1 John 1:3

That which we have seen and heard In returning to the main sentence he repeats a portion of it. The ideas of the first half and of the second half of the main sentence are not the same. In 1 John 1:1 he is thinking mainly of whathe has to declare, viz. One existing from all eternity and intimately known to himself: in 1 John 1:3 he is thinking mainly of whyhe declares this, viz. to promote mutual fellowship.

declare we unto you Add, also; -you as well as we", or possibly, -you as well as others, who have already been told", must have a share in the good tidings. Comp. -We cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard" (Acts 4:20). Wheredoes S. John declare Him who was from the beginning and was so well known to him and to others? Not in this Epistle, for no such declaration is found in it; but in the Gospel, which consists of such a declaration. We shall miss the purport of the Epistle if we do not bear constantly in mind that it was written as a companion to the Gospel. Parallels between the two abound: in what follows we have a striking one. Note the sequence of ideas: 1. the evidenceon which their conviction was based, -have seen"; 2. their declaration of these convictions as Apostles, -bear witness"; 3. their declaration of them as Evangelists, -declare".

that ye also may have fellowship with us Comp. -that they may be one, even as We are" (John 17:11). Christ's prayer and S. John's purpose are one and the same. See on 1 John 1:4. -Ye also", who have notheard, or seen, or handled.

fellowship Or, communion; almost always used of fellowship with persons(1 Corinthians 1:9) or with things personified (2 Corinthians 6:14). The word is rare in N. T. outside S. Paul's writings. It "generally denotes the fellowship of persons with persons in one and the same object, always common to all and sometimes whole to each" (Canon Evans on 1 Corinthians 10:16). This is S. John's conception of the Church: each member of it possesses the Son, and through Him the Father; and this common possession gives communion with all other members as well as with the Divine Persons.

and truly our fellowship Or, yea, and our fellowship: there is a double conjunction in the Greek, as in John 6:51. The Apostle will tell them what -fellowship with us" really means: -but ourfellowship is not merely fellowship with us; it is fellowship with the Father and the Son" (John 14:23). The -our", like -eternal" in 1 John 1:2 is very emphatic: -the fellowship that is ours, that we enjoy".

His Son Jesus Christ This full description is given for solemnity; and also perhaps to bring out the idea of which the Epistle is so full, that Christians are all one family, and in their relation to God share in the Sonship of Christ. Comp. -God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of His SonJesus Christ our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:9).

The fulness of the expression (comp. 1 John 3:23) is not so apparent in the English as in the Greek, which literally rendered runs thus; is with the Father and with the Son of Him, Jesus Christ. Both the preposition and the definite article are repeated, marking emphatically the distinction and equality between the Son and the Father. Thus two fundamental truths, which the philosophical heresies of the age were apt to obscure or deny, are here clearly laid down at the outset; (1) the distinctness of personality and equality of dignity between the Father and the Son; (2) the identity of the eternal Son of God with the historical person Jesus Christ.