John opens his writing with what Raymond Brown calls a “grammatical obstacle course”. Here are 5 observations that will help you navigate this challenging passage without breaking too much of a sweat.
1. The main verb – we proclaim to you – occurs in the third verse. It is buried beneath numerous relative clauses (that which …). These clauses expand on the idea communicated by the main verb. They (along with the prepositional phrase) will tell us what is being proclaimed. Continue reading
Do you have a favorite book of the Bible? The one you think is the most important and stands out to you in some special way. For Luther it was Romans (see his preface), for Calvin it was the book of Ephesians (see this TGC article), and for Wesley it was 1 John.
I began expounding the deepest part of the Holy Scripture, namely, the first Epistle of St. John; by which above all other, even inspired writings, I advise every young preacher to form his style. Continue reading
Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. – Jesus
Have you ever been approached by a stern-looking man, carrying a sword with a large blade and eyes that glowed as if on fire – eyes that could pierce right through to your very soul? He walks up to you with an unmistakable urgency, wearing a robe splattered with blood and on his belt hung the keys to the land of the dead. I doubt you have so let me tell you, calling it scary is an understatement. Huge understatement! But that is a story for another time.
I sense much fear in you
Fear of the dark. I have known it. At least I thought I did. That was until I saw this terror redefined. True darkness is the absence of all light. I can’t imagine what it would be like to experience that. But I saw someone who did once. But that is getting ahead of ourselves.
Fear. That was something that we dealt with a lot following Jesus. Continue reading
Dead Heroes Don't Save 