Wisdom from... John

In today's readings we hear from the first letter of John, in which he offers us the ultimate wisdom: remain in the Lord, and reap life from the Lord's annointing.

"Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life. I write you these things about those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him." 1 John 2:24-27

John's attention to the dichotomy of deceit and truth in these verses and the verses around them serves to identify the truth with Christ, and deceit with the antichrist. Jesus not only offers us the truth; he is the truth. The truth we heard "from the beginning" must remain in us, but John has already told us (in 1 Jn 1:1) that Jesus is the Word of Life, and the Word (which is also referred to by the Church fathers as the Logos, Wisdom, and Reason itself) is "what was from the beginning". In other words, it is Jesus himself that must remain in us, in addition to the words he has spoken to us, because he is the Word that is spoken.