The Journey with John Continues

John is proving to be a great read and a very thought provoking book. Here are the first 4 verses:

1:1 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.

Just a couple of notes out of verse 3

seen (Greek: oraw) may carry the meaning of not merely seeing, but to perceive with the mind, to understand

heard (Greek: akouw) "What we have heard" is parallel to the OT Shema, true hearing leads to faith and obedience, so John is telling those he is writing to that he is a person who has heard the message of Christ and is obedient to it.

What John has understood and what he has obeyed (this conveys a richness in connection with Jesus being the eternal life/best life possible guy) he is not passing on to his readers. He does this so that they can have fellowship “us”. This is a very important point: true fellowship (koinonia) is rooted in understanding who Christ is and living in obedience to his words, this goes beyond enjoying each others company and redefines our idea of “deep community” Deep community or true Kononia is not first about really getting to know another person, rather it is about both being people who understand who Jesus is and live obedient lives in the light of his words. We already have fellowship with any person who fits this way of life. It is a reminder that the gospel message binds together those who receive it. This idea reminds me of the words that Jesus spoke about marriage: “what God has joined together, let no one separate.” By nature of our being people who understand and obey the words of Christ, we are bound together into community; that is the reality, what we have to work at is tearing that community apart; something we seem to do rather well, most often by ignoring our unity in Christ and focusing on the disunity that comes from any number of things from personality differences to pride to …. In this we lessen the prayer of Jesus, "Make them one Father as we are one."