"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled." It is noteworthy, that John here expresses himself in the indeterminate form. We should naturally expect a personal designation of Him who was from the beginning; who in his temporal manifestation had permitted himself to be seen and heard and handled, thus subjecting his reality to the test of all the senses. Yet John expresses himself thus indefinitely: "That which was from the beginning, that which we have seen and heard;" and again afterwards he resumes the same form: "That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you." In the intermediate clause also, he designates him not personally, but by something relating to him, -- "of the word of life." These expressions, taken in connection, are the very clue which is needed, to introduce us into the peculiar spirit and manner of John. All which he has to say to men proceeds from Christ, and leads back to Christ; it is Christ himself that appears in all; the sole object is to gain Him entrance to the hearts of men, to bring within reach of man that fountain of all true life, the self-communication of Christ. Thus it naturally happens that, in John's mode of conception, the distinction between the impersonal and the personal is lost from view. That which he has to announce, that which was from the beginning, that which he has seen and heard, is no other than the self-revelation and self-imparting of Him, who was from the beginning.