Jesus - the Light of the World

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 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 1:1–8 ESV).

 

I love how the gospel of John describes the work of John the Baptist. It is a reassuring description of what it means to be an evangelist (a witness) for Jesus. We are told that John came as a witness, to testify concerning the light of Christ. We get this important clarification: “He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” (v. 8). I think this is an important distinction to understand from most contemporary concepts of “evangelism.” Today we hear others talk about sharing our faith, and we are pause, becoming anxious about having the right words to say. What if I say something wrong? What if someone asks me a question I don’t know how to answer? What kind of witness would that be?

 

Wherever you may be right now, take a look at the closest light near you. Doing so might not be very comfortable for your eyes, though. In general, lights are not designed to be looked at. The purpose of a light is to reveal the things around it. For example, you can read a book and see other things around you because some kind of light is helping you to see those things.

 

The role of John the Baptist, “who came as a witness to testify” about Jesus, was to help people understand about the light. John was not the light. But he helped people to understand that the One who is the light makes it possible to see what life is all about. In the same way, our witness about Jesus is not about ourselves—it points people to the One who is the light of the world. To be an effective “witness” is simply to point others to look at Jesus! We need that in our world today desperately!