John 1:1-18
The Word Became Life
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
John 14:6
Jesus is The Way, the Truth, and the Life
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 3:16-21
Jesus Did Not Come to Condemn Us, But to Save Us
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
1 John 1:1-9
The Word of Life
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
John 17:3
Eternal Life is Knowing God and Believing in Jesus
3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
The disciple John says that which was from the beginning we and he has seen...He and the Twelve Disciples have personally seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth...And in his first epistle he makes sure we know that he was an eyewitness...He repeats that that we have seen Him...He says we (the Disciples and many others) have seen Him with our eyes...We have seen Him and testify to that fact...He wants us to know that he and others have seen Jesus, and they will testify to what they have seen...
St. John lets us know that Jesus was with God from the very beginning of time, and that He is the True Light that gives light to everyone in the world...And God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all...When we walk in His Light we and have fellowship with one another, we are following Jesus, His Son...And Jesus purifies us from all sin...
St. John and the Disciples are credible witnesses, because they have been with Jesus for three years...They know Him...And John stresses to us that he is a credible eyewitness for he knows Jesus, and has seen what Jesus can do and has done...Over this three year period, the Disciples got to personally see His Glory and His Grace, and get to know Him...John's role as a credible witness is to testify and write and speak to others about Jesus, so that they and we may know more about Him...For without the four gospels testimony and the epistles, we would have very little information about Jesus and what He did...Without these gospel writings and the epistles and Revelation, all we would have would be the oral tradition of Jesus stories and teachings...
John being an eyewitness tell us that Jesus came in the flesh and dwelt among the Twelve Disciples...John writes and testifies about Jesus...As we read his gospel and letters, we can tell that John seems excited to get the Word out that Jesus is Someone very special, and that He is unique...John wants to share his joy, and it will make his joy complete as he shares the teachings of Jesus...No doubt John has been out teaching others about Jesus...Because through Jesus' acts and His signs, John saw His glory, and knows that He is full of grace and truth...He wants others to know about Him, so that they may feel this joy...And by being an eyewitness, John has recognized that Jesus is Divine...He has personally seen that Jesus is the Absolute Truth, that there is a Jesus Way -a Way to His Father, and the True Life...He tells us that no one has ever seen God, but Jesus, Himself...And that He is the One and Only Son, who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, and that He has made God known to the Disciples and to others...And in John's words we can see and feel and read that Jesus and God have this special and unique relationship and are a Duality, and then a Trinity (as John later writes about the Holy Spirit in John 14-16)...And because of this special relationship of Jesus and God, Jesus has many, if not all, of God's attributes...John would have an idea of what God was like, because he got to be with Jesus for three years...
John heard Jesus say, that He is Truth...Jesus is the Originator of Truth...John being an eyewitness to all the things He did, believes that He is Truth...Because He believes in Jesus he must listen and follow His teachings...John after being an eyewitness to Jesus for three years knew that Ultimate Truth is related to God...
Because John and the Disciples were personal eyewitnesses and they constantly heard Jesus teach about God, they have almost this duty to share what they know with others...They must tell others what the saw in Him and the signs He did...John makes me think that there are two worlds...The Word of Life is from Another World...There is a world of heaven where God and His Son live and reside, and there is our world...There is Love and Truth and Light in Their World, but in our world there is some darkness, and there is sin...And because there is sin in our world, we must confess to our sins...This is because Jesus teaches forgiveness...Jesus is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our unrighteousness...If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us...The True Life is being with the Father and His Son in heaven and in Their World...Because God did not send Jesus to condemn us, He sent Him to LOVE us and to save us from our sins....And John tells us we must believe and hang on to this True Life, and live for this Truth...By knowing the Truth then we can have a relationship with Him and His Father...By believing in Him and knowing Him we can have eternal life...And when we believe in Him we are not condemned and are saved and have eternal life...And St. John knows these things because he was and is an eyewitness to Jesus and is in heaven with Him...