An Eyewitness Proclaims the Word of Life

1 John 1:1-4

An Eyewitness Proclaims the Word of Life

See the "Overview of the Book of 1 John" below. %%SBPapyrus9.gif%%Papyrus 9 on 1 John%% The opening prologue of 1 John is described in this way by Palmer:

The first four verses in our English text are really one long song-like sentence from John. The atmosphere of the sentence is exciting, immediate, and intensely personal as we, the readers, are invited into a relationship of joy with the writer John and those brothers and sisters with him and the Lord. At the same time the sentence is vast and historically far-reaching.

John begins by revealing he is an eye and heart witness of the Gospel - the Word of life, eternal life. Jesus Christ was the focal point of his life. John was one of the chosen witnesses who were privileged to see, hear, and touch the Someone who existed from the beginning (see below): the Son of God, whose eternal fellowship with the Father has now been extended to others. The extension of that fellowship occurs by means of the proclamations of John and the other apostles; it is carried on by 1 John itself, which invites its readers to receive and rejoice in that Kingdom proclamation.

Picture (Ref#: P. Oxy. 402; Inv. 3736) courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

John's first letter starts with a prologue that echoes the prologue of his Gospel, but with new emphases. Both focus on the Word of life that has existed from the beginning, but this prologue focuses on the Word's appearance in flesh that could be seen and touched. John draws a direct connection between the Word he saw and lived with, and the Word he now proclaims. In First John, the Word refers to Jesus, the gospel message, and the life it describes in fellowship with Jesus. The genitive phrase, the Word of life is pregnant with meaning—the Word that gives life or the Word that is life. The Gospel message has been passed down from Christ himself to the author of the letter, and to his recipients

The beginning

The "Word of life" is described first of all as that which was from the beginning (ho en ap arches). Compare John 1:1; Genesis 1:1. Both 1 John 1:1 and John 1:1 highlight the incarnation as an event as significant as creation itself, for it is the beginning of the new creation, the re-creation of the heavens and earth (Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Rev. 21:1).

John paints a vivid living image with his wording: heard ... seen ... looked at ... touched. These sensory verbs defend the reality of the human nature of Christ against the Docetic speculation that Jesus was not fully human (1 John 2:22; 4:2-3). See "The Full Humanity of Jesus: What Kind of Man Was Jesus?" below.

"The Word of life" is the subject of John's proclamation; Jesus the incarnate Word (John 1:1, 14). This life appeared! John also proclaimed the message about eternal life brought by Jesus. See BC 8. Kruse tells us:

It is clear from the foregoing that when the author says, we proclaim concerning the Word of life, he has in mind something much more than a spoken message. He proclaims the Word of life which he has heard, seen, and touched. As will become clear in what follows, he proclaims a message that has been embodied in a person - the person of Jesus Christ.

the beginning. See notes on Gen. 1:1; Jn. 1:1. In the prologue to the Fourth Gospel, the phrase in the beginning was the Word clearly points to the time of creation, pointing to the significance of the incarnation as a new beginning. heard ... seen ... touched. The phrase seen with our own eyes is only used here in the NT, and claims that this message about the Word comes from an eyewitness. All of these verbs (hearing, seeing, touching) are sensory in nature, emphasizing the bodily presence of Jesus with his witnesses. Word of life. See BC 8. See notes on Jn. 1:4, 14. The Fourth Gospel is mainly about the incarnation of the eternal Word. First John is the message about eternal Life, the Incarnate Word gives to those who believe, obey and love him. The genitive phrase, Word of life, has many possible nuances—the Word that produces life, the Word that is life, the living Word.

The purpose of John's testimony

These past tense verbs ("have seen and heard") refer back to similar words in 1 John 1:1-2 and emphasize that John's proclamation was about the incarnate Christ. See "The Full Humanity of Jesus: What Kind of Man Was Jesus?" below.

Only through hearing and believing the Gospel proclamation was it possible for anyone to have fellowship or commonality with John and the other apostles. Sharing in this fellowship was important because the apostles enjoyed a close relationship with the Father and his Son. See WCF 26.1; WSC 2; HC 55.

The Gospel is vitally important. See "The Gospel: What Is Salvation and How Do I Get It?" below. "We are united to God by it, and to his Son Christ, in whom is found the chief good," wrote John Calvin. Relationship with God's people cannot be separated from relationship with God (cf. Heb. 10:25). Both are possible only through belief in the Gospel. As Lenski delineates:

Apart from Jesus Christ no man is in fellowship with God. Thus only those who have fellowship with God and with his Son, and that Son is Jesus Christ in his whole manifestation, also on the cross, in his cleansing blood (1 John 1:7), in his expiation for sins (1 John 2:2), in his coming in connection with blood (1 John 5:5).

See WSC 2. The purpose of John's testimony is so his readers will be assured of their fellowship with the Father, his Son, and with one another. Their fellowship is also with John and his witnesses in the common task of proclaiming the Word of life.

Fellowship

fellowship. See WCF 26.1; HC 55. See notes on Jn. 15:8, 11-17; 17:21, 23. This word is used nineteen times in the NT, and is never used in the Gospels. It has to do with people sharing responsibilities, and material goods, as well as a profound bond, like that of kinship. Their partnership with one another is through Christ, and their bond is with Christ. To embrace God's Word is to embrace God's People. To sustain a relationship with the Father and the Son, a person must be in relationship with other Christians.

Our joy

Kistemaker reminds us:

The greatest joy to fill the heart of the apostle John and those with him is to see the believers increase in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants them to have full fellowship with the Father and the Son, so that the believers live in full communion with God. John underscores the well-known words of John the Baptist spoken in tribute of Jesus: "He must become greater; I must become less" (John 3:30).

By the statement, "our joy complete," John most likely was referring to himself and his company. Thus far, the readers have been referred to as "you" and "your." It is possible, however, that he had in mind not only his own joy, but also that of his readers (John 15:11; cf. John 15:1-17). John indicated that, because of what he knew about his readers, he was not yet full of joy. Yet if they would understand, believe and follow his instructions, his joy would be complete. Christians should rejoice in the good of fellow believers, as well as mourn their shortcomings (1 Cor. 12:26-27; 1 Thess. 3:6).

joy. John says our joy because he is talking about himself, his fellow witnesess and his readers. This joy will be matured and completed as his readers grow in their faith, obedience and love (cf. Jn. 15:11; 16:24; 2 Jn 4; 3 Jn 4)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.