The first epistle of John begins with: “That which was from the beginning…” The Greek word arche (G746) means the “beginning” or the “origin” of something. The New Covenant Scriptures mention several events, which it terms: the beginning. For example, we are told about the beginning of the Gospel (Mark 1:1; Philippians 4:15; Hebrews 2:3). There is also the beginning of the miracles of Jesus (John 2:11), and the beginning or the first principles of the oracles of God (Hebrews 5:12). Even Jesus, himself, is referred to as the Beginning (Colossians 1:18; Revelation 3:14), which is meant to convey his high authority, similar to how men who have been appointed to govern others have authority (Luke 12:11; 20:20; Romans 13:3 and Titus 3:1). The author of the first epistle of John wrote about what was from the beginning, but how should we understand or interpret what he claimed?
“That which was from the beginning…” (1John 1:1). The Septuagint translates the Hebrew at Genesis 1:1 as: “In the beginning (arche – G746) God made the heaven and the earth…” (emphasis mine). So, could John be referring to creation as the beginning in 1John 1:1? I don’t think so, because John doesn’t mention anything about the beginning of creation in his epistles. Moreover, he claimed to declare to his readers what he both heard and saw (1John 1:3). John couldn’t have either heard or seen anything at the time of the creation of the universe. On the other hand, if John had time in mind, could he have been speaking of the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus (Mark 1:1)? As far as context is concerned, that would fit in with what John heard and saw and wished to declare to others, but John also claims that his hands had handled the beginning. Therefore, I don’t believe the beginning of the Gospel, or the beginning of the miracles of Christ, or the first principles of the oracles of God can indicate what John wished to unveil to his readers.
The text tells us that the focus of John’s claims was the Word of Life, i.e. Jesus (1John 1:1). Therefore, I think the Beginning (G746) refers to Jesus himself, as is understood in Colossians 1:18 and Revelation 3:14. There, Jesus is declared to be the Leader or Lord (arche – G746) of the new creation, and John began his epistle with: “That which was from the Beginning (G746)” or “That which was from the Lord (G746)… declare we unto you…” (1John 1:1, 3).
Notice that John uses three methods of witness. First, he claimed he heard (G191) the Beginning, next he says he had seen (G3708) the Beginning, and finally he claimed to have handled or touched (G5584) the Beginning. Then he summed up what he heard, and what he saw, and what he handled by saying it was the Word of Life. Therefore, I don’t believe John was describing an event of time. Rather, he referred to the Person who was first in authority, namely, the Lord (arche – G746) or the Word of Life.
It is interesting that John used two words to describe his witness by sight. First he claimed to have seen (horao – G3708) the Beginning. Then, John claimed to have looked upon (theaomai – G2300) the Beginning. But, what does this mean? First of all, horao (G3708) has to do with perceiving with the eyes but with a reference to the object of one’s sight. In other words, John is telling us that the Beginning or the Word of Life was real. John saw (horao – G3708) him! Yet, this is not the whole story, because John could have seen something but misinterpreted what he saw. Therefore, John also tells his readers that he looked upon (theaomai – G2300) the Beginning or the Word of Life, which means that he observed and considered him with a view of understanding what he saw. The Greek word theaomai is the source of our word theater. A theater is a place where we are both entertained and educated. This can’t be done by simply observing what takes place on stage. It concerns what one perceives is taking place on the stage, and, thus, through consideration one is entertained and / or educated. Therefore, John was telling his readers that he not only saw Jesus, but he considered him for a long time, i.e. what Jesus said and did, and he came to understand Jesus, the Person, i.e. his message and why he had come into the world.
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