1 John 1:1-4 | The Incarnation of the Word of Life | TCBS

"I'm going to open heaven. I'm just going to crack it open. I'm going to let them get a picture of who I am." — Pastor Jonathan

Pastor Stacey opened this episode of the Tree Church Bible Study with a fun question for her guests. If they could host a dinner party for any three people, who would they invite. Pastor Jonathan and Pastor Chris both landed on an interesting answer. They both said they would want Jesus at the table.

That small moment set up the heart of the episode. The group was about to spend their time together looking closely at how the apostle John introduces Jesus in the opening verses of his first letter. Pastor Stacey, Pastor Chris, and first-time guest Pastor Jonathan turned to 1 John 1:1-4 to begin walking through the passage together.

The group started by reading the passage in the New Living Translation. John opens his letter by proclaiming the one who existed from the beginning, the one his community heard, saw, and touched with their own hands. He calls Jesus the Word of life and says this life was revealed to them.

Pastor Chris pointed out something interesting about the Greek behind this passage. He read a different translation, one from Howard Marshall's commentary, that stays closer to the original wording. In that version, John does not name his subject right away. He simply says that which was from the beginning, which we heard, which we saw, which we touched. The subject only becomes clear a few lines later.

Pastor Chris explained why this matters. The ambiguity in the Greek actually strengthens the connection between this passage and the opening of John's Gospel. In John 1, the language is almost identical. The Word already existed. The Word was with God. The Word was God. Reading the two passages side by side helps clarify that John is talking about Jesus all along, even before he says His name directly.

Pastor Jonathan brought up something the group had touched on earlier in their study. John's opening declaration pushes back against ideas that were beginning to circulate in his day, ideas that would later develop into full Gnosticism. Some believed Jesus could not have truly been human, since matter itself was considered bad and only spirit was good. Others believed He could not truly have been God, since God was too holy and unknowable to take on flesh.

John responds to both ideas at once. He insists that his community heard Jesus, saw Him, and touched Him with their own hands. This was not a spiritual idea or a distant legend. It was a real, physical, historical encounter.

Pastor Jonathan asked why this distinction matters so much. If no human mind can fully understand God and no human eye can see Him and survive, how could anyone truly know who He is. His answer was that God did not leave people without an answer. He came down. He took on a form people could understand. Pastor Jonathan described it as God cracking heaven open just enough to give humanity a real picture of who He is, while still remaining more than anyone could fully grasp.

Pastor Chris added that this moment in history matters because it roots the Christian faith in real testimony rather than just an idea. Scripture is not a theory about God. It is the account of people who actually walked with Jesus, heard Him, and saw what He did.

The group spent time talking about why eyewitness testimony carries so much weight, even generations removed from the original event. Pastor Jonathan pointed out that this is the same principle our legal system relies on today. Someone who was physically present carries more weight than someone repeating a story secondhand.

Pastor Chris noted that even the differences between the four Gospels support their reliability rather than undermine it. People who witness the same event will naturally highlight different details depending on what stood out to them. That is simply how real memory and real testimony work.

This eyewitness foundation is exactly what John leans on as he opens his letter. He was there. He saw Jesus with his own eyes. And because of that, he can say with confidence that Jesus is both fully God and fully human.

The conversation moved into verses three and four, where John explains his purpose for writing. He wants his readers to have fellowship with him, and that fellowship flows out of a shared relationship with the Father and the Son.

Pastor Stacey highlighted the Greek word behind this idea, koinonia. She explained that koinonia describes a shared life, a shared bond, and real communion with one another. When believers experience that kind of fellowship with each other, they are also experiencing fellowship with God.

Pastor Jonathan added an important layer to this. For John, there is no such thing as a Christian who exists in isolation from community. Faith and fellowship are tied together. He connected this to other passages in John's Gospel, including John 6 and John 15, where Jesus describes Himself as the vine and His followers as the branches. Being connected to Christ means being connected to the rest of the body as well.

Pastor Jonathan brought the conversation into practical territory. He asked what fellowship actually looks like day to day. His answer centered on honesty, openness, and confession.

He talked about how easy it is to wall off parts of ourselves out of fear, especially the parts we think others might use against us. But real fellowship requires letting some of those walls down with the people we trust. Pastor Jonathan shared that he has personally seen breakthrough happen in his own group when people are honest about their struggles, their doubts, their fears, and their sin.

Pastor Chris added that fellowship also requires actual presence. He talked about his daughter being away at college and how technology helps them stay connected, but he was honest that it is not a full substitute for being physically present with someone. He connected this to a broader challenge in the church today. It is possible to watch a service online and feel informed without ever truly becoming part of a community. Pastor Chris encouraged listeners to find a local church, get involved, and stay committed to real, in-person fellowship.

As the episode came to a close, Pastor Chris prayed over the group and the audience. He thanked God for coming down to make Himself known, for giving up His glory to become human, and for showing His people what it looks like to be fully human. He prayed for courage to be known by others in community, even when fear makes that difficult, and for the Holy Spirit to help the reality of who God is come alive in the hearts of everyone listening.

Pastor Stacey closed the episode by thanking Pastor Chris and Pastor Jonathan for their insight and encouraging listeners to check the show notes for more ways to stay connected.

This Bible study is part of The Tree Church Bible Study podcast (TCBS), created to help the Tree grow deeper in understanding the Scriptures. New episodes are released regularly on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.