Give me a break... already

Unfortunately, after only posting one time, I will have to take a semester long break from going through 1 John. My exegesis class in Philippians is going to eat up all the time I would have spent here. I will, however, most likely post on a couple of sections of Philippians over the semester, so if you are interested, you can stay tuned... or logged on... or whatever it is called when you're reading a blog.

1 John 1:1-3

1 John 1:1-3 ESV
(1) That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life--
(2) the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us--
(3) that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Skeletal Structure:

Run On, John!

Before I begin with these three verses, I want to point out one crucial thing to interpreting them. They contain only one sentence. This is important because, if you don't understand the structure of the sentence, John will likely lose you within the first two verses. He keeps saying “that which this,” and, “that which that,” but he doesn't even mention the main verb until verse 3. So in order to understand what John is trying to communicate with the first sentence of this epistle we need to establish three things which make up the skeletal structure of the sentence: the subject, the main verb, and the direct object.¹


Direct Object

I'm going to begin the way John does, with the direct object. The majority of this sentence (two thirds) is devoted to describing the substantive² which receives the action of the main verb. This substantive is “that which was from the beginning... concerning the word of life.” Technically, the direct object is merely “that.” But because everything else in the first verse is describing “that,” I think it is fair to include its description in the discussion as we seek to determine what “that” is.

John tells us a lot of things about “that.” He tells us that it was from the beginning, that the apostles have heard, seen, looked upon and touched it, and that it is concerning the word of life. John seems to be on a roll, but all that John tells about “that” which is “concerning the word of life” in the first verse is then interrupted by a description of that life itself in the second verse. I use the term “interrupted” because John seems to pick right back up where he left off at the beginning of the third verse with “that which we have seen and heard”. But by no means is this interruption unimportant or trivial. The second verse is a crucial explanation of what (or who) this life is. From what is said about the life being with the Father and being manifested to the apostles, it is clear that this life is Jesus Christ.

Even though, technically, the parenthetical note in the second verse is not describing the direct object, I view it as being contained within the description of the direct object as it's purpose is to clarify the “life” that John mentions at the end of the first verse. With this in mind, I will treat both the first and second verses as a whole, both giving us information about the direct object, “that.”

In both the first and second verses John seems to be focusing both on the gospel and on the actual person of Jesus Christ. All the descriptions of “that” bring me to the conclusion that “that” is a term meant to include both the gospel message concerning Jesus Christ (the word of life), and Jesus Christ himself (whom the apostles had heard, seen, and even touched). It makes sense that John would blend the concepts of the gospel and of the person of Jesus Christ, as the gospel is concerning, summed up in, and realized fully in Jesus Christ, the life who was with the Father and manifested to the apostles. So the direct object of this sentence, “that,” seems to be these two concepts blended together, both the gospel about Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ himself.


Main Verb and Subject

As I mentioned previously, the third verse picks right back up with a repetition of “that which we have seen and heard.” John's purpose in this is to bring our attention back to “that” which he had been describing previously. Everything in the first two verses is bound up in that short phrase at the beginning of this third verse.

With our direct object firmly established in our minds we can start to notice a clear sentence structure here in the third verse. The main verb is the action which is done to the direct object. That being said, it is clear that the main verb is “proclaim.” That which John has been describing for the first two verses, namely the gospel and person of Jesus Christ, is being proclaimed by John and the rest of the apostles. Obviously the subject of the sentence is “we,” whom, as you can already see, I have interpreted to be John and the rest of the apostles.

Flesh and Features:

Flesh and Features

The basic idea is this: John, along with the rest of the apostles, proclaims the gospel concerning Jesus Christ to the recipients of his letter. So now that we have established and understand the basic sentence structure, we have a skeleton to which we need to add flesh and features.


