"I saw Him!"

Biblical scholars tell us that the letter we call 1 John was written toward the close of the first century and was occasioned by the rise of a heretical movement called Docetism.  This approach denied that Jesus every lived here on earth in a physical form, but that his “body” was a celestial substance. Since he never really died in a body like ours, no sacrifice was made and we are still in debt for our sins. No wonder that John, the beloved disciple, begins his letter ­– “That which was from the beginning . . . we have seen with our eyes . . . our hands have touched” (v. 1). Then in the following two verses he repeats three times that he saw him. John declares that his message is “what we have seen and heard” (v. 3).
         John wants his readers to understand that the Christian faith is not a philosophy, but a message about a real man in time and space who lived among us, died for our sins and rose again victorious over sin and death. This unique experience sets the Christian message apart from all other religions. Someone once answered the question, “How can I start a new religion?” with the retort, “Have yourself killed and then rise from the dead.”
         The Christian faith rests on a solid foundation. It proclaims that God’s incarnate son lived among us, was crucified, and rose again. Scripture records that Jesus “appeared to more than five hundred of his followers at once, most of whom are still alive” (1 Cor. 15:6). Agreement on this basic event is crucial for a logical understanding of the remarkable expansion of the faith. It is critical for fellowship within the assembly. John says that his purpose in writing is “that you may have fellowship with us” even as we enjoy fellowship with Father and the Son (v. 3). It was extremely important in the early years of the Christian faith that the central truths were not compromised by any penchant for change.
         And so it has been down through time. Deviant groups have severed their relationship out of a desire to interpret the faith somewhat differently. Denominations have expanded and split. Brand new approaches have clamored for recognition. Major differences have ruptured the status quo, but the true church continues. Jesus said that he would build his church on Peter’s declaration that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God” and that “all the powers of hell will not conquer it” (Matt. 16:18).
         John saw and touched the risen Christ, the church faithfully proclaims the message, and two millennia later you and I are united by faith with John and his first century believers. False doctrines drop along the wayside and truth, although battered, is – and will be – victorious in the end.