Scripture Commentary & Exegesis

1 John 1:3 – Invitation to Fellowship

May 28, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

That which we have seen and heard, report we to you, in order that you too might have fellowship with us and moreover, our fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:3

This verse introduces one of the major themes of John’s epistle. That theme is that the manifested Word which John was a witness of (i.e. had seen and heard, vs. 1-2) is being reported to them in order that they might have fellowship with both the witnesses of the Word made Flesh, and with the Father and His Christ.

Note how John has gradually linked the Word (logos) with eternal life (zoe) and now makes explicit what has been implicit. The Word of Life made manifest is none other than Jesus Christ. But another claim is made here, that of Christ’s sonship. We also see how for John, theology and philosophy are servants to fellowship, not vice versa.

John’s readers were confronted with a perceived problem regarding Jesus’ relationship to God. John gets right to the point: Jesus was the Christ and was the Son of the Father, and was the Word, and was the Life, and was there from the beginning. And none of that is contradictory. Very simply, he leaves no wiggle room to heretical notions of Christ’s humanity or divinity.

But notice too the vital tone of familial relation (i.e. Father to Son). John will revisit multiple times in this epistle the importance of fellowship with God (through Christ), and the resulting fellowship we enjoy with our brother. The letter’s purpose statement in this verse (and the next) is presented as an invitation to the readers to enjoy union (fellowship) with the Father and His Son. This is both a safeguard against the heresies which the early church was tempted by, and a boon of encouragement in the persecution and distresses they faced.

1 John 1:2 – Life Manifested

May 21, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

And the Life was manifested and we have seen it and we bear witness and show unto you that eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us.
1 John 1:2

Continuing his assertion, John insists on the manifestation of the Life. More than a solitary witness, he includes a group of witnesses (presumably referring to the entire apostolic witness). Because they had seen the Life manifested, they were now compelled to bear witness and proclaim these glad tidings. The term “bear witness” (μαρτυρέω martyreo) will recur throughout this epistle, and we should remember how this theme of bearing witness crops up throughout John’s Gospel and his Apocalyptic vision (Jn 1:8, 5:31, 18:37, Rev. 1:2, 22:20). John has ascended the witness stand to testify to events which he had been a spectator of.

The next verb (ἀπαγγέλλομεν apaggellō) is a striking one in that it is related to the word angel/messenger. It means to bring tidings. We should think of the angels bringing glad tidings of the Savior of the World born in the stable. John, a man, is now taking on the task that in the Old Testament had generally been reserved for angels. He is proclaiming, heralding, bringing tidings of the manifestation of the eternal Life. Man is being brought into the Life of God by the manifestation of the Life which was with the Father. Here we also have the basis for later formulations of Trinitarian doctrine. The Word of Life was separate from the Father, but was with the Father. John is putting Jesus’ own words––“I and the Father are One”––in the philosophical terms of the first century.

1 John 1:1 – A Cosmic Epistle

May 14, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life.
1 John 1:1

The construction of the introductory phrase is unmistakably linked to Genesis, as well as John’s Gospel account. This anchors the current events (which John will address later) to cosmic events. In other words, protology and eschatology and everything between revolves around this Word of Life. The Greek has a definite article before beginning, which carries an important theological implication. John is not talking about “a” beginning, but about the cosmic beginning.

But though he is speaking in big cosmological/philosophical terms (i.e. arche, logos, zoe), he is standing up as a witness (more on that in later verses) to having heard, seen, beheld, and touched this Word of Life. He states that the “we” (he and the other apostles/witnesses) had indeed heard and seen the Word of Life.

The tense and mood here are helpful in that John is emphatic that this has taken place, not that it is something that might take place, or that he is opining for. While the “hearing” and “seeing” are in the perfect tense, the “looking upon” and the “handling” are in the aorist tense. This implies that while the hearing and seeing are completed actions, the beholding and handling are not limited to a one time event. The relationship is ongoing, in other words. The tense also keeps these verbs from being so broad as to remain in the realm of theoretical pipe dreams. John is standing up as a witness to cosmological events which were experienced by tangible––and indeed ongoing––interaction with a person: this Word of Life.