1John 1: 1-9

Jan. 9, 2022

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

2(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

3That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

4And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I remember – years ago now – when Stephen Hawking, probably one of the greatest minds of our generation, was reported to have said that Christianity is for people who are afraid of the dark. I remember being shocked I when I read it. It simply staggered me that this huge intellect had completely missed the fact that for us, there is no darkness. Verse 5 has been proven to us over and over and over again through 2000 years of history. There are none so blind as those who will not see.

I think this footnote in the Ignatius Study Bible is interesting – in regard to verse 9: “Note that in biblical terms, ‘confession’ is something you do with your lips and not simply in the silence of your heart”. Which, of course, means I’ve been doing my morning and evening confession all wrong. From now on, I will say it out loud.

We are never too old to learn.

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