He Is Who They Say He Is

            “And the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:2-3 NASB

     John, the Beloved Apostle, repeats and rephrases in verse two and verse three pretty much what he already said in verse one. This may seem redundant, but how many of us do that when we feel we need to get a point across? How many of us do this with our kids when we want to be sure that they understood what we were saying before we let them go off with friends, or to employees before we cut them loose to go handle a job?

     Before we dismiss this as John simply repeating himself, we have to ask why is he repeating himself? What is his point for doing this? I think that we would be right if we said that his point was to be clear that Jesus manifested in the flesh, among the physical, material world, after having stepped down from outside of time, from that eternal life that He had always known with the Father, to ensure that we may have a relationship with God by believing and having faith in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. That is what John is saying. Most definitely. However, I think that his point in rephrasing this and saying it again also goes back to who John was in his fellowship with Christ.

     Think about it. Like I shared in The Word of Life, John was with Jesus from pretty much the beginning of our Savior’s ministry. What John is sharing is NOT speculation, conjecture, or mere hyperbole, he’s not saying this while being all smiley gladhands with a donation bucket in our faces. No. His words are based on what he experienced in his fellowship with Christ through it all; and by through it all—I mean through the ministerial Life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

     In fact, when John says: ‘testify and proclaim eternal life’, we know that John saw Jesus as a living, breathing, eating man. We also know that he saw Jesus in His eternal state, as well, after being resurrected from the dead. So, when John repeats and rephrases this, I think that it is safe to conclude the Apostle wanted to make it very clear to his readers, both then and now, for God knew and spoke through John’s writings to that generation and everyone who has read the Word since, that Jesus is exactly who Jesus claimed to be and that all of the Apostles letters likewise testify Him to be.

     So, for me, I think that he is trying to stress to us that Jesus is the real deal. As I have read and reread this, it’s made me think of what Jesus had to say to Thomas in John’s Gospel: “Thomas answered, ‘My Lord, and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see me, and yet believed.” (John 20:28-29 NASB). Thomas and John both got to see, firsthand, all that Jesus did and fulfilled, we get to read about it and have faith. We are among those that Jesus was referring to when speaking to Thomas. Makes me wonder, in the Infinite Glory of our God, did our faces cross His mind when He said those words?

     What about you? Do you struggle as Thomas did before he touched Jesus’ wounds? Can you read John’s words and know that God is reiterating that Jesus is who they and the Bible claim Him to be? Do you know that faith in the atoning blood of Christ is what gets you into the Kingdom? Read 1 John 1:1-3 and let the Apostle’s words sink in! How blessed are we?!

Until Next Time,

God Bless