One of the reasons to read the paper and check other media is to get the news: we’re interested in knowing what’s happened in town, in the country, in the world. Sometimes they’re good stories, more often reports of bad or sad things. Occasionally it’s hugely significant news, reporting on events that truly ‘write history’. In all cases, we want to read news that is accurate, reliable. If we’d want fiction or satire, we’d go to different sources. This is why journalists and editors seek to check the sources, get eye-witness reports, get input from e.g. the police or other relevant parties.
Did you know that the same is true for the Bible? It records historical events, stories, things that happened to real people in real space and time. Even when it tells us about the supernatural – indeed, even when it claims to come from God himself – still there is a great emphasis on the reliability of what’s written down.
One of the friends of Jesus Christ, called John, lived close to Jesus for some three years and later wrote down these words in a letter to other Christians: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with [God] the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete” (The Bible, 1 John 1 verses 1-4).
Do you see his emphasis, can it be clearer? This is no fake news! All John writes about the man Jesus, who is also called the “Word of life” who “was from the beginning” – it is reality: seen, touched, heard. And like a good journalist, John writes it down for others to read: the best news you could possibly read!
This News leads to ‘fellowship’ – a relation and community of love and friendship, with God himself and with other people who also love and follow Jesus. All so that ‘our joy is complete.’ That’s a high aim, isn’t it?! Complete joy and fellowship with God, through a written report!? Yes, that’s what not just this letter but the entire Bible claims for itself and proves to be for millions of Christians around the world including myself and dozens more in our local church. Why not read this good news for yourself, or meet with Christians to open the Bible together and find out more about that joy, about that book, indeed – about that ‘Word of eternal life’?!
This column first appeared in the Newark Advertiser in January 2025, and was written by Klaas-Jan Gunnink.