That which was from the beginning
Fri, 2 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.
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. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
This passage establishes the reality of Christ. When he tells us about That which was heard, seen, touched, John is referring to Jesus’ body. The apostle John wants to make it completely clear to us how real Christ was. His body was a real human body. John knows. He lived three years with Jesus. He ate with Him, walked with Him, talked with Him. He spent incredibly intimate moments with Jesus, as the closest of the inner three. John was the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” He rested on Jesus’ bosom at the last supper. (John 13:23)
What do we learn from this?
John saw Jesus after the resurrection, touched Him, ate with Him. John knows the reality of the incarnate and risen Christ. And John is not alone in his testimony of Christ. He is relating the common experience of the apostles. We have seen this. We share what we have seen, heard, touched.
I have never seen Jesus. Neither have you. Thomas refused to believe the reality of the resurrection unless he saw it. “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” (John 20:25) Thomas was granted his request for our sakes. Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29).
Saint Augustine writes of this passage:
And He did give Himself for a time to be handled by the hands of men, who always giveth Himself to be seen by the sight of the angels; and that disciple did handle, and exclaimed, “My Lord, and my God!” Because he touched the Man, he confessed the God. And the Lord, to console us who, now that He sitteth in heaven, cannot touch Him with the hand, but only reach Him with faith, said to him, “Because thou hast seen, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet believe. We are here described, we designated. Then let the blessedness take place in us, of which the Lord predicted that it should take place; let us firmly hold that which we see not; because those tell us who have seen.
John wrote this book of First John to bring that blessing to fruition in our own lives. These are not fairy tales. Christ is real.
Where is Christ in this passage?
John is hammering home to us the reality of the incarnation. Jesus Christ had a real, physical body. To those who deny that God took on flesh and blood, John is a witness to the reality of the incarnation.
