1 John 1:2 ²and the life was revealed, and we have seen it, and we testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us—

John will spend the rest of the epistle unpacking what life is. True and eternal is found only in Jesus, who came as “the way, truth, and life” (John 14:6). The life of Jesus before and after the cross provides new life for us. Before the cross, Jesus’ life brought the hope of what life on earth could be like. He lived a sinless life and left us the example of how we could strive to live in a fallen and hostile world. As the Second Adam, he triumphed where Adam and Eve failed. He gave his life rather than trying to grasp it for his own purposes (Philippians 2:5-11). In the best of the Wisdom Tradition, his teachings point the way to the good life on earth. After his death on the cross, his resurrected life brought hope for life after death. The two aspects are inseparable. Life on earth determines life after death; resurrected life gives assurance and victory for life on earth.

Jesus’ life is beyond mortal time, but he entered human existence at a special moment, when he came and lived among creation. During those few years, those who were open to listening to him began to understand God’s greatest purpose for humanity. The verb tenses are significant in this verse. Was revealed is an historical aorist referring to the lifetime of Jesus. Have seen is perfect tense indicating how John saw Jesus and the impact of that experience continued to change his life. Testify and proclaim are present tense to show John’s goal in writing this letter. John writes in the first-person plural,we, implying that he and others were eyewitnesses—namely the apostles who watched, heard, and touched Jesus—to the life revealed in the Messiah. The readers received the testimony of these witnesses secondhand. They had to trust and believe in what John taught and wrote. John and other early Christians started a chain reaction that continues to this day. Those who have faith can still “see” Jesus through the written Word of God—the Bible, those who believe in Jesus—the church, and the One who bears witness to Jesus—the Holy Spirit.