24 Jul 2012
I John 1:1-3
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 upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
Here we see another reminder that the testimonies we find the New Testament are actual eyewitness accounts. John wrote about the things that he saw. He knew Jesus; he touched Him, ate with Him, followed Him, and listened to Him. John was there in the garden of Gethsemane, at the trial, at the crucifixion, at the empty tomb, and at the resurrection. He saw the Lord crucified and he saw Him alive again. John is not relating something that happened to a friend of a friend; instead he is talking about things that he saw personally. We can have tremendous confidence that these things are true. John is declaring things that he has “seen and heard”.
Does this matter? Yes, absolutely. The Gospels are not fables; they were written by people who were actually there – some of whom were put to death for their testimony. What we are dealing with is nothing less than a firsthand account.