1 John 1:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Moreover, the Theologian wished by obscurity to veil what is above impure hearing and what it is unsafe to proclaim openly. For giving what is holy to dogs and casting pearls before swine (Mt 7:6) is not consistent with sound reason.

Thus the Life itself was manifested in the flesh and set forth in visible manifestation. What can be seen only by the heart became visible also to bodily eyes, in order to heal hearts. For the Word can be seen only by the heart, while flesh is visible also to bodily eyes. We had that by which to see the flesh, but not that by which to see the Word. Therefore the Word became flesh, which we can see, so that what within us can see the Word might be healed.

“And we saw,” says John, “and we are witnesses.” Perhaps some of the brethren, those who do not know Greek, do not know how “witnesses” is said in Greek. Yet this word is often spoken and is surrounded by reverent honor. What we call in Latin testes, “witnesses,” in Greek are called martyries. And who has not heard of the martyrs? In whose Christian mouth does the name “martyr” not dwell daily? If only it also dwelt in the heart, so that we would imitate the sufferings of the martyrs and not subject them to new persecutions by our drinking bouts.

This, then, is what John said: “We saw and we are witnesses.” We saw, and we are martyrs. For those who bore witness on the basis of what they had seen with their own eyes, and those who bore witness on the basis of what they had heard from those who had seen, suffered all that the martyrs suffered, because their testimony displeased those against whom it was spoken. Martyrs are witnesses of God. God wished to take men as witnesses, so that God also might be witness among men.

“We saw,” he says, “and we are witnesses.” Where did they see? In manifestation. What does “in manifestation” mean? Under the sun, under this light. But how could the Creator of light appear under the light, unless He had “set His tabernacle in the sun,” and, like a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber, had sprung forth like a giant to run His course (Ps 18:5-6)?

He is before the sun, since He created the sun. He is before the morning star, before all the lights, before all the angels, the true Creator. For “all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (Jn 1:3). Yet so that eyes which see the sun might see Him, He set His tabernacle in the sun. That is, He showed His flesh in the manifestation of this present light.

The chamber of this Bridegroom was the womb of the Virgin, for in that virginal womb the two were united: the Bridegroom, the Word, and the bride, the flesh. As it is written, “The two shall be one flesh” (Gen 2:24). And as the Lord said in the Gospel, “So they are no longer two, but one” (Mt 19:6).

Isaiah also spoke excellently of these two as one. Speaking in the person of Christ, he said, “As a bridegroom He has set a diadem upon Me, and as a bride He has adorned Me with ornaments” (Is 61:10). One person is seen to speak, yet he presented himself both as bridegroom and as bride. For they are not two, but one flesh, since “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). The Church is joined to this flesh, and this is the whole Christ, totus Christus: Head and body.

“And we,” says John, “are witnesses, and declare to you the eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested in us.” That is, it was manifested among us, which could be said more plainly as, “It was manifested to us.”

We saw His glory on Tabor, and still more when He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sent down to us from the Father the All-holy Spirit, the Comforter.

“We beheld His glory, glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father” (Jn 1:14).

“And we saw and bear witness, and proclaim to you this eternal Life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” That is, having seen Jesus Christ so clearly, tangibly, certainly, and indisputably as true man and as the Only-begotten Son of God, the source and giver of life, we firmly and unchangeably bear witness concerning Him.

He was from eternity in the bosom of the Father and appeared to us in the flesh at the appointed time, and lived among us.

We bear witness while undergoing all hardships, sorrows, sufferings, and death. We bear witness and proclaim Him as the Son of God, the giver of true life, and the one Savior of mankind.

“We proclaim to you this eternal Life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” He was with the Father from the beginning, or from eternity, abiding in the bosom of the Father.

He was manifested to us when the beginningless Word became flesh (Jn 1:14).

Speaking in this way, St. John clearly shows the distinction of the persons of God the Father and God the Son. The Son was with the Father and was manifested to us, that is, by assuming our humanity.

