin was hatred. And against whom? Against his brother. Moreover, he nourished hatred at a time when the first fall had only begun to bring forth its fruits. Is it surprising that now, with evil more greatly developed in the world, many hate Christians?

One should not be surprised if wicked people, those who are called the world, hate those who live piously according to Christ. It would be more surprising if they loved them.