Monday, December 5, 2022

Trying to Understand the Water

Scripture: Jesus Christ—he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and these three are in agreement. 1 John 5:6-8

Observation: John calls out that the Lord himself testifies as to the authority and Messiahship of Jesus, and that certainly the Lord's testimony is of much greater influence than even any man's. He discusses three things that testify about Jesus, the Spirit, the water, and the blood. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, which is the word and will of Yahweh himself. The blood would be the death and resurrection of Jesus, for there is no denying the death of Jesus through the spilling of his blood at the crucifixion, and thus his resurrection testifies to his divinity. However, the water is not obvious as to what it is.

John says Jesus is the only one "who came by water and blood, not by water only." If all other humans come from "water only", then water could mean childbirth. Thus the testimony of Jesus as Messiah is the nature of his birth. Every person exists as a result of their birth, yet Jesus had a second creation when he was resurrected and thus is of both water and blood, not water only.

However, if this same passage refers to the chosen people of God, then the "water only" could be a reference to the Laws of Moses, where ceremonial washing was necessary to ensure purity ... in that manner, all who followed the Law and washed were pure before the Lord. It is these practices that then created baptism, as a single washing - along with faith - that cleans our lives before the Lord. John could be saying that many people have been deemed righteous and pure by following the prescribed rites of water, but Jesus is the only one who survived a sacrifice of the blood, and also has the testimony of God himself.

Application: As a person struggling to understand God's word, I am not certain of either interpretation above. Both have logic as a reference to being "by water", yet neither has great context within John's letter. John in fact gave so little context that the term must have had some normal, well-understood meaning to his audience ... both of my ideas fit that, yet other ideas may too.

I could spend hours of research to find what the great scholars of the last 2,000 years agree this all means. However, I prefer to pray on it and meditate. John says in v9 that God's testimony is greater than any man's, so I'd rather see if I can't learn his meaning, not man's interpretation. And if it remains a mystery to me, that does not change the fact that I believe his testimony about Jesus, which is the great point after all.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for how your Spirit reveals your word to me. So often you speak to me exactly when I need it. May I learn more and more from you every day. Amen.

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