FELLOWSHIP

In the gospel of John, the Holy Spirit through the beloved apostle wrote much about fellowship. He wrote of fellowship not only with Jesus and with His Father, but a fellowship with all of our brothers and sisters in Christ who also love Him. John's witness was very important for his readers to understand and experience this fellowship to its fullest extent.

Likely there couldn't have been a greater "specialist" in the area of fellowship with Jesus than the apostle John. He loved Jesus and enjoyed fellowship with Him very deeply. He was with Jesus at some of the most personal times of our Lord's earthly ministry (Mark 14:33); and he stood out as one among His choicest servants (Luke 22:8). John didn't even use his own name when writing about himself in his gospel; in his humility, he identified himself only as "the disciple whom Jesus loved".

During Jesus' last supper with His disciples, John sat next to Him and ate with Him; and even reclined with his head resting on Jesus' bosom as they supped together (John 13:23). When all the other disciples had deserted Jesus at His arrest, John was among the few who lingered off on the side-lines (John 18:15-16). John was even present with Jesus as He hung on the cross. As Jesus was dying on the cross, He entrusted his own mother to John's care; and entrusted John to Mary's care as well (John 19:25-27). After Jesus rose from the dead, John was the first disciple to run to the empty tomb as well as the first to comprehend the resurrection (John 20:2-4). It appears that no other disciple enjoyed the depth of fellowship with Jesus that John enjoyed with Him while He walked upon this earth.

And after Jesus rose from the dead, John wrote about the remarkable truth of how you and I can also enjoy fellowship with the Savior that he enjoyed. He makes this clear to us in the first four verses of his letter. Much of the rest of his letter is occupied with teaching us the principles of knowing this fellowship and in giving us "these things" about who the Christ is (John 20:31) in order to incite us to desire fellowship with Him.

"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:5-7).