Witness to the Word

It might seem strange that John the Baptist would appear so early in John’s account. But this points to one of the heresies that John was combating – there were groups of people in as late as 200 A.D. who were worshiping John the Baptist as the Messiah.

The apostle John had started out as a disciple of John the Baptist; he knew him well. So the apostle John quoted the Baptist several times as saying he was not the Messiah, but a messenger.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. [John 1:6-8]

The emphasis here is right at the end, the Baptist understood that he was not the light, but he was to prepare the people to believe the true light when they saw it.

The task of a witness is to point to the truth. You know the phrase “to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” We use that in a court of law because that is what everyone is expecting the witness to do, to bring out the truth.

In fact everyone who knows Who Jesus really is, is called to be a witness to the truth. Witnessing is both verbal and nonverbal – to keep integrity, the words have to match the life of the person saying the words.

* How well does your life act as a witness to the true light of Jesus? Well how much of Jesus’ light, His wisdom, is active in your life? That’s how you would know.

* How capable are you of telling the whole truth about Jesus? Give it a try today, and see.

The Baptist identified Jesus, Who otherwise looked like an ordinary person, as the true light. Some would be repelled by the light, and others would be drawn to it. Most people did not even recognize the light - in spite of the Baptist’s testimony.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. [John 1:9-10]

The Creator came and the creatures didn’t even know Who He was.

“World” is another word John uses, in most cases, to refer to the created order that is now in rebellion against the Creator. John said that this light was coming into the created order which was now in darkness, in rebellion, against the source of light. The world couldn’t apprehend the light because of spiritual blindness.

But even more amazingly,

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. [John 1:11]

Jesus came to His own home, that’s the sense in the Greek, and even His own people did not recognize Him.

These were the covenant people of God, who had been entrusted with God’s law, His covenants and His promises for thousands of years. These were a people who had been actively waiting for their messiah since the days of Moses. God had specially made these people to be His own treasured possession. Of all people, these people were by far the best equipped to recognize and receive the Messiah.

But they didn’t.

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