1 John 1:1-3
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched–this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

Given that “the Word of life” references Jesus, we can see how John sets up Jesus’ identity as both divine and human. Jesus was indeed “that which was from the beginning,” having always existed and being one with God (see the Gospel of John’s opening lines). And yet, Jesus lived on earth in a fleshly body as well, and the disciples could look at Him, see Him, even touch Him; He lived a mortal, human life. He was truly both–God in flesh, God come to earth.

This is what the disciples could “testify” to firsthand–that they saw Jesus live (and die) as a human, but also saw Him rise from the grave, talk to them, and ascend to Heaven some days after. They had eyewitness testimony of their experiences walking alongside Christ, both before and after His crucifixion; they knew only the Messiah, the Savior, could do this. This is what John is joyfully “proclaiming”–the truth of what they all saw. And they share about this experience because they want others to know the reason for their joy. The Savior has come, has died for our sins and risen again, and the gift of salvation is ours to claim if we so choose.

These days, we want more than eyewitness testimonies to believe something; we want scientific studies, empirical data, DNA samples, anything that is concrete and incontrovertible “proof.” All of that scientific innovation is wonderful, and it has its place in our society’s workings. But faith asks that we take a step beyond what is absolutely provable, opening our minds just long enough to admit the idea of God. We may not be able to get a DNA sample from Jesus or measure God’s footprint, but if we even temporarily allow that God exists, we might just be able to grasp what John’s talking about here, and to believe.