These first 4 verses are a jumbled mess. It's really one run-on sentence with a bunch of dependent clauses at the beginning and doesn't get to the main subject and verb until what we have as verse three. In other words, John is really excited to write about what he's writing about. So instead of going verse by verse, we'll talk about the main things he's trying to convey.

1) This Jesus thing really happened. They saw it. Heard it. Touched it. It really happened. John is writing in the late first century to 2nd and 3rd generation Jesus people. By the time they learn about Jesus, it's been 50 years since Jesus physically walked on the planet. You can imagine them having questions - did this really happen? Was Jesus real? Are these stories real? John is giving them reassurance as someone who was with Jesus. He understands it's hard to believe - so he's saying, trust me. I was there. Doubt is there - for all of us. Especially 50 generations or so later, if I have my math correct. Lean into doubt, but don't go alone. Lean into questions, but do it in community.

2) We experienced him. I'll do some 'spaining about the grammar here. He's using the perfect tense - that is, talking about something in the past that still continues to have an impact in the present.

3) John wants them to experience, too. John's experience of the joy that Jesus brings is incomplete unless he shares it with community. It's one of the reasons we gather week after week. It's a shared experience of the divine that continues to transform us in the present.

Speaker: Aaron Vis

Scripture: 1 John 1:1-4

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