Transcript: The Life Appeared

The Life Appeared (video transcript)
By David Feddes

Today we're going to begin looking at 1 John 1 and what you might call the preamble or the introduction to the whole book—1 John 1:1-4. As we listen to this letter, it's helpful to think about who is writing it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The apostle John is sometimes called the disciple of love or the beloved disciple—the disciple whom Jesus loved—and he is the one whom God directed to write this book.

Who was John? Just a little bit of information about him: he was a fisherman, a fishing partner with his brother James and their friends Peter and Andrew. The four of them, and maybe others, were involved in a fishing business. He was originally born the son of Zebedee, his father, and Salome, his mother. Salome was a woman who also followed Jesus very closely. At one time, she was really looking out for her sons and wanting them to be big shots in Jesus' kingdom. She asked if James and John could sit on either side of Jesus on the best thrones. Although she made a bit of a blunder, she was a woman of great courage and devotion to Jesus. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, the Bible says that Salome was there. When the tomb was opened by an angel on the first day of the week, the women who came to the tomb included Salome, the mother of the beloved disciple.

James was John’s brother, and Jesus gave the two of them a nickname: Boanerges, meaning "sons of thunder." Sometimes, they acted like it. Once, they came to a village of Samaritans, who they weren’t very fond of anyway, and the village didn’t welcome Jesus and the disciples. So James and John said, "Shall we call down fire from heaven on this village?" But Jesus said, "You don’t know what spirit you are of," and they went on to the next village. The sons of thunder could thunder. Even though John had walked with Jesus all those years and was filled with the Holy Spirit—becoming a tremendous disciple of love who wrote movingly about God’s love—he still had a little thunder left in him when the occasion demanded it. When you read in this letter what he says about those who teach other than the truth about Jesus, he calls them antichrists. So, the son of thunder was not entirely changed from his personality. He was transformed, but he didn’t become someone other than John. When it was time to thunder, he still had some in him, now coming from the Holy Spirit.

John was also the adoptive son of Jesus' mother, Mary. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, he said, "Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother." From that day, John took Mary into his home and cared for her for the rest of her life. You could say that this was someone who knew Jesus' mother by living with her for years and years. There’s also some evidence suggesting that Salome might have been a sister to Mary, the mother of Jesus—possibly the daughter of Anna. Some texts, when you read them, seem to indicate that. So John may even have been Jesus' first cousin, with both of their mothers being sisters.

Either way, John had very close connections to Jesus. He was a disciple who accompanied Jesus constantly during his public ministry. He saw what Jesus did, heard what he said, touched him, and ate with him. John was one of the twelve whom Jesus chose to be with him and serve as his witnesses. Of those twelve, there were three—Peter, James, and John—whom Jesus took with him when no one else went. When Jesus was transfigured on the mountain and talked with Moses and Elijah, with his glory shining forth, it was Peter, James, and John who witnessed it. When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter, James, and John were the ones he took further into the heart of the garden.

So, John spent all those years with Jesus. His mother was a close disciple of Jesus, and his aunt might have been Mary. Whether or not that’s the case, he became Mary's adoptive son and cared for her after Jesus went to heaven. John is the one who wrote the Gospel according to John, the three letters—1 John, 2 John, and 3 John—and the book of Revelation, where he received visions from the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

If you were looking for someone with credentials, it's hard to match Jesus' best friend, the one the Bible calls the disciple whom Jesus loved. He was Jesus’ closest friend, the adoptive son of Jesus' mother, and the son of a great woman who followed Jesus and was at the tomb even before the other disciples were. This is the person writing these words:

What he heard, saw, and touched—what is he talking about? If you go back to the Gospel of John, you’ll get an idea of what he means when he says, "That which we heard and saw and handled with our own hands." John was there with Jesus at a wedding in Cana. When they ran out of wine, Jesus' mother told those managing the wedding, "Do whatever he tells you." Jesus instructed them to fill large jars with water and serve it, and when they did, the water had become wine. The head of the banquet said, "This is the best wine I've ever had. Why did you save it for later?" That was the first miracle Jesus performed.

In that miracle, Jesus was revealing something. Who is it that makes wine to gladden the heart of man? Psalm 104 says the Lord makes wine to gladden the heart of man. Normally, the process is slower—turning water to grapes and then to wine—but Jesus sped it up to show who he is. He is the vine, the source of life from which we draw life to bear fruit. John wasn’t the only one with some thunder in him. Jesus also had thunder. When he saw that the temple had become a market—a big money-making racket—he overturned the tables of the money changers, made a whip, and drove them out, saying, "You are turning my Father’s house into a den of thieves."