Proclamation

The first thing I want to note is the main verb, “proclaim.” This translation of the Greek word, "apaggellomen", is spot on. It denotes information known by the subject being declared to those who assumedly would not know it otherwise. There is a sense of authority behind this proclamation. The apostles are not merely “sharing” their faith or presenting a viable option to those who are looking for something new. They are proclaiming good news about Jesus Christ with the very authority of God himself. The manner in which the apostles proclaim these truths about Jesus holds a valuable (and sorely needed) lesson for us concerning evangelism. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus tells us that because all authority on heaven and on earth has been given to him, we are to make disciples of all nations baptizing them and teaching them to observe all of his commandments. Notice that it is his authority that gives reason for this commission. Jesus is the king of heaven and earth. We are Jesus' representatives on earth, commissioned to proclaim his good news to the nations. We ought to proclaim it boldly and with great authority, for it does not come from a weak but “loving” god, it comes from the sovereign God of all creation who has commissioned us to preach his good news of reconciliation to all men. We are often afraid of confrontation and conflict. With this mindset we seek comfort and avoid awkward situations at all costs, even if we have to disobey Christ. When we act in this way, we are living as though Jesus Christ is not enthroned as king. We are living as though this temporal world holds more sway than the decrees of an almighty God. Our lord and king Jesus Christ has redeemed us and given us a task. Let us zealously and boldly attend to it.


A God-Man is Hard to Find

John spends the majority of this first sentence describing the direct object (the content of the proclamation), and for good reason. He wants to make two things very clear, both that Jesus was manifested to the apostles and that he existed with the Father before that manifestation. These two truths clash with one another in such a way that perfectly showcases their profundity. That Jesus was manifested would not be profound were he not deity. And even the claim that Jesus is deity would not be profound if he is not, at the same time, a man. But for the eternal life who existed with the Father to be manifested to the apostles as a man whom they knew personally, that is something truly amazing. This is the content of the apostles' proclamation. They are proclaiming the good news concerning Jesus, the eternal life who was with God and was manifested to them.


Eternal Life

Why is Jesus referred to as the life? In John's New Testament writings, Jesus is the life (John 11:25; 14:6; 1 John 1:1-2; 5:20), has life in himself (John 1:4; 5:26), and is the one from whom we gain eternal life (John 3:15-16, 36; 4:14; 6:40, 47; 10:10, 28; 17:1-3; 20:31; 1 John 5:11-12).³ Life is bound up in the very being of Jesus so that it can be said of him that he is life, and he is the source of it for those who believe in him because life is contained within himself. These are the ways in which John relates Jesus to “life” throughout his writings in the New Testament and doubtlessly it is the way in which he is using it here.⁴


Purpose

John also gives us the reason for his proclaiming. The reason is very clearly sated, “so that you too may have fellowship with us.” Proclaiming the good news concerning Jesus Christ coming in the flesh as the eternal life manifested to the apostles brings fellowship between John's readers and the apostles. But John does not stop there. Human fellowship is not his only aim. The apostles' fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, and that is John's aim for his readers. He wants them to share in fellowship with God.⁵

¹ Most sentences are made up of three things: a subject, a main verb, and a direct object. If you are not familiar with these terms, here are a few quick definitions:

Subject: the noun in the sentence which does the action of the main verb.
Main Verb: the main action being done in the sentence.
Direct Object: the noun in the sentence which receives the action of the main verb.

² A substantive is a noun or any word that functions as a noun.

³ All of the biblical references in the preceding sentence contain the Greek word, "zoa," or one of its forms.

⁴ I would encourage anyone who is interested in understanding these concepts more clearly to take the time to look up all the references I gave above. I know it will prove to be an incredibly encouraging study as you come to a full understanding of the clear teaching of John about Jesus Christ, eternal life, and the relationship between the two.

⁵ There seems to be a contrast in the third verse between John's readers and the group to which he belongs (the apostles). This is brought out by the usage of the rare Greek word, "haymeteros," which means “our” (the same basic meaning as its more common counterpart, "haymon"). "Haymeteros" seems to emphasize the uniqueness of the group to which John belongs (the apostles or possibly the Christian Jews) as opposed to the group to which he is writing (possibly Gentiles). This is not incredibly important now, but it may be later on in 1 John 2:2 where this rare word is used for the second time.