1 John 1:1-4
Read 1 John 1:1-4
Helpful Background Information:
The letter of 1 John was written by the Apostle John (The same John who wrote the Gospel of John), likely between 90 and 95 A.D. As mentioned last week, John wrote most of his works in his late old age from the city of Ephesus to the churches of Asia Minor (Modern-day eastern Turkey). Although he was greatly advanced in age, John was still actively ministering to churches.
One of the key purposes of John's writing to these churches was to combat a heresy known as Gnostic docetism, which was prevalent at the time. Put simply, gnosticism taught that physical matter or physical existence was inherently evil, and whatever was spiritual and invisible was inherently good. As a result of this belief, many false teachers tried to claim that Jesus Christ’s body wasn’t real and only appeared to be human (what is called docetism, which comes from the Greek word “to appear”). John quite forcefully affirmed the reality of Christ’s physical body by stating he and the disciples heard Jesus, saw him, observed him, and touched him.
Although this might seem like a minor point to us, Christ’s physical embodiment is essential to the Christian message. If Christ were not truly human, he couldn’t have been a proper substitute for physical humans. If he didn’t have a real body, he could not have shed real blood for the forgiveness of sins. If he did not physically rise from the dead, then we have no hope for our future bodily resurrection. In short, if Christ were not physically human, death still reigns, we are still stuck in our sins, and creation cannot be restored.
Returning to Mark 6:45-52, we see the Apostle Mark emphasize that Christ was literally, physically walking on the water. Christ in this moment was not a ghost, a disembodied spirit, or an illusion - as the disciples thought. When he was walking on the water, he was in the same body that lay in the manger, stood in among crowds, would later be pierced by physical nails for sinners like you and me, and now sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
Reflection Questions:
How does John's defense of an essential truth about Jesus Christ encourage you to defend the faith? What are some steps you can take to grow in your knowledge of God’s Word, so that you can give answers to false teaching or objections to Christianity?
What does this passage tell us about the importance of Christian testimony and the importance of eyewitness accounts?
Because God created the physical world, and called it good; because Christ came in a physical body to redeem this physical world (Romans 8:22) and his people - What are some practical ways you can live out your faith in a way that honors both the spiritual and physical aspects of life?