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1 John 1:1. About what happened from the beginning, what we heard, what we saw with our own eyes. He speaks this to both Jews and pagans, who denigrate the sacrament of our salvation as something later. The Apostle shows that it is also ancient, for it is from the beginning and contemporary with the beginning represented in the mind, or that it is ancient not only of the law, but also of the visible creation itself, for it had a beginning, and it was before the very beginning. For what can anyone say about the pagan sacraments that appeared yesterday and the day before? They, accompanied by debauchery, occurred late, when impurity already lived in people, for which debauchery serves as a kind of top and monument, and through which we reached from a good state to the darkest night. Presenting the greatness of our sacrament in its comparative antiquity, the apostle adds that it is also Life - Life, not measured by time, but original, as always existing with the Father, as in the Gospel it is said: “and the Word was with God” (John 1:1). The word “was” does not mean temporary existence, but the original existence of a known object, the beginning and foundation of everything that has received existence, without which the latter could not have come into existence. Although it is said about every created being that it exists, for example, there is an angel, there is heaven, there is the sun, and so on; but actually and completely there is only One Son, with whose participation everything comes into being. Therefore, Paul says: “In Him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Whoever has previously heard about this from the initial teaching proceeds to seeing Him, not bodily, but rationally, and not with bodily eyes, but with the mind. “They touched” is said about the Word of Life, who said: “I am life” (John 14:6). Perhaps this is also said about the Word who was in the beginning, because we heard from the law and the prophets that It would come. When It came clearly with the flesh, we saw It and touched It. For God, as He is in Himself, “no one has ever seen” (John 1:18). And we joined the Word that appeared, not lightly, but, as has already been said, after touching, that is, after searching in the law and the prophets, we believed the Word that appeared in the flesh. We saw and touched not what It “was” (for “who can explain His generation?” (Is. 53:8)), but what It “became”, we felt both by mental touch and at the same time by sensory touch, as, for example, Thomas did after the resurrection. For He was One and indivisible, One and the same - visible and invisible, encompassing and immense, inviolable and tangible, speaking as a man, and working miracles as God. This is how we speak about the Word because of the closest unity of God with the flesh. What our hands have looked at and touched, about the Word of life, 1 John 1:2. For life has appeared, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you this eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us. “Looked at” - the same thing that they saw with their own eyes and were surprised; for θεάσασθαι comes from θαυμάζειν and means: to look with surprise. “Touched” is the same as what was explored. The connection of the speech is this: what was from the beginning, what we heard, and saw, and looked at with our own eyes, and what our hands touched about the Word of life, which was revealed, and which we saw, and testify, and proclaim to you, that is, eternal life, which is with the Father and was revealed to us; Therefore, what we have seen we proclaim to you, The Apostle did not proclaim as we do, firstly, for the sake of brevity of speech, then out of disrespect for Hellenic idle talk, then to show that our salvation is not in words, but in deeds, and finally, to make us more attentive, so that we, finding what is offered conveniently and as if by itself, would not be scattered. Moreover, the Theologian wanted to cover with obscurity what is above unclean hearing and with which it is unsafe to make it public; “For to give what is holy to dogs and cast pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6) is contrary to common sense. 1 John 1:3. We report to you what we have seen and heard. What exactly? The fact that Life, being eternal, appeared to us, and we were eyewitnesses of it both before the cross and after the resurrection. For one and the same was nailed by flesh to the cross and was resurrected by the same flesh. What benefit does he say to you that we proclaim this to you? That, just as through the word we accept you as fellow members of what we have seen and heard, so we have you as fellow members of both the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, and having received this, we, as those who cling to God, can be filled with joy. 1 John 1:4. So that you too may have fellowship with us: and our fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. And we write this to you so that your joy may be complete. For when we are in communication with you, we experience the greatest pleasure, similar to that which the rejoicing sower gives to the reapers when distributing the wages, when they also rejoice that others enjoy their labors. 1 John 1:5. And this is the gospel that we have heard from Him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness. 1 John 1:6. