That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life
which we have seen with our eyes: To hear a great man is an exciting experience but to see him is even more thrilling. With their natural vision, the apostles were witnesses to the physical existence of Jesus. Notice that John says they had seen Jesus with their eyes. Why is he so specific in mentioning the apostles’ eyes? He wants his readers to know they had seen Jesus not only with the eyes of the mind but also with the eyes of the body. John is determined that the know-it-all Gnostics, who denied the humanity of Jesus, should be confronted with the testimony of those who had used the physical sense of sight to see Jesus in the flesh; and he wants his readers to be assured of the indisputable truth that "God was manifest in the flesh" in the person of Jesus Christ.