That which was from the beginning, which we have heard … (Douay Rheims)
Our ears have heard … (CEV)
… we heard it with our own ears … (MSG)
Rastafarians say “word-sound is power.” Hearing is believing. Or at least, hearing is considering.
John here testifies to the fact that he, personally, had heard Jesus speak when the Savior was a living Man on earth. We should believe John, he is saying, because he was an ear-witness to the words of the Lord.
Let me tell you something shocking, though. I hear Him, too. And so can you. This was the gift John Eldredge gave me when I read his book, Waking the Dead. He said God wanted to speak to me, through the people around me, through the Scriptures, through everyday life and circumstances – and by actually speaking to me.
Not audio words that anyone else can hear, but a still, small voice in my head, in my heart. When I discovered this, when it began to happen, it really was like “waking the dead,” because I was in such desperation emotionally and spiritually. The little voice of the Christ inside me was like a spring of water in a parched desert.
It began to trickle over the hard ground, and soon swelled into a raging torrent that carried me away to the sea of love in which I dive and swim and live today.
Maybe you have to be half-dead, or mostly dead, to try the insane experiment of attempting to hear the voice of Jesus. I don’t know. I do know this is the season of resurrection, Easter season! If you’ve been feeling dead inside, or mostly dead, I encourage you to let Jesus raise you up.
When you hear His voice, everything changes, slowly at first, like my little trickle of life in the desert, but then faster and faster until you’re swept away! No wonder the beloved disciple wanted to make it clear that he had heard the voice of Jesus – he wants you to hear it, too.
