The Author’s Authority

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—" 1 John 1:1-2

Has a friend ever told you a story that was so outrageous you questioned whether it could be true? Maybe before you believed the story you needed to ask, “Did you really see this with your own eyes?” This is probably how people felt about the gospel, or the good news, of Jesus Christ, which we talked about yesterday. This good news sounds too good to be true!
The author of the book of John was probably John the disciple. The disciples were a group of men who followed Jesus around throughout His entire ministry so that they could know Him and continue on His ministry when He left earth. These men heard Jesus’ teachings with their own ears, saw Jesus’ miracles with their own eyes, and touched Jesus’ body with their own hands after He was raised from the dead. And not only did they see, hear, and touch Jesus, but by just knowing Him, their lives were transformed!
Even though the gospel was a miracle too extraordinary for many people to believe, the author saw the miracle for himself! He was one of the disciples who personally knew Jesus and could genuinely tell others that a relationship with Jesus transformed his life. That means that what John tells us next isn’t a lie. That means that we can believe that what he teaches us in the rest of his letter is nothing but truth. And if we believe that John’s testimony is truth, we will get to experience a relationship with Jesus just like His disciples did.

Questions for discussion and reflection
1. Besides John’s writing here, do you know of other “eyewitness accounts” in the bible?
2. Do you believe that the bible is true? Why?
3. How have you seen God work?

Dear God, thank You for giving us good news through the life and death of Jesus Christ, and thank You for giving us the testimony of eyewitnesses like John so that we can hear the good news. Please help us know and understand the truth. Amen.