The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God is the conqueror of the world. When Jesus appeared on the scene preaching the good news and working signs, many hailed him as a great person because of the mighty things God was accomplishing through him. Most of those who encountered him unanimously agreed that he was a holy man. Some regarded him as a rabbi while others saw him as a great prophet (cf. Mark 8:27ff). However, outside of the group that were his followers, not everybody accepted Jesus as the Christ of God. Those who fell short of seeing in Jesus the promised Messiah of Israel cited, among other reasons, his humble background and the fact that they knew him and his family (cf. Mark 6:3; John 7:27). Even when Jesus asked them to focus on his works rather than their knowledge of where he comes from, they would still not be persuaded to change their position. To them, Jesus could not be the Christ of God. He just didn’t fit their expectation or definition of the Christ. It was as simple as that.
In today’s First Reading, John writes to his community to remind them that it is he/she who accepts Jesus as the Christ who will emerge victor over the world (overcoming the challenges that arise from our imperfection). John reiterates to them that Jesus is indeed the Christ. But he tells them not to simply rely on what he tells them. God himself has testified that Jesus is the Messiah as could be seen in the restoration of creation that God had worked through Jesus. The Messiah’s coming was longed for because it was to be the beginning of a new chapter in God’s relationship with humanity. By sinning, men and women had forfeited the end for which God had created them (eternal life with God). When Jesus appeared on the scene, therefore, it was clear from the get go that restoring this relationship was his mission. Only those who accepted him as the Messiah possessed eternal life because their relationship with God was restored in Jesus Christ. The community to whom the evangelist John was writing was already on the path to restoration of their relationship with God. They were already possessors of eternal life because they had come to accept Jesus as the Christ of God.
We who are reading the words of St. John today have come to believe that Jesus is the Christ of God. May the words of St. John ring true to us: we have conquered the world. May our faith in Jesus as the Christ of God help us overcome the challenges of the world even as it steers us towards eternal life.