1 John 1.2b-The Apostolic Testimony and Proclamation of the Word which is Eternal Life.
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday March 16, 2017
First John: 1 John 1:2b-The Apostolic Testimony and Proclamation of the Word which is Truly Life
Lesson # 21
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 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us. (NASB95)
“And testify” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) first person plural present active indicative form of the verb martureō (μαρτυρέω), “testify.”
The conjunction kai is functioning as a marker of result which means that it is introducing the first person plural present active indicative form of the verb martureō, “testify” which presents the result of the previous assertion that John and others saw this life who is the Word.
Therefore, this conjunction expresses the idea that John and others saw this life “with the result that” or “so that” they are testifying as witnesses to this fact.
The verb martureō is employed here in 1 John 1:2 in a legal sense meaning, “to testify” and is used for the function of an eyewitness expressing the idea of John and others “testifying” as witnesses to the fact that this life, which is eternal, was incarnate.
The first person plural form of the verb refers to the living apostles and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ who were witnesses to the fact that Jesus of Nazareth is undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever as demonstrated by His earthly ministry.
More than likely, John was the only surviving apostle at the time he wrote this epistle, thus he may simply be referring to the surviving disciples.
“And proclaim to you the eternal life” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) first person plural present active indicative form of the verb apangellō (ἀπαγγέλλω), “we proclaim” (3) dative second person plural form of the personal pronoun su (σύ), “you” (4) articular accusative feminine singular form of the noun zōē (ζωή), “of life” (5) articular accusative feminine singular form of the adjective aiōnios (αἰώνιος), “eternal.”
Once again, the conjunction kai is epexegetical.
This means that the act expressed by the word which it introduces, which is the first person plural present active indicative form of the verb apangellō, “we proclaim” is defining explicitly what John means by his use of the verb martureō.
Therefore, this time kai indicates that John and others were testifying as witnesses to the fact that they saw the Word, who is the life, was incarnate or in a person, so that they were now proclaiming this fact or in other words, testifying was the means by which the act of proclaiming was accomplished.
Their testifying refers to their personal witness whereas their proclaiming was a public proclamation.
The verb apangellō means, “to proclaim (from God)” and refers to John’s proclamation to the Christian community in the Roman province of Asia that asserts that this Word who is the life is incarnate or in other words, manifested in a person since he and others heard, saw, observed and touched this life.
The dative second person plural form of the personal pronoun su means “all of you” referring to the Christian community in the Roman province of Asia as a corporate unity and is used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
John is concerned about each of these Christians.
As was the case when the word appeared in 1 John 1:1, the noun zōē here in 1 John 1:2 means “life” and refers to eternal life which is an attribute of each member of the Trinity.
The adjective aiōnios in 1 John 1:2 means “eternal” since the word is ascribing the attribute of eternality to the noun zōē which is referring of course to Jesus Christ.
Thus, this adjective is used by John to ascribe deity to Jesus because it speaks of Him as being eternal in nature.
1 John 1:1 We are now proclaiming to each of you what has always existed from eternity past, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we observed for ourselves, even what we touched with our hands concerning the Word which is truly life. 2 In other words, this life was revealed. As noted previously, we have seen so therefore we are now proclaiming by testifying to each of you this life, which is eternal, which because of its eternal nature has always existed face to face with the Father. Indeed, it was revealed to each one of us. (My translation)
1 John 1:2 contains six more assertions regarding the Word which is truly life, which are in addition to the five presented by John in 1 John 1:1.
Of course, all eleven assertions are about Jesus Christ since He is the member of the Trinity who revealed God to human beings (cf. John 1:18).
Furthermore, He Himself declared to John and his fellow apostles and disciples that He was eternal life incarnate (John 5:26; 6:33, 35, 48, 54, 63, 68; John 8:12; 10:28; 11:25; 14:6; 17:1-3).
When John speaks of “we” in these verses or “us,” he is referring to himself, and his fellow apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ.
The second assertion in 1 John 1:2 echoes the third assertion in 1 John 1:1 and is thus resumptive.
Both express the fact that this Word which is truly life was seen by witnesses who could testify to the fact that He was indeed eternal life incarnate.
Therefore, both assertions maintain that John and his fellow apostles and disciples of Jesus heard His Words which manifested the fact that He was in fact eternal life incarnate.
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 in 1 John 1:2 presents the result of the second assertion and states that John and others can testify to the fact that this Word which is truly life is incarnate as a result of seeing this Word who is life incarnate.
Therefore, this assertion maintains that John and his fellow apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ were testifying to the historicity of His incarnation and hypostatic union as a result of seeing Him.
They were witnesses to the fact that He was indeed the incarnate Word and thus eternal life incarnate.
John is testifying to the reality and truth that Jesus of Nazareth was eternal life incarnate.
John is saying here that he and the others saw with their own eyes that the Lord Jesus Christ was the God-Man which was demonstrated through His miracles and His physical death, which demonstrated that He was in fact human.
They also saw Him after His resurrection, which was further incontrovertible evidence that He was in fact the incarnate Son of God.
This eyewitness testimony concerning the historicity that the Lord Jesus Christ was God in the flesh refuted the Cerinthian and Docetic Gnostic teaching, which contends that the Lord Jesus did not have a human body and was therefore not human.
In this third assertion, John is stating that he and others have direct knowledge of eternal life incarnate, since they had personal contact with Him.
This is a solemn affirmation and testimony.
John is bearing witness to the truth of, affirming as a fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was God incarnate.
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.
John and the other witnesses were personally present during the First Advent of Christ.
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.
They were witnesses to His resurrection which demonstrated who He claimed to be all along, namely the eternal Son of God.
The fourth assertion makes explicit the third and maintains that John and others were proclaiming that this Word which is truly life is incarnate.
Therefore, John was maintaining that he and his fellow apostles and disciples of Jesus were proclaiming to each member of the Christian community the historicity of the hypostatic union of Jesus Christ by testifying to this fact.
The purpose of which was to protect them from an incipient form of Gnosticism which denied the humanity of Jesus Christ.
In this fourth assertion, John for the first time describes this life as being “eternal.”
He is ascribing the attribute of eternality to this life which is referring of course to Jesus Christ.
Consequently, John is ascribing deity to Jesus because it speaks of Him as being eternal in nature.
The Lord Jesus Christ because He is eternal has no beginning or end.
As the Son of God and the Word of God, He is self-existent.
He transcends time, matter and space and in fact is the Creator and Sustainer of time, matter and space.
The Lord Jesus Christ manifested eternal life during His First Advent.
The apostle John witnessed this manifestation of eternal life by the Lord Jesus Christ during His First Advent by means of the Lord’s words and actions (words, actions, doctrines, miracles, transfiguration, death, resurrection, and ascension).
