MY LITTLE CHILDREN

1 John 2:1 – My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

“My little children”, these are the words of a very old man who had been captured by love. Love grabbed John for the first time when he was possibly a teenager when he heard these words, “Fisherman, come follow me”. He had never heard such authority and compassion in the same voice at the same time. No one spoke like the Master; John just had to follow. After all of these years the Master was on the throne serving as our Advocate, John is still following Him and calling each of us to follow in his steps. It’s easy to do when John’s words now carry the authority and love of the Savior. Here is how Barclay describes this verse.

“The first thing to note in this passage is the sheer affection in it. John begins with the address: ‘My little children’. Both in Latin and in Greek, diminutives carry a special affection. They are words which are used, as it were, with a caress. John is a very old man; he must be, in fact, the last survivor of his generation, maybe the last man alive who had walked and talked with Jesus in his days on earth. So often, age gets out of sympathy with youth and acquires even an impatient irritableness with the new and freer ways of the younger generation. But not John; in his old age, he has nothing but tenderness for those who are his little children in the faith. He is writing to tell them that they must not sin; but he does not scold. There is no edge in his voice; he seeks to love them into goodness. In this opening address, there is the yearning, affectionate tenderness of a pastor for people whom he has known for a long time in all their wayward foolishness, and whom he still loves.”

I’m getting up in years myself and I never want to turn into that mean old guy. I hope more of Jesus and John can rub off on me, I want to see the church from their eyes of love. We do have an Advocate at the right hand of God, He loves us and He is speaking up for us. Let’s follow Him and walk in His steps of love like John.