1 João 1:1

The "beginning" (Gr. arche) may refer to the beginning of all things (John 1:1) or the beginning of the creation (Genesis 1:1). It could also refer to the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry (i.e., His incarnation; John 1:14), the beginning of the readers’ experience as Christians, or the beginning of the Christian gospel. The last option seems most consistent with what John proceeded to say about that beginning (1 John 2:7; 1 John 2:24; 1 John 3:11; cf. Mark 1:1-4; Acts 1:21-22). The baptism of Jesus, the start of His public ministry and its proclamation, signaled this beginning.

John’s verbs indicate progressively closer approach to the object of investigation. The essence of fellowship is increasing intimacy. Our fellowship with God must involve drawing closer to Him and viewing Him more intently all the time to be genuine fellowship. The same is true of fellowship on the human level. John used his three basic senses to highlight the reality of the object so his readers would know that he was not speaking metaphorically. He cited personal experience and appealed to empirical evidence to support the humanity of Jesus Christ (cf. Luke 24:39). Some false teachers denied His humanity. [Note: Bruce, pp. 16-17.]

"Extreme Docetism [i.e., Docetic Gnostics] held that Jesus was not human at all but was merely a prolonged theophany, while moderate Docetism [i.e., Cerinthian Gnostics] considered Jesus the natural son of Joseph and Mary, upon whom Christ came at the time of baptism." [Note: Ryrie, p. 1464. Cf. Robertson, 6:200.]

Specific instances of personal encounter with Jesus Christ (cf. Luke 24:39) had left a continuing impression on John, as is clear from the verb tenses (perfect in the Greek text).

John may have used "we" editorially to represent himself personally, or "we" may include all Christians. It is more likely, however, that "we" represents John and the other eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ. In this epistle John was speaking for others beside himself, and he was seeking to persuade still other believers of something not all of them had experienced or acknowledged (cf. Luke 1:2). [Note: D. Edmond Hiebert, "An Expositional Study of 1 John," Bibliotheca Sacra 145:578 (April-June 1988):203.]

The "word of life" probably refers to the message about Jesus Christ, namely, the gospel. [Note: Westcott, pp. 6-7; C. H. Dodd, The Johanine Epistles, pp. 3-6; and J. L. Houlden, A Commentary on the Johanine Epistles, pp. 50- 52.] John referred to Jesus as "the Word" in his Gospel, and he described Jesus claiming to be "the life" (John 14:6). The phrase "word of life" seems more likely to describe the message about the Person who is and who personifies life (cf. 1 John 1:2; Philippians 2:16; Acts 5:20). John probably spoke of Christ as "what" rather that "He" because John wanted to emphasize here the content of the message about Christ rather than the person of Christ.