I Have Seen Jesus!!
1 John:We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.
In the above scripture written by John, the apostle (brother of James and son of Zebedee) we see a few basic parts of the life and teaching of all who follow Jesus.
We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen John proclaimed – (def – announce officially or publicly.) It’s official, Jesus was seen by John and others and He was and is real!!! Now, that is pretty basic, but some have a problem with these facts as stated by the writer of 1 John. This historical account gives sight to our faith and helps us see the basic truth of the existence of Jesus by one who travelled with Him. JUST BELIEVE JOHN !!
We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. John not only saw Jesus, but He touched Him. Rubbed shoulders with Him, if you will. I cannot imagine what it might have been like to touch Jesus. Think of this, Jesus and all of the apostles get in a circle for prayer and you are standing next to Jesus and He says “Let’s all join hands in prayer!!” What??? My reply to that would be “you bet” and I would grab Jesus’ hand and hold on tight. The only problem I would have would be letting go!!
This one who is life itself. Life itself? The very essence of life is who Jesus was and is and John is testifying in this scripture that all we have read and heard is TRUE!! Life, real life begins with Jesus!!
And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. Now it is our turn. Testify!! You may say “Testify what?” When we receive Jesus we experience Him much like the apostles who walked with Him, including John. But in reality, we are equipped to have a much greater faith than they had as it says in John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” And yet, we do not proclaim with a more powerful voice the truth of the Son of God.
3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Oh, so now we see what we are proclaiming and what that proclaiming does. The proclaiming is a bonding agent like Epoxy. Epoxy glue is a glue that is super strong, but it is made up of two different elements, epoxy resin and a hardener. Separate those two things aren’t anything, but when mixed together they become a super strong epoxy which is very hard to pull apart. We believers have two very distinct things going on in our lives. One is our personal relationship with Jesus and the other is our fellowship with other believers. Our relationship with Jesus is the resin and the fellowship with others is the hardener. When people of faith get together to proclaim that we know Jesus and that we are sure of it, the Lord takes our like-mindedness and forms a super strong bond that is formed by our faith and by the Holy Spirit.
4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. There is a greater purpose in John writing this basic truth for us. We need Jesus. We need each other. Our bond is super strong. The outward expression of that proclamation is Joy at it’s fullest!!
I have seen Jesus through what I have read in His Word and He is alive to me. He is real, not just to me. He is real. Jesus blesses me because I have faith in Him without having to see Him. I can have a deep, true fellowship with others who have experienced Jesus as well. It is not based on a building or a certain way of doing things. It is based on a very personal relationship, that at it’s core is confirmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. Just keep in mind this was just the introduction to 1 John. I encourage you to read on and on and see how God will encourage your faith through the writings of the Apostle John. Think abut this! Remember putting your face above a headless frame painted to represent a muscle man, a clown, or even a bathing beauty? Many of us have had our pictures taken this way, and the photos are humorous because the head doesn’t fit the body. If we could picture Christ as the head of our local body of believers, would the world laugh at the misfit? Or would they stand in awe of a human body so closely related to a divine head? We are the body of Christ….
The Pilgrimage continues….
David Warren