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, but walk in darkness, then we lie and do not act in the truth; 1 John 1:7. if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. The Apostle again returns to his previous speech, and explains what kind of gospel he heard, namely the following: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness. From whom did he hear this? From Christ Himself, Who said: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), and also: “I am the light come into the world” (John 12:46). So, He is light, and there is no darkness in Him, but a spiritual light, attracting the eyes of the soul to see Him, and turning away from everything material and arousing the desire for Him alone with the strongest love. By “darkness” one means either ignorance or sin; for in God there is neither ignorance nor sin, because ignorance and sin have their place in matter and in our disposition. If it is said nowhere: “He made darkness His covering” (Psalm 17:12); it is said that he “made” darkness, and not “is” darkness, as it is said that “there is light.” For he who posits and what is posited are not the same thing. So, here “darkness” means our ignorance of God, due to His incomprehensibility, and this ignorance is ours, not God’s. For someone is given something that is not in him, not for himself, but for someone related to him. And that the apostle calls sin darkness is evident from his Gospel saying: “and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5), where by darkness he calls our sinful nature, which, in its tendency to fall, is inferior to our envious devil, who leads us to sin. So, the light, united with our very perceptible being, became completely elusive to the tempter. For “He committed no sin” (Isaiah 53:9). So, when we accept you into fellowship with God, who is light, and in this light, as shown, there can be no darkness; then we, as communicants of the light, must not accept darkness into ourselves, so as not to be punished for lying and, along with the lie, not to be rejected from communion with the light. Therefore, by maintaining fellowship with each other, that is, with us and with the light, we must make ourselves invincible from sin. But how will this be when we have already been mired in many sins? For no one who loves the truth and tries to be true will dare to say that he is sinless. So, if anyone is overcome by this fear, let him not lose heart: for whoever has entered into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ has been cleansed by His Blood, shed for us. Note that because of the closest unity he calls Him the Son of the Father and because of what He received from us; for blood undoubtedly belongs to our nature, and not to God. And Nestorius is obviously insane and wicked when he separates the flesh from the Son and does not allow His Mother to be called the Theotokos. You also need to know that the whole idea of ​​this saying also subverts the blasphemy of the Jews, who said: “We know that this man is a sinner” (John 9:24). So, he says, if we do works of light, then we are in communion with Him, and if we do not do them, then we are alien to Him. And how is it that He is not the true light and not completely sinless, when “he was counted among the evildoers” for you (Isaiah 53:12)? So, if we, who once shouted: “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:25), shamelessly say that we have not sinned; then we “deceive ourselves”, as if crucifying Christ was not a sin. The Apostle did not say: we lie, but: we deceive ourselves, because deception is outside the truth. If we recognize the sin and confess, He will forgive us. 1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, then He, being faithful and righteous, will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:10. If we say that we have not sinned, then we represent Him as a liar, and His word is not in us. The Apostle repeats his speech several times in order, through abundant and frequent denunciations, to present to them the full gravity of the crime and to incline them to confession. How great good is born from confession is evident from the following words: “tell you” your sins “in order to be justified” (Is. 43:26); and that for a beginning student the teacher often repeats the same thing, first briefly, then more extensively, in order to convey the clearest knowledge, this is an ordinary thing. God, says the apostle, is “faithful.” This is the same as true; for the word “faithful” is used not only about someone to whom something is entrusted, but also about someone who is himself very faithful, who, by his own faithfulness, can make others so. In this sense, God is faithful, and He is “righteous” in the sense that He does not drive away those who come to Him, no matter how sinful they may be (John 6:37). So, to those who through repentance resort to holy baptism, He undoubtedly forgives their sins, even if they have sinned against Him and against others. If, he says, we confess, we will receive the forgiveness corresponding to the confession. If we shamelessly say that we have not sinned, then we will commit a double evil: we will show ourselves as liars and blaspheme against God. For He says through the prophet: “They repay Me evil for good” (Psalm 34:12), and Himself personally: “If I said bad, show me what is bad; What if it’s good that you beat Me?” (John 18:23). If at the same time we say that we have not sinned, then we reject His words, which are spirit and life; for it is said: “The words that I speak to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). You might be interested in: