Read with Me
1 John 1:1-4 (HCSB)
What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we have observed
and have touched with our hands,
concerning the Word of life—
that life was revealed,
and we have seen it
and we testify and declare to you
the eternal life that was with the Father
and was revealed to us —
what we have seen and heard
we also declare to you,
so that you may have fellowship along with us;
and indeed our fellowship is with the Father
and with His Son Jesus Christ.
We are writing these things
so that our joy may be complete.
Listen with Me
John knew about the eternal nature of Jesus from Jesus own lips. Jesus’ testimony is the source of the prolog to John’s gospel, especially verses 1-3 and 14. Jesus was not only with God before time began, He was eternally with God, and was and is God the Son
It was this eternal Word of God that was made flesh in Jesus through whom all creation came to be. And it was that eternal Word who appeared on earth to convey God’s grace and truth to all humanity.
Now John, in this his first letter, testifies to the real humanity of the divine, eternal Word made flesh. Contrary to the docetists who were proclaiming that Jesus only had the appearance of humanity, but that his physical body was just an illusion, John gives eyewitness testimony of Jesus’ real humanity. The disciples had not just seen Jesus, they had touched Him, both before and after His death and resurrection. And He was a real flesh-and-blood man.
But at the same time, John attests to the real divinity of Jesus. Only one who was and is fully God can be said to be the eternal life that John is proclaiming. Only one who was and is fully God could be accurately described in the terms John is using: the one who was from the beginning, the one who was with the Father, and who has now appeared to humanity.
John was not a theologian. He had no degree from a prestigious university. He was by trade a fisherman who had become a messenger of the kingdom sent by Jesus. But he had experienced in Jesus the truth of both natures, divine godhood, and real flesh-and-blood humanity. And in that experience, it had all made sense to him. He lacked a sophisticated Greek vocabulary with which to convey the truth of this simple conviction born of experiential knowledge, so he laid out layer after layer of nouns, adjectives, and verbs in an attempt to paint what he knew experientially to be true.
And he did this not to persuade, but to confirm. The audience for his letter was decidedly Christian, people who had already had a personal encounter with the risen and exalted Savior themselves. His goal was greater unity and more complete joy in that unity for both himself and his readers.
Pray with Me
Father, the truth is that it often seems like many theologians, with all their grandiloquent words and deep research, are struggling to analyze and describe something that they themselves have not experienced personally. And all the arguments about terminology and theories tend to cloud the plain and simple identity of Jesus Himself. Often the most profound theological analyses of Jesus as truly God and truly human do not come from the pens of erudite theologians, but from the lips of simple men and women who have had a powerful transformative experience with the risen Jesus, and who simply share that experience. They are much like the blind men whom Jesus healed: “One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!” (John 9:25b) Lord, help me to not try to clothe Jesus with long words and profound theology. Help me instead to merely share with others the real Jesus as I know Him. Amen.