John witnessed this. He heard the coins clattering on the ground. He heard Jesus' rebuke. John was also there when a prominent religious leader named Nicodemus came to Jesus. He heard Jesus tell Nicodemus, "You must be born again. No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Jesus didn’t only engage with prominent leaders. He also spoke with people whom others avoided. He talked with a woman at a well—a woman with a reputation so bad that no one else wanted to be seen with her. Jesus told her, "If you knew who was speaking to you, you would ask him, and he would give you living water, and you’d never thirst again." As they continued talking, Jesus revealed himself to her and said, "I am the Messiah." She went back to her village and brought others to meet him. After spending time with Jesus, they said, "We know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

Jesus goes into the temple, and there is a place with five colonnades and a pool called the Pool of Bethesda. A man is there who has been crippled for 38 years, unable to walk. Jesus asks him, "Do you want to be well?" The man responds, "Yes." So Jesus says, "Then get up and walk," and the man gets up and walks. The people are astonished, and the man is amazed at what Jesus has done for him. How does Jesus do that? The life appeared. The life appeared, and those legs that had been dead for 38 years suddenly became alive, strong, and healthy again.

Jesus is preaching to a very large crowd of thousands of people, and as the day goes on, they begin to get hungry. Jesus asks, "How much food do you have?" The disciples find a boy with a small lunch and say, "There’s no way we can feed this crowd." But Jesus says, "Just bring it to me." They start handing out bread, and soon there is bread and fish everywhere. Everyone eats until they are satisfied. When Jesus performs these miracles, John is there. He’s one of those handing out the baskets and collecting the leftovers. John hears Jesus say, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna in the desert, and they died, but whoever eats this bread will live forever." The life appeared.

John is in the boat when Jesus comes walking toward them on the water. At first, they cry out in fear, but soon they are relieved to discover it’s Jesus. The Bible says the Lord is the one who commands the wind and the waves, the Lord is the one who provides wine to gladden the heart of man, the Lord is the one who provides bread, and the Lord is the one who controls the wind and the waves.

Jesus meets a man who was born blind and has never seen in his life. Jesus touches the man’s eyes, and suddenly the man can see. When asked what happened, the man explains, but some of the authorities say, "That man who healed you is a sinner." The man replies, "I don’t know if he is a sinner or not. One thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see." Later, he meets Jesus again and comes to understand who Jesus truly is. He declares, "Lord, I believe," and he worships Jesus. Who do you worship but the living God?

Jesus begins teaching the crowds and his disciples, saying, "I am the good shepherd." Who is the good shepherd? Psalm 23 says, "The Lord is my shepherd." By saying, "I am the good shepherd," Jesus makes quite a claim. He adds, "Everyone who came before me were thieves and robbers, but I have come so that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. My sheep know me, and I give them eternal life. No one can snatch them out of my hand." The life appeared, and he gives eternal life.

As the good shepherd, Jesus comes to the grave of his friend Lazarus, who has been buried for days. He says, "Roll back the stone." Martha protests, "It’s going to stink; my brother has been dead for a while." But Jesus insists, "Roll it back." Just before he calls Lazarus out, Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." Then he calls out, "Lazarus, come forth," and the dead man comes out of the grave. The life appeared. Jesus says, "I am the life."

At a dinner, Jesus' friend Mary—Lazarus’ sister—anoints his feet with expensive perfume and wipes them with her hair. John is there and adds a little detail: "The scent filled the house." John writes in 1 John 1 about what they heard, saw, and touched with their hands. He could have added what they smelled and tasted. All of his senses were engaged as he experienced Jesus and discovered who he is. John was there, laying down palms and coats on the road. He heard the crowd shouting as Jesus rode into Jerusalem: "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord."

John was in the upper room with Jesus when Jesus washed his feet along with those of the other disciples. John felt Jesus' hands on his feet and heard him say, "I have given you an example. As I have washed your feet, you should wash one another’s feet. As I have loved you, so you ought to love one another. This is how people will know you are my followers—if you love one another." John felt those hands and heard that voice, words that continued to ring in his heart for the rest of his life. He was leaning on Jesus at the Last Supper, receiving the cup and bread from Jesus’ own hand. That is how close he was to the Lord.

John was at the cross with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his own mother. He heard Jesus say, "Son, here is your mother, and mother, here is your son." He saw the soldier pierce Jesus’ side with a spear, and he saw the sudden flow of blood and water. John testifies to these things, knowing that his testimony is true so that others may believe. He was the first of the twelve to reach the empty tomb after hearing the report from the women, including his own mother. When he entered the tomb and saw the grave clothes, he believed that Jesus had risen from the dead. He saw, he touched, and he knew the grave was empty.

John was there when Jesus appeared to the disciples and said, "It is I. I’m not a ghost; I have hands and feet. See me. I have flesh and blood. Give me something to eat." Jesus ate in their presence. John was also there when Thomas doubted and said, "I will not believe it unless I see it for myself." John witnessed Jesus appear again, and he saw Thomas fall at Jesus' feet, exclaiming, "My Lord and my God!" The life appeared.

