Many first century people struggled with idea that the Messiah, the Son of God, could suffer and die. There were some who therefore came up with the idea that Jesus only became the Son of God at his baptism when the Spirit came upon him and that he ceased to be so before his suffering. It was a strange view, but it is probably what John has in mind here. He stresses the fact that it was not only the water of baptism and the Spirit that testified to who Jesus was but also the blood. For it was through the shedding of his blood that Jesus manifested the fullness of the Father’s love. As inconceivable as it might seem, God was in Jesus, suffering and shedding his blood for our sins. You won’t find much logic in this fact, but you will find life in it. The thing that God most wants to reveal to us, and the thing that God most wants us to receive, is his love. Jesus embodies the love of the father. In him we see just how much God loves us. To receive Jesus is to receive the father’s love. To reject him is to reject the Father’s love. That God should come to us in the flesh and suffer seems absurd indeed, but it makes sense, in another respect, when we take God’s love into consideration. The incarnation of God in Christ was an act of love. His submission to death was an act of love. Every action of God around your life is an act of love.
Reflect on God’s love for you.
Read 1 John 5:1-12.
