"Psalm 23," John August Swanson. Used by permission from the artist.
Image © by John August Swanson. Artwork held in the Luther Seminary Fine Arts Collection, St. Paul, Minn.
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Preaching Series on 1 John (1 of 4)
1 John 1:1-4 Commentary
by Craig R. Koester
Preaching Series on 1 John (Week 1 of 4)
Preaching text: 1 John 1:1-4 God's Tangible Word of LifeGospel: John 1:14-16 The Word became flesh
The short book known as 1 John re-proclaims the message of John’s gospel in a changed context. The gospel recognized that both Jesus’ followers and his foes agreed that he was human, but not everyone could see God’s work being revealed in him. So the gospel emphasized the divine side of his identity. 1 John, however, speaks to a context in which some have taken that emphasis too far, and saw Jesus only in spiritual terms. So the epistle emphasizes Jesus’ humanity.
Most people today certainly agree that Jesus was human, yet many have trouble with the particularity of that claim. They may find it plausible to think of Jesus an expression of spiritual or ethical ideals, but have difficulty with the particulars of his life, crucifixion, and resurrection. So 1 John focuses on the embodied word of God, and calls for an embodied faith.
The opening line of ...
Commentary | Bible Text
2018 Summer Readings
2018-19 Readings (Year 1)
2018-19 Worship Resources
The narrative lectionary is a four-year cycle of readings. Read more.
Narrative Lectionary 137: Preaching Series on 1 John
June 24, 2018
This re-broadcast podcast covers the four-week summer preaching series on 1 John (first aired in July 2014 -- note Dr. Koester's opening reference to "three Sundays in July and one in August" is not applicable to 2018 dates). Join Profs. Rolf Jacobson, Craig Koester, and Kathryn Schifferdecker for a conversation on the Narrative Lectionary. Recorded at Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minn., for WorkingPreacher.org.