Eternal life is the fullness of being, the possession of all the properties and perfections necessary for uninterrupted existence and enjoyment of life. Therefore it is the highest blessedness.

Although possession of such properties belongs to the Godhead alone, as the eternal, self-existent, and all-perfect Being, it has also been granted in some measure to created beings, and among them to Christians.

Christians are deemed worthy of eternal life already here on earth, as soon as they believe in the Son of God and receive Him into themselves. For He is eternal Life, according to the prophet and the apostle: “The righteous shall live by faith” (Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11).

In this sense the apostle also says: “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son of God has life” (1 Jn 5:11-12).

As Christians, we are granted this in a visible or tangible manner in communion of the divine Body and Blood of Christ. Through them, in the apostle’s words, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4).

Thus the word “eternal” contains not only the concept of something opposed to the temporal and finite. It also contains the concept of the highest degree of perfection, or divinity.

From what has been said, it is clear that such perfection is attainable even now, on earth, and belongs to every believer. For he no longer lives for himself, but for Christ, living life in Christ (Gal 2:20).

The word “we proclaim,” ἀπαγγέλλομεν, is not the same as “we preach the Gospel,” εὐαγγελλιζόμεθα. It cannot refer to the apostle’s oral preaching, because farther on it is replaced by the word “we write.”

Nor can it refer to the present epistle, because in it there is no actual proclamation of the kind mentioned. It is best referred to the Gospel appended to the epistle.

“And we bear witness”: having seen the incarnate Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, so certainly and indisputably, we bear firm and unquestionable witness concerning Him.

We bear witness by word and deed. We bear witness and proclaim Him as the Son of God, the Giver of all life, and the Savior of men.

We bear witness and proclaim because we received the divine command to bear witness and proclaim this eternal Life, the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8; 10:41; Lk 24:47-48 and similar passages).

“Which was with the Father and was manifested to us”: the Word of Life, the eternal Life and Source of all life, dwelt from eternity in the bosom of the Father.

He was manifested to us when the beginningless Word became flesh (Jn 1:14) and assumed our human nature.

In communion with the eyewitnesses of the Lord Jesus, the apostle also indicates the pledge of communion with God Himself and Jesus Christ. In union with God lies the whole aim and essence of the Christian faith (see Jn 17:21; 1 Cor 15:28).

Thus whoever is not with the apostles rejects Christianity itself.

Concerning the apostle’s noted repetition, one of our interpreters says this: “What lies deeply in our heart, and what we strongly desire to impress upon others, we usually repeat often.

“The apostle’s soul burned with the desire to convey to his disciples and to all believers the strength of his unquestionable faith in God the Word, and to breathe into them a flaming love for the Lord and Savior.

“Therefore he continues to speak about that on which living faith in Christ the Savior must be founded, and what must nourish strong love for Him.”

“We,” says St. John the Theologian in the name of all the Apostles, “declare to you concerning the Word of life, which was from the beginning, which we heard, which we saw,” and so forth. If it is said of the Word of life that He was from the beginning, that He existed from the first, then the truth of the pre-eternal being of the Word of life, the Son of God, is confessed. This expression is equivalent to the opening words of John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word.”

In both places the thought is given that the Son of God had being before the world, and that He is without beginning. “He is before all things” (Col 1:17). As the Son of God, equal in Godhead to God the Father, He had glory with Him before the world existed (Jn 17:5). He did not come forth from the Father in time, as other creatures did. Rather, He “was,” that is, He was always present with the Father as His consubstantial Son.

By the further words, “which we heard, which we saw, which we looked upon, and our hands handled,” the dogma of the Incarnation of the Word of life, the Son of God, is confessed. He Who existed before the ages, and by His spiritual nature was invisible, appeared in time in such a state that He became an object of sensible apprehension. Such was the state of His Incarnation.

At a certain time He took the form of man, concealing under this form the glory of His Godhead. Living among men, in outward appearance and external condition He differed in nothing from other mortals. All could hear His words, see His works and miracles with their own eyes, and touch Him with their hands.

