1 John 1.1b-Four Assertions Supporting the Historicity of the Hypostatic Union of Jesus of Nazareth
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday March 9, 2017
First John: 1 John 1:1b-Four Assertions Supporting the Historicity of the Hypostatic Union of Jesus of Nazareth
Lesson # 18
1 John 1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life. (NASB95)
“What” is the accusative neuter singular form of the relative pronoun hos (ὅς), which refers to the statement tēn zōēn tēn aiōnion hētis ēn pros ton patera (τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον ἥτις ἦν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα), “the eternal life, which was with the Father,” which appears in 1 John 1:2.
The relative pronoun is in the neuter gender rather than masculine because John wants to emphasize with his readers that Jesus Christ is eternal life incarnate who was has eternally experienced fellowship with the Father.
He also wants to emphasize that he and his fellow apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ are eyewitnesses to this fact.
Therefore, if you plug this statement in verse 3 in place of the relative pronoun hos when it is used each time in verse 1, we would have the following statements: (1) The eternal life, which was with the Father was from eternity past. (2) We have heard the eternal life, which has always existed with the Father. (3) We have witnessed with our eyes this eternal life, which has always existed with the Father. (4) We have observed for ourselves this eternal life which has always existed with the Father. (5) We have touched this eternal life, which has always existed with the Father.
“We have heard” is composed of the first person plural perfect active indicative form of the verb akouō (ἀκούω), which refers to the act of hearing indicating that hearing is the first sense that John appeals to in the prologue as a witness to the historicity of the incarnation and resultant hypostatic union.
“Have seen with our eyes” is composed of the following: (1) first person plural perfect active indicative form of the verb horaō (ὁράω), “we have seen” (3) articular dative masculine plural form of the noun ophthalmos (ὀφθαλμός), “with eyes” (4) genitive first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ), “our.”
The verb horaō here in 1 John 1:1 refers to physical sight and specifically, the word means “to bear witness to” something.
In context, it refers to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was seen by witnesses who could testify to the fact that He was indeed eternal life incarnate and thus the incarnate Son of God.
The verb horaō refers here to the fact that John and the other apostles and disciples of our Lord were eyewitnesses to the hypostatic union.
“We have looked at” is composed of the first person plural aorist middle active indicative form of the verb theaomai (θεάομαι), which means, “to observe” in the sense that it implies paying strict attention to what one sees or perceives.
To observe is to mark or be attentive to something seen and heard and refers to observing something carefully.
This word conveys the idea of intense scrutiny.
Therefore, theaomai here means that John, the other apostles and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ observed or scrutinized carefully the fact that He was the incarnate Word of God in whom there was eternal life.
“And touched with our hands” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) accusative neuter singular form of the relative pronoun hos (ὅς), “what” (3) articular nominative feminine plural form of the noun cheir (χείρ), “hands” (4) genitive first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ), “our” (5) third person plural aorist active indicative form of the verb psēlaphaō (ψηλαφάω), “touched.”
The conjunction kai introduces a climax to the eyewitness apostolic testimony concerning the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was God incarnate.
So John is saying here with kai that we heard the incarnate eternal Word of life speak, we saw Him and we “even” touched with our very own hands His human body, thus refuting the Cerinthian and Docetic Gnostic teaching that contended that He was not a human being but merely a phantom.
The noun cheir here in 1 John 1:1 refers to the literal hands and the verb psēlaphaō is employed here in the literal sense meaning “to touch.”
It too, is used in relation to the eyewitness apostolic testimony concerning the historicity of the incarnation, which produced the hypostatic union.
By using this word here, John is refuting the Cerinthian and Docetic Gnostic teaching that denied the historicity of the incarnation and resulting hypostatic union of the eternal Word of life, the Lord Jesus Christ.
John is stating here that he, the other apostles and disciples touched the human body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They touched the human body of the Lord Jesus Christ before and after the resurrection thus refuting the false teaching by the Gnostics.
1 John 1:1 We are proclaiming to each and every one of you at this particular time what has always existed from eternity past, what we have heard, what we have witnessed with our eyes, what we observed for ourselves, even what we touched with our hands concerning the Word which is truly life. (My translation)
The second assertion “what we have heard” presents the first sense that John appeals to in the prologue as a witness to the historicity of the incarnation and resultant hypostatic union of Jesus Christ.
In other words, it’s the first sense he appeals to when affirming that Jesus of Nazareth is the God-man.
John is asserting that he and others heard the incarnate Word of God speak the words of eternal life.
What John and the other witnesses heard confirmed to them that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the incarnate Word of God.
The content of our Lord’s speech revealed to John and the other witnesses that He spoke the words of eternal life (cf. Jn. 6:63, 68; 7:46).
The third assertion “what we have witnessed with our eyes” is the second sense which John appeals to when affirming the deity and humanity of Jesus of Nazareth.
He is asserting that he and others were witnesses who can testify to the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed eternal life incarnate and thus the incarnate Son of God.
To “witness” means to be formerly present when something was happening.
It has the added idea of having observed with sufficient care to be able to give an account as evidence.
John, the other apostles and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ were present during His First Advent and in particular during His 3 ½ year ministry.
They observed with sufficient care as to be able to give an account as evidence.
The apostles and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ were witnesses to the many demonstrations that the Lord presented, which testified to the fact that He was indeed God in the flesh.
Therefore, this third assertion refers to seeing in the sense of being a witness to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is undiminished deity and true humanity in one Person forever.
To witness something is to see or know by personal presence and perception, or it can mean to be present at (an occurrence) as a formal witness, spectator, and bystander.
It refers here to the fact that John and the other witnesses were personally present during the First Advent of Christ, i.e. the dispensation of the hypostatic union.
They personally saw Him demonstrate that He was the God-Man.
This was demonstrated by His miracles and particularly by His physical death, which demonstrated that He was in fact human.
The fourth assertion “what we observed for ourselves” also is used with reference to the sense of seeing but advances upon the third assertion in that the verb employed in the assertion is a stronger word than the verb employed in the third assertion.
It teaches that John and others observed or scrutinized carefully the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was the incarnate Word of God in whom there was eternal life.
They paid strict attention to what they saw Him say and do during His First Advent and in particular during His 3 ½ year ministry, which included His miracles, death, resurrection and ascension.
They marked or were attentive to what they saw Him do and what they heard Him say during His First Advent.
They observed carefully all that the Lord Jesus Christ said and did during His First Advent and in particular during His 3 ½ year ministry.
These witnesses were spectators, to the First Advent of Christ since they were continually observing carefully all that the Lord Jesus Christ said and did, which demonstrated that He was God incarnate.
The fifth and final assertion “even what we touched with our hands” presents a climax to the eyewitness apostolic testimony concerning the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was God incarnate.
Here we have the third and final sense being appealed to.
John is saying here that he and others touched with their own hands the physical human body of the eternal Word of God.
They can confirm the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was God incarnate, thus refuting the incipient form of Gnosticism which the Christian community in the Roman province of Asia was being exposed to.
This fifth assertion refutes Cerinthian and Docetic Gnostic teaching that contended that the Lord wasn’t a human being.