1 John 1:4
We write these things so that our joy may be complete.
BSB
ASV
and these things we write, that our joy may be made full.
KJV
And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
And we write these things to you so that your joy may be complete. The joy of teachers is made complete when, through preaching, they lead many to the fellowship of the holy Church, and to the fellowship of God the Father and his Son …
Here the joy of faith is directly intended. It is a concise expression. Your joy - That is, your faith and the joy arising from it: but it likewise implies the joy of hope and love.
1834–1892
VERY closely does the Apostle John resemble his Lord in the motive that prompted him to write this Epistle! You remember how Christ said in His last discourse to His disciples on the eve of His passion, "These things have I spoken unto you that your joy may be full"—and how He counseled them, "Ask and receive that your joy may be full"—and how He prayed to the Father for them, "that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves."
So 2Jo 12, "your" in oldest manuscripts. The authority of manuscripts and versions on both sides here is almost evenly balanced. Christ Himself is the source, object, and center of His people's joy (compare 1Jo 1:3, end); it is in fellowship with Him that we have joy, the fruit of faith.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
John 16:24Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
leads to
I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.
Through
John 15:11I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.
leads to
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But now I am coming to You; and I am saying these things while I am in the world, so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them.
Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