His constant companions, the Apostles, were especially deemed worthy of this closeness to Him. Yet they differed from most of the other eyewitnesses and hearers of Christ in this way: through sensible perception they were brought to faith in Christ as the God-man and Redeemer, and were confirmed in it.

Thus, contemplating His works, in which His divine power was manifested, they saw in them His glory, “the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father” (Jn 1:14). They were brought to this conviction especially by contemplating the Lord’s Transfiguration, His Resurrection, and His Ascension into heaven.

Listening to His teaching, they were convinced that they heard this teaching not from the mouth of a simple teacher like the Jewish rabbis, nor even from a prophet. They heard it from Him Who is not only the Teacher of truth, but is Himself self-existent Truth. He is the Lord of the prophets, the only Teacher, in comparison with Whom other teachers can be called teachers only in an improper sense.

Touching Him with lips and hands, the Apostles felt that they touched the greatest holiness. Therefore they touched Him with the reverence due to it. Thus one of them, touching His wounds with his hands to be assured of the truth of His Resurrection, said, “My Lord and my God” (Jn 20:28).

In calling Christ the Son of God the Word, the Apostle John has in view partly His pre-eternal being and partly the Incarnation. According to His pre-eternal being, the Word, or Son of God, has a relation to God the Father like the relation of a human word to the mind.

As our word is begotten from our mind or thought without passion and spiritually, so the Son of God is begotten from the Father without passion. As our thought is revealed or expressed in our word, so the Son of God, in His essence and perfections, is the most exact image of God the Father. Therefore He is called the radiance of His glory and the image, or imprint, of His essence (Heb 1:1, 3).

With regard to the Incarnation of the Son of God, His name as the Word indicates that God the Father, Who spoke many times to men through the prophets, finally spoke through the Son. For this the Son became incarnate, and so fully revealed the will of His Father that those who saw the Son, according to His own words, saw the Father (Jn 14:9).

The Apostle calls the Son of God not simply the Word, but “the Word of life.” St. John the Theologian says something similar of the Word in his Gospel: “In Him was life.” In both cases we are given to understand that the Son of God is self-existent life. In this sense He Himself calls Himself the Life (Jn 11:25; Jn 14:6). He Himself says of Himself, “As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself” (Jn 5:26). Being self-existent Life, He is the source of the life of all creatures, physical, spiritual, and eternal.

In the further words, verse 2 forms an introductory sentence that interrupts the connection between verse 1 and verse 3. It explains how it could happen that the Word of life, invisible in Himself, untouchable, and spiritual, could be seen, heard, and handled by the Apostles. This happened because this Life “was manifested.” He Who is invisible according to the divine essence became man, and as man became visible.

“And we,” the Apostle continues, “saw and bear witness, and declare to you the eternal Life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” The eternal Life according to the divine nature. Existing eternally in the bosom of God the Father, the Son of God came down to earth in order to make those condemned to eternal perdition partakers of His eternally blessed life. The Apostles were called to bear witness and proclaim to men this mercy toward us.

Blessed are the Apostles, who directly saw, heard, and handled that to which they bore witness and which they told to others. These others were deprived of this blessedness, since they were not eyewitnesses of the Word of life. Yet they should not consider this deprivation irremediable for themselves.

Communion with the Apostles, as is clear from the third verse, which continues the first, is enough to make up this deprivation. Through the Apostles, those who did not directly see Christ can enter into the close communion with the incarnate Word of life which the Apostles were granted. They enter not only into communion with Him, the Son of God, but also with His Father, just as the Apostles, in the person of Christ, had close communion with the Father.

“Our communion is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” Communion with the Father is possible for everyone, according to the promise of Christ, through keeping His commandments and loving Him. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him” (Jn 14:21). “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him. We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (Jn 14:23).

The examined reading, verses 1-7, is read only on the day of commemoration of the Apostle Thomas, because the opening words of the reading, concerning the Apostles who handled Christ with their hands, have special relation to this Apostle.