John 1:6-9
John the author of the gospel bearing his name, having established that God the Word was coming as the Light shining upon the darkness now seeks to establish a witness. Verse six reads: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.”
Now this John is not John the writer of the gospel, but as we will see a little Later this is John the Baptizer, sent by God to bear witness of Jesus’s coming. The passage is designed to have us ask the question why. Why did God send a man by the name of John? Verse 7 answers this question. “This man (John) came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all through Him might believe.
Before we unpack these two verses, let’s add verse eight. “He was not the Light, but was sent to bear witness of that light.”
Imagine for a moment that you are a movie star or musician that is coming to a community to perform. Do you just show up and expect people to know who you are? A few might recognize you or hear your music and know who you are. But for the majority, life would continue as normal. Their busy lives would prevent them from hearing you sing or even know that you are in town to perform.
If you are a performer you would want others to know you were coming to their community to perform at a certain park, on a certain day, and at a certain time. You would want people to know ahead of time, so they can take time out of their busy schedules to hear you and interact with you.
If you are a major star and do a full production show, it is expensive to set up for a show, print tickets and pay all those involved in the production of the show. Therefore, you would want as many people as possible to know you are coming so you can sell as many tickets as possible. Therefore, you would send people in advance to advertise you were coming and were going to perform.
I am in no way suggesting that Christ came to perform, but he did need to let people know he was coming. But even late in Jesus ministry, after his resurrection while walking with two disciples, Jesus had to give evidence through the law, the five books of Moses, and the prophets, the rest of the Jewish Old Testament, that they bore witness of His coming and the purpose of his coming.
What seems strange to me, is that after three and a half years of being with the people, they still did not recognize Him. Is it any wonder after 1200 years that God wanted to send someone to bear testimony or witness of the coming of the Word, the True Light that is God? God was coming. Therefore God sent John the Baptizer to give witness or advertise among all classes of people that the Light of the world is coming. And that light that was coming “gives light to every man coming into the world (John 1:9).
Did you see what the passage just said? It stated that the true light was coming, and that true light gives light to the Jews. Is that what the passage stated? Of course not. It stated that Light is given to every man, or better stated, “all humanity, that is born into the world.
John 3:16 and 17 echoes this thought where it says, For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have ever lasting life. For God did no0t send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through Him might be saved.
John emphasizes that what God did or was about to do was for the whole human race.
The question, though more of an unstated question John’s gospel is wanting us to ask is this. Did they accept the message of John? What was his message? Did they accept the Word, the Light of this world? More importantly, John is asking will you accept the Word of God, who came to bring Light upon all humanity.
Let’s continue to explore John’s gospel and see.
The Bible In Your Hand 