Stroll through Scripture for July 28, 2024

Based on 1 John 5:9-13

This is the final week of our focus on 1 John, and we are approaching the end of the letter.  The vast majority of the letter has been about love.  And as we close out 1 John, the author is shifting his message to focus on testimony about the Son of God.  In some ways this feels like the closing argument in a court case, mostly because of the heavy emphasis on testimony and testifying.  

In verses 9-12, a variation of testimony appears seven times.  Tied to this is the idea of belief.  The root word for belief in Greek is pistis.  Pistis can be translated as belief, faith, or trust.  All of these notions are inter-rated with each other.  The core unifying theme here is the truth of Jesus being the Son of God.  And why does this matter?  The end of 1 John will go on to argue that it is Jesus, as the Son of God, which has power over the world, sin, and death.  That is true power indeed.  

According to some commentaries, “The testimony of two or three credible witnesses, according to the law of Moses, was deemed sufficient to prove any matter of fact.”  How much more is the testimony of God worth?  This passage also shows that our trust is not in human made things ultimately – like an empire, emperor, or false gods – even when their arguments and testimonies seem really convincing.  In our modern context, we might add such things as money, work, political parties, ideologies, or anything else that attempts to define who we are.  

While the commentary for this passage is shorter than normal, I think it raises more questions than usual.  This is a bit ironic since the passage is dealing with the truth of testimony and our belief in this truth.  

Questions for Reflection:

• The end of 1 John offers a heavy emphasis on testimony and belief.  The author of 1 John is appealing to the truth of his claims that Jesus is the Son of God.  What are the truths that we rely on in our daily lives?  How do we know what is true – what do we basis it on?  
• Testimony is something that can be tested and proved to be either true or false.  What are the tests that we can utilize to test faith statements?  What should we be testing concerning faith?  
• When we encounter something in our faith walk that doesn’t pass the test of being true, what are we called to do with it?  How do we approach faith statements are don’t match the testimony of the truth of Jesus as the Son of God?  
• 1 John compares the testimony of humans versus the testimony of God.  The testimony of humans often comes in the form of words.  How have you encountered the testimony of God?