1:1 the beginning. This verse echoes John 1:1, as that verse in turn echoes Gen. 1:1. The two New Testament verses highlight the Incarnation as an event as significant as creation itself.

heard . . . seen . . . looked upon . . . touched. These vivid verbs defend the reality of the human nature of Christ against the docetic speculation that is later rejected explicitly (2:22; 4:2, 3; Introduction: Date and Occasion).

the word of life. The subject of John’s proclamation is Jesus, the incarnate Word (John 1:1–14).