Later, John was out fishing with his old friends when someone standing on the shore called out, "Haven’t caught much? Try the other side." They did, and their nets filled with 153 fish—so many that they feared the boat would sink. When they reached the shore, they found someone already cooking fish and preparing breakfast. John felt the sand under his feet, smelled the fire, tasted the fish handed to him by Jesus himself.

That which we have seen—that is what John is talking about. At the end of the Gospel of John, he writes, "This is the disciple who testifies to these things and wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true." When you read the Gospel of John, and now this letter, you’re not just hearing from anyone; you’re hearing from someone who was in the room when it happened, someone who was there through it all.

"We’ve heard, we’ve seen with our eyes, we’ve looked, and our hands have touched. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard." Later in his letter, John writes, "We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world." If all these things—what he saw, heard, touched, smelled, and tasted—still don’t make it clear, John is saying: "Here’s what I’m talking about—God sent his Son, who is very God himself, to be the Savior of the world. The life appeared. The life appeared, and I was there."

 

That which was from the beginning—now, who’s he talking about? I’ve given you an idea of who John is, as well as who Jesus is, but I’ve emphasized the eyewitness aspect. Now let’s look at that again—the fact that the life appeared. What does he say about Jesus?

"That which was from the beginning, this we proclaim concerning the word of life." So, he’s from the beginning. He’s the word of life. He is the life. "We proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us." The life was manifested.

What does he mean by that? We might think God came to give us eternal life so that we can live forever, and while that is true, John means more than just that. When he says, "That which was from the beginning," who’s there at the beginning before anything has begun? "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Or, to quote from John’s own gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through him, and apart from him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men."

When John speaks of the word of life in his letter, he’s talking about the same one he mentions in his gospel. He says the Word was God, and that through him life came into the world. In the Old Testament, we often read the phrase "the living God." John is calling him "the life."

There is a life beyond all life, before all life, and not dependent on any other life—a life that simply is, existing independently. This life is a Father, a Word, and a Spirit. It is a life eternally generated from the Father through the Son and issuing forth in the Holy Spirit. That which is from the beginning is the Word of life; he is the life.

Sometimes people ask, "Why couldn’t God just give eternal life apart from Jesus?" That’s an oxymoron—a contradiction in terms. You can’t give life without giving the life. There is only death apart from the life. He is the eternal God. He’s from the beginning. He’s the Word of life. He just is the life.

At the same time, the Bible makes it clear that in the person of Jesus Christ, the one who is the life before anything was made did not begin to exist when he entered Mary’s womb or when he was born in the stable. As the Son of God—the living Word—Jesus was there at the beginning, and indeed before the beginning, in endless ages. As the Son of God, he had no beginning. But he took upon himself a human nature. He took on real human flesh. He could be heard, seen, and touched.

That’s what’s so remarkable—the invisible God, the God whom no one can look upon and live, the God who is unknowable unless he reveals himself, came in a form that could be heard, seen, and touched. The eternal life beyond all life became a man.

People have been writing about this for two thousand years, and we still haven’t figured it out—how God can be a Trinity, how Christ can be fully human and fully divine, how eternal life took on human flesh. But the Bible makes it clear that this is the reality: the eternal God took on human flesh. "The Word was with God, the Word was God," and as John says in his gospel, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, the only begotten, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." No one has ever seen God, but the only begotten God, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

The life appeared. The life appeared. When you understand who Jesus is, you know that he is the eternal God. You know that he is human flesh—he can be heard, seen, and touched. He is God incarnate, which simply means "God made flesh." He is the life, and the life appeared. He is the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

That is the core of the Bible’s message about who Jesus is: he is God, he is human, and he has appeared to us to bring us participation in that life. John goes on to say, "We proclaim to you what we’ve seen and heard." Why? "So that you also, who are reading this letter, may have fellowship with us." Fellowship with the apostles, the writers of the New Testament Scriptures. And who is our fellowship with? "Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ."

"We write this to make our joy complete." Fellowship and joy. I’ve emphasized the facts: John was there. He knows. You can take it to the bank when he writes and tells you this—not just because he’s an eyewitness but because he’s filled with and guided by the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, the living God.

But it’s not just about getting our facts straight or lining up our doctrines correctly. John wants us to have fellowship—through the word of the apostles, through Jesus Christ, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to have living fellowship with the apostles and their message, but above all, fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And as John will say later in his letter, that fellowship includes the Holy Spirit, who lives in us.

He says, "We write this to make our joy complete." About half of the best manuscripts say "our joy," and the other half say "your joy." There’s something about sharing Christ—your joy isn’t complete until you’ve shared it with someone else and seen them get excited about it too. In one of his later letters, John writes, "I have no greater joy than to know that my children are walking in the truth." He gets great joy from sharing Christ and seeing others come into fellowship with him. But he also writes so that our joy may be complete—so that those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will experience the fullness of joy that Jesus intends.

