John Fischer The Catch

Before we move on from 1 John 1, there are a couple more important observations we need to make about this chapter. I know of nowhere else in the Bible where you find statements like, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves (1:8),” and, “If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar (1:10).” These statements are so contrary to traditional Christian thinking that I wouldn’t be surprised if historically, preachers have just left this passage alone, or passed over it without much comment.

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5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. (1 John 1:5-10)

The rest of the first chapter of 1 John is all about light and darkness, sin and forgiveness. And some of it is not what you think.

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We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. 1 John 1:1-4

We have heard Him with our own ears, seen Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands.

Imagine being able to say that about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We touched Him, we walked with Him all over Judea and Samaria, we ate and drank with Him,   we prayed with Him, we slept on the road with Him for three years, we picked grain with Him on the Sabbath, He washed our feet, and mostly, we talked with Him — for three years we talked and listened.

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