I John 1.1 “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.”
How could any of us find words anywhere near adequate to describe the Word of Life? Put another way, how can ordinary human speech tell the story of the divine Word, revealed in a walking, talking, flesh and blood person? The elderly Apostle John gave it his best shot in the Fourth Gospel and in this letter. He starts at the beginning. He starts with the One who was from the beginning. Jesus is the invasion of God’s grace and glory into God’s creation. In Jesus, the Word of Life, God intrudes into Creation to fulfil God’s eternal purpose through reconciling love.
Tuesday
I John 1.1 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,”
Jesus came proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. (Mk 1.14) It doesn’t take a red-letter edition of the Gospels to remind us that hearing and obeying Jesus words is the essence of discipleship. Those words, “That which we have heard” are triggered by John’s memories of Jesus’ spoken words. Imagine John, late in life, remembering back half a century as if it was yesterday, that first hearing of the voice of the Eternal Word speaking the words of life. “Come to me all who are weary and burdened.” “I am the bread of life.” “Take and eat; this is my body given for you.” In 2026 why not gather a few of Jesus words, read them afresh, and pray them?
Wednesday
1 John 1.1 “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…”
Jesus, seen and heard. Not only Jesus’ words, but his actions, his way of being with and for others. John’s memory was full of long held images: of Legion named and rescued; of hungry folk fed out of an abundance of he knew not what; of water into wine and tears into laughter. And even more, they had touched Jesus, rubbed shoulders, embraced in friendship, shared in meals, walked 500 miles and then 500 more! The truth is, John wants his readers to be infected with love for Jesus, caught up into the truth of who Jesus is, and through Jesus learn what the heart of God is.
Thursday
1 John 1.1 “…this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”
The Gospel, the good news of God in Christ, is to be made known, announced, advertised. In Colossians Paul says abruptly “Him we proclaim.” Yes we need words, but our words proclaim the Word. Jesus is the message – the eternal Word incarnate, crucified Son of God, risen and coming Lord. Yes we must find the most effective and faithful ways of making known the good news in Jesus. Jesus is God’s Word of Life in a world where sin brings death; Jesus is the Light of God in a darkened world. John’s great text, “God is love”, is spoken and enacted in the crucified and risen Jesus.
Friday
1 John 1.2 “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 have just come through Advent and Epiphany, the Church’s annual reminder that the life and light of all creation appeared in the birth of a child. John is testifying that he has seen the light and been in the company of the Word of Life. Every Christians is one who has come to know that God has appeared in Jesus, and through our trust in Jesus we too have seen and come to know the love of God, the forgiveness of sin, and the joy and hope of eternal life. John is passionately sure that in the appearance and coming of the Word of life, in the birth and ministry and death and resurrection of Jesus, God’s love is as real as it gets. John heard, and saw, and touched, and kept company with Jesus, the One who is the full and complete exposition of God and the ways of God with the world. “The Word became flesh –Jesus – Immanuel, God with us.”
Saturday
I John 1.3 “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.”
Fellowship is a strong multi-stranded cord. It can mean partnership in the Gospel; togetherness in prayer and worship before the Father, through the Spirit, in the name of the Son; shared experience and convictions about Jesus as Saviour and Lord; or care and love in supporting and looking after one another. In the New Testament ‘one another’ is a code word for the mutuality of the Christian community. The Apostle John just goes on and on about love as the barcode of belonging to Jesus because he knows that those who are in the fellowship of Christ display that prize fruit of Christian existence. And it comes about by loving as we have first been loved, by seeing and hearing and being in the company of the living Christ.
Sunday
1 John 1.4 “And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.”
And that fellowship is established and sustained by the power of the Spirit as in Christ we are drawn into the communion of love that is the Triune God. Joy is one of the fundamental dispositions of those united to Christ and drawn into fellowship with the Father. The Apostle John, possibly the beloved disciple, has been entrusted with the good news of eternal life. Now as a conscientious pastor he is keen to draw these communities of God’s people into deep, and durable, and joyful fellowship with the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That’s how important this letter is to the disciple who wrote it, to the disciples who received it, and to you and I who now read it and seek the Living Lord who still speaks through it. Now re-read 1 John 1.1-4 and give thanks for the Word of Life.
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