That which . . . we have heard, . . . which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim. (1 John 1:1)
A year ago, the United States and much of the world were still in the early stages of understanding the full impact of COVID-19. It would still be nearly two weeks before sports leagues suspended their seasons and most of us went into some form of quarantine.
Imagining the impact of COVID-19 might have been difficult if we had not lived through the pandemic ourselves. Even with all the data and reports, many still considered the virus a hoax or the world’s response overblown—casting doubt on the measures government authorities and medical professionals were prescribing.
When the author of 1 John wrote to the community of believers under his care, they too had experienced a crisis of authority that split their community. The skeptical group worshiped Jesus as God but refused to acknowledge that he was fully human, since they believed that no human could be truly free of sin. Instead, they said that Jesus was a spirit who had merely appeared to be human.
To reassure his readers, who had never met Jesus in the flesh, John reaffirmed the eyewitness testimony of those who knew him best—those who had heard his voice, seen him with their own eyes, and even touched him with their own hands. In this letter, John teaches that Jesus, who was fully God, showed us a new way to be human.
—Kevin R. Scott
Consider how Jesus lived out his holiness in human flesh.