The Scriptures are given, and Jesus is given, so that you and I can have a relationship with God—a fellowship with God, an interactive relationship with him. He wants us to have fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, and he wants us to experience the joy of that fellowship. When Jesus was here, John was in the room when Jesus said, "I’ve told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

Jesus said, "You will grieve and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again, and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy."

Once John had seen Jesus risen and was filled with his Holy Spirit, no matter what happened after that, nothing could take away his joy. His brother James was the first of the apostles to be killed—he was executed with the sword on the orders of King Herod. But nothing could take away John’s joy. One by one, the other apostles were murdered while preaching the gospel, but still, nothing could take away his joy. He was exiled to a desert island, yet nothing could take away his joy. While in exile, he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and Christ appeared to him and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am the living one. I was dead, but behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades."

When you know someone like that, who can take away your joy? Nothing that goes wrong in the world can take away your joy when you know the life, when the life has appeared, and you have met him. John wants us to enter not just into true doctrine and correct belief, although that is very important, but into fellowship with the church of God and with Jesus Christ, with God himself, so that we, together as believers, can have complete joy in him.

When we think about the life appearing and how John communicates it to us, we see that John is an eyewitness. Through the eyewitness testimony of John, the Spirit of truth gives us sure knowledge of Jesus. You’ll notice that I refer to John as the Spirit of truth does, because these are titles the Bible also uses for the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of truth wants us to know. In fact, I believe John uses the word "know" 49 times just in this short letter. He wants us to know.

Through the words of this one who was there, the Spirit of truth gives us sure knowledge of Jesus. John was hand-picked to walk with Jesus, to live with him, and to believe in him. The Spirit of life shares eternal life by faith in Jesus. When you put your trust in Jesus and believe in him, something incredible happens. This life, which existed from eternity, becomes part of you. He becomes your life. As the Bible says, "Your life is hidden with Christ in God, and when Christ, who is your life, appears, you also will appear with him in glory."

You have a life—eternal life. It’s not just about living a life that lasts forever and ever; it means that the eternal life of the living God is put into you. You have his life. Of course, it will last forever, but it is more than just endless. It is divine, it is glorious, it is love, and it is joy. Through John—the beloved disciple, the one Jesus loved—the Spirit of love leads us into a joyous and growing fellowship with Jesus.

These are the purposes of this letter: to be in a relationship with Jesus, to know the Lord God, the Father of Jesus Christ, as your Father, to know that you live in him and he lives in you, and to experience the Holy Spirit, whom he gives you. The goal is to be among those who worship God in Spirit and in truth.

As we read and study this letter, as we meditate on it and pray through it, may God grant you sound knowledge of Jesus. May you rejoice in the life that comes through Jesus. If you do not yet have that life, the Bible says, "Trust him." Jesus said, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

The life appeared, and he eagerly shares his life with everyone who trusts him. This is not just a fire insurance policy. It’s not just about getting your theology right or securing your place in heaven when you die. Of course, those things matter—I am not making light of them. But there is more. There is fellowship. There is walking with God now, knowing that he is with you as you journey through life. When you pray, God is listening and answering according to his perfect will.

To fellowship with the Father, with the Son, and with the Holy Spirit means becoming partakers in the divine nature. As John’s friend Peter puts it, we are partakers—or "fellowshippers"—in the divine nature. So again: knowledge, life, fellowship. That is what God gives. That is what we can have, because the life appeared.

Oh Lord, may our thoughts always be focused on you, and may our souls and our love be poured out to you, for you are our life. May we always rejoice that you have existed from all eternity and that, in your own purposes, you chose to make yourself known fully at just the right time. You came among us. You took on flesh and blood so that we might become partakers of your divine nature and enjoy fellowship with you.

Lord, draw us closer to you. Where we are confused or in error, shape us by the Spirit of truth so that we may have sound knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the living God. Where we have lived in death, without your strength or joy, and trapped in darkness, may the Spirit of life help us know Jesus, the Lord of life, and fill us with your eternal life. May the life that flows from the Father, through the Son, and by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit fill us completely.

Lord, draw us more deeply into fellowship with you. Help us not to walk through life alone or live as though we are on our own, but to spend every day in conversation with you. When we read your Word, may we hear the living voice of the life. When we pray, may we know that we are speaking with the Lord of life—the living God, the very life who appeared among us and has claimed us as his own.

May we always live in gladness, fellowship, and communion with you. May we know the reality of what you prayed, Lord Jesus: "This is eternal life, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." May that life flourish within us and overflow from us so that our joy may be full. As our children come to know you—the life—and as our neighbors come to know you, and as more people in the world come to know you as the life, may our joy be complete.

Amen.