Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 John 1:1-4

"That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life (and the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the life, the eternal [life], which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us: yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ: and these things we write, that our joy may be made full." — 1 John 1:1-4 (ASV)

The Exordium (1 John 1:1–4).

1. OBJECT AND PURPOSE OF THE APOSTOLIC PREACHING: The setting forth of the historical Christ for the spread of human fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:1–3).
2. DESIGN OF THE EPISTLE: Fullness of joy for those who should read it (1 John 1:4).

That which was from the beginning.—The profound emotion, the hearty sympathy, the tender anxiety which St. John feels as he begins his counsels to his friends, sets apart this introduction very distinctly from the parallel passage in the Gospel. There it was calm contemplation of the height and depth of Christ’s existence; here he vehemently insists on the personal relation between the Word and those to whom He had been revealed.

As in the Gospel, he starts with the grandeur of an indefiniteness beyond which no eye can pierce. At the beginning of all that concerns us, be it world or universe or all creation, there was—that which we are announcing. “That which,” not “Him who,” because it is not merely the Person of Christ which he is going to declare, but also His Being, all that relates to Him, His gospel, the treasures of wisdom that lay in Him, His truth, all that could be known about Him by human understanding.

The vibrating eloquence of the passage makes the construction at first sight obscure. But take “that declare we unto you” (1 John 1:3) as the principal verb, set aside 1 John 1:2 as a parenthesis, notice the rising climax of 1 John 1:1 (heard, seen, looked upon, handled), pause at the end of 1 John 1:1 to sum up the results of this climax in the words “of (or, that which concerns) the Word of life,” and at the beginning of 1 John 1:3 resume the thoughts interrupted by the parenthesis, and all is at once clear.

Which we have heard.—This refers to all those gracious words that proceeded from His mouth, enough to fill countless books if they could have been written down.

St. John has given us more of these than any other of the Evangelists. Their effect on him was such that it is almost as if he had written down nothing of his own, because the thought and style of Him who had loved him more intimately than others had moulded his own thought and style into a strikingly close resemblance.

The “We” includes all the eyewitnesses .

Which we have seen.—All that is meant by the Word of God in its fullest sense had been seen in the human Person of Jesus of Nazareth during His earthly sojourn, and especially during the three years’ ministry. In a similar sense Jesus Himself said, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). (Compare 1 John 4:14; Isaiah 40:5; 2 Peter 1:16.)

With our eyes.—This gives the same force as “the Word was made flesh;” it was an actual personal visible revelation, as opposed to the evolving of a religious system out of the inner consciousness or reflection.

Which we have looked upon.—A more deliberate and closer contemplation, for which John had special opportunities, as one of the inner three, and again as he who lay on Jesus’ bosom. There is a change of tense implying emphasis on the historic fact, “which in those days we gazed upon.”

And our hands have handled.—Compare Matthew 26:49; Luke 24:39; John 20:27. This and the preceding expressions might be directed against Cerinthus and the Docetists—those who held that Christ was only a phantom.

Of the Word of life.—All that concerns the Word of the true Life, the Reason, or Son, or Express Image of God, in whom was inherent all life, material as well as moral or religious. (John 5:26; John 11:25; Colossians 1:16–17; Hebrews 1:3.)

For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.—This parenthetical statement (1 John 1:2) reiterates with redoubled force that the whole essence of the relation of God to man lies in the audible, visible, tangible, historical appearance of God in Jesus.

Following St. John's style, the word “life” at the end of the preceding verse (1 John 1:1) suggests the phrasing here: Jesus was that Eternal Life who was at the Father's side, in communion with Him, and in equal communication with Him. This is the Life on which all other existence, physical and spiritual, depends for two things (See Note on John 1:4):

1. its license to exist, and
2. its fulfilment of the end for which it was created.