"1 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;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." (1 John 1:4) KJV
What a beautiful passage! That Which was from the beginning... let us focus on the dual grouped Pronoun that sets off the first verse of the first chapter of the epistle scribed by the Beloved disciple, the aging Apostle John. We notice that its not just the average "That" Pronoun, we notice That has been since before the earth was, and that was seen, heard, and touched by human witnesses. Remember back to the Old Covenant where the national and social laws for the nation of Israel where gifted by God unto His people to govern and regulate horizontal relationships of the nation. The penalty for bearing false witness and perjury was death.
Even more to consider is the fact that in Jerusalem at, during, and immediately after the arrest, mock trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus men were forbidden to speak, teach, and preach the Name of Jesus. More than just taboo, it cost a price if one was caught doing so, yet this very John along with Peter (who ultimately gave his life for the Gospel just as Jesus prophesied) were beaten, questioned, and forbidden to mention Jesus by the very men who were responsible to getting Christ to the cross. [Acts 4]
Now here John is many years later, in exile having been persecuted (tradition says burned in a vat of oil by Nero) nonetheless persecuted for sure by Nero being on Patmos, and he's giving a testimony, bearing witness to That Which was from before the beginning! As in Acts 4, how could John not declare what he had personally observed? He walked with Jesus, Jesus called him from fishing to walking with the Son of God! He heard Him teach, he saw the miracles, he broke bread with Him, he was at the cross, and saw the empty tomb! So John declares unto us SO we can know Jesus too. So we can have fellowship with God the Father and other Believers. Consider how much the word fellowship must have meant to the elderly apostle. Exiled on Patmos, removed from fellowship of the church at Ephesus by the monster tyrant Nero. John no doubt knew the other disciples were gone. His circle of family and friends long gone to be with the Lord. The Holy Spirit had John declare to us that Jesus is the Word of Life in verse 3b-4 "...of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)" It is only in, by, through, and because of the Word of Life that we can even fellowship with God the Father and each other as the Body of Christ, our local church, and each other, yes even those who read this with me.
In the original Koine text the Word of Life is in the Genitive Mood. This matters in the position that it not only describes but qualifies Word of Life, hence showing us the way, and showing us its the ONLY way to fellowship with God the Father and Jesus the Son. Jesus spoke this to John before He was crucified, remember the most popular passage from the Gospel according to John? "Jesus said, I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life, NO ONE comes to the Father except by Me..." Let us each ask our self this question, am I in fellowship with God the Father? Am I in fellowship with my fellow Christians? If not, let us go to that Powerful Pronoun, That Which was from the beginning, That Which is the Word of Life!
No comments:
Post a Comment