1 John 1:1-4 - Who He Said He Was

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete."

- 1 John 1:1-3

This morning, my friend Tim had a blog about who Jesus is. Not that I was trying to ride the coattails of what he was blogging about, but it just so happens my portion of 1 John today touches a bit on just that; who Jesus is.

The author, John the Apostle (not to be confused with John the Baptist) starts this book out by explaining the purpose of his writings: to share and express the "Word of Life" to its readers. John makes some suggestions about what the Word of Life is. Or, if you will, who the Word of Life is. Since John likely saw Jesus' ministry first hand, it's easier for him to be able to draw comparisons to person of Jesus and the prophesied Jesus. Apostle John takes the literal "Word" and applies it to the person of Jesus:
Jesus is - "from the beginning" (v. 1)
Jesus is that - "which we have heard (v. 1)
Jesus is that - "which we have seen with our eyes" (v. 1)
Jesus is that - "which we have looked at" (v. 1)
Jesus is the one whom- "our hands have touched" (v. 1)
Jesus - "appeared" (v. 2)
Jesus is - "the eternal life" (v. 2)
Jesus was - "with the Father and has appeared to us" (v. 2)

John's epistle is to "proclaim to you" what we (the apostles) have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us (the apostles)". A call to the sinner, the unsaved, the Jew and the Gentile, to believe that Jesus was the prophesied one and the gift of God in flesh; the truth, the way, and the life. Jesus' story and ministry make "our joy complete" (v. 4).

I was reading (not taking part in) an interesting thread today where people were arguing the existence of God; more precisely, the existence of deities like Jesus, Buddha, or Mohammad. The one Christian in the conversation proceeding to defend Christianity by simply comparing Jesus as superior to Buddha or Mohammad. Instead of using historical fact, scripture, or even the ministry/example of Jesus, he proceeded to just slam other religious figures.

I've quoted this from Bono on a recent blog but I thought it prudent to repeat it. In an interview he did with Bill Hybels where he says, "You either have to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God or believe that he was a complete nutcase. Jesus was either Charles Manson... an absolute nutcase or, in my opinion, who He said He was."

Jesus is the beginning and end who we have seen, heard, touched, and felt. You can either believe who he said he is, or you cannot. I say this to make our joy complete.