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1 John 2:19 – Does John Use Sarcasm?
Does John have a sarcastic sense of humor? Does John use a pun to antagonize the antagonists? The opposition who left the orthodox denied the fleshly reality of Jesus. The Docetists could be called “The Seemists” because they taught it only seemed or appeared that Jesus had flesh. Christ was only a spirit. John says,
1 John 2:19 (HCSB) They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
The word translated “clear,” (“shown” in NASB) is phaneroō. It means “make clear (visible, manifest), make known.” The Docetists said Jesus was not what He appeared to be. John says the Docetists are the ones that are not what they appear to be. When we get to English, this pun becomes “punnier.” We get our word phantom from phareroo. Therefore, we could paraphrase this as, “Jesus is not the phantom; the Docetists are the phantoms.”
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