Bearing Witness to the Light
Did you see any of the beautiful sunsets we had earlier this past week or even yesterday? Living on Cape Cod we are blessed to be able to see the sun rise and set over the water if we choose. Seeing the beauty of a sunrise or sunset, recognizing the warmth and light the sun provides as well as its reliability, it isn’t a surprise that many ancient cultures worshiped the sun. Obviously Christians don’t worship the sun but the God who made the sun and everything else. Connections between light and God’s power, presence, and glory are found throughout the Bible, starting in the beginning. The Bible opens saying that “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep,” and Genesis 1:3 states, “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” The first act of creation is God speaking light into being and light was good and “God separated the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:4).
December 11, 2011
John 1:6-8, 19-28, Bearing Witness to the Light
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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Later Psalm 27:1 affirms, “The Lord is my light and my salvation,” and Psalm 36:9 states, “With you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” In Luke 2 the prophet Simeon, guided by the Spirit, took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God, saying Jesus would be (Luke 2:32), “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
Images of light and darkness permeate John’s Gospel. John begins his Gospel by telling us that in Jesus there is life which is the light of all people and that light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not and will not ever overcome it. Jesus is the true light which enlightens everyone. In John chapters 8 and 9, Jesus declares he is “the light of the world” and demonstrates the truth of his statement by giving light to the eyes of a man born blind. John the Baptist, who had a significant number of followers himself, is portrayed in John’s Gospel as clearly identifying himself as a witness who came to testify to the light who is Jesus. Listen to John 1:6-8, 19-28,
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”
And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.”
Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,'” as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.”
John the Baptist “came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.” “Witness” is a word that we still hear all the time today. A witness in the practice of law is one who speaks from personal experience about what happened to oneself or another. In the Bible, this may occur at a trial (Deuteronomy 17:6; Proverbs 19:28; Mark 14:63) or in a legal transaction (Isaiah 8:2; Jeremiah 32:10). Bearing false witness is roundly condemned (Exodus 20:16; Proverbs 12:17; Acts 6:13) and can bring severe reprisal (Deuteronomy 19:16-21; Proverbs 21:28). Sometimes in the Bible a pillar or altar of rocks is built as a visible witness to a convenantal agreement (Genesis 31:44; Joshua 22:27, 34; Isaiah 19:19-20). In the New Testament, “witness” takes on several specialized meanings – referring to a person present at the ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:22) or to one who attests to the truth about God (John 8:18; Revelation 1:5; 11:3). The ‘cloud of witnesses’ in Hebrews 12:1 compares the multitude who have suffered or died but retained their faith to the great crowd of spectators at an athletic contest, whose presence spurs the contestants to give their best efforts. The word ‘Martyr’ is derived from the same Greek word as ‘witness.’
John was a witness because could speak about Jesus from personal experience, he was his cousin and he knew and baptized Jesus. In the Book of Acts, chapter 1:8, Jesus says to his followers, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Book of Acts is the unfolding of that verse (Acts 1:8). It tells the story of the Holy Spirit coming upon the first followers of Jesus filling them with courage and boldness to witness and testify about Jesus to other people. In that book we repeatedly hear Peter talk of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus from personal experience. The resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit inspired and empowered the first Christian witnesses to share the remarkable news about the Lord everywhere they went. A professor of mine in seminary (Howard Clark Kee) wrote about how incredible and unlikely the growth of the Way of Jesus was from a human point of view. “No one observing the itinerant fishermen and craftsmen trying to launch an apocalyptic movement in Palestine in the name of an executed Galilean troublemaker would ever have supposed that by the end of the first century there would be flourishing communities of Gentile adherents in the major Mediterranean cities and in Rome itself.”[1] The disciples couldn’t keep their experience of Jesus to themselves. Everywhere they went – crossing barriers of race, culture, class, and gender, they bore witness to the good news that there was forgiveness of sins, life transforming power, and a new sense of identity and purpose, available through Jesus Christ. We are here today two weeks from celebrating the birth of Christ because for almost 2,000 years faithful Christians have been effective witnesses in telling others about Jesus. That began with John the Baptist testifying that Jesus was the light of the world.
I am truly thankful for people like John the Baptist, Peter, and millions of others who were courageous and bold enough to witness to others about their faith in Jesus. All of us who are believers today, have been fortunate enough to come to faith because others in previous generations have been faithful witnesses. Hopefully all of us, if we were to take a few moments to think about it, could identify members of our family, Sunday School teachers, Pastors, Youth Group leaders, camp counselors, or friends who bore witness to Jesus and helped us along the road of faith. Those people are very special to us and we’re grateful for them and many of them may now be part of that great cloud of witnesses cheering us on. At the same time, we need to remember, that the Lord calls us to be loving, faithful witnesses to the light of Jesus for other people as well. Some of you may have heard of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, who is a devout Christian, the son of missionaries in Philippines, who is very open about sharing his faith and praying. It has been very interesting watching the response to his being a witness for Jesus.
Here are some questions for us to ponder as we consider being a witness: Is the kingdom of God expanding through the work of the Holy Spirit in me? Have I brought anyone closer to Jesus? How can I help the light of the Jesus to shine in someone else’s darkness? Jesus says that bringing people closer to him is part of what we do when we receive the Holy Spirit and bear witness as his disciple. Following the Spirit’s leading may mean being willing to leave our own comfort zone and putting aside our prejudice as Peter did in being willing to go to the home of an Italian soldier named Cornelius (Acts 10), even though it made him a little nervous and uncomfortable.
Oswald Chambers observed in My Utmost for His Highest, “The moment we recognize our complete weakness and dependence upon him will be the very moment that the Spirit of God will exhibit his power.” Jesus didn’t save us just to get us into heaven, but to change us into the kind of people who make a difference in the world by bringing light where there is darkness.
A woman looking back at a college experience wrote, “When I was in college, I used to baby-sit for a six-year-old boy named Peter. His mother started hiring me after her husband died. I recall putting Peter to bed. The house was very old. Over the years various owners had added on to it section by section. The electrical system seemed to be an afterthought. There was only one way to switch on the light at the end of the upstairs hall where Peter’s bedroom was located: you had to turn at a right angle to the staircase and grope along the hall to his door until you felt the switch with your hand. Whenever we were downstairs watching television and it was time for bed, Peter would stare into the darkness at the top of the stairs and say to me, “You go first.” I would start up the stairs alone, and just as I was getting to the top step I would hear footsteps behind me. Then Peter’s hand was in mine, and I groped along the wall and found the switch.
What struck me about this is that Peter didn’t wait for me to turn on the light. It was enough simply to know I was there in the dark. “You go first, “he had said, and as long as I did go first, then he had the courage to follow after me. I remember Peter’s hand in mine to this day, not just because it charmed me, but because it touched something profound that I have observed is true in myself and others: The great hunger of the human heart to trust that there is some power, some strength, some hand waiting to take ours in the shadow of the unknown.” That power, that strength, that hand belongs to Jesus and he yearns to share it with us and for us to share it with others.
There are some stairs leading to darkness none of us want to climb – stairs of stress, heartache, grief, depression, disappointment, physical struggles, relational pain, financial hardship, regret, sin, yet with them all, if we will allow him, Jesus promises, “those who follow me will never walk in darkness.” The Bible also helps us in dark times as Psalm 119:105 (NIV) reminds us, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” If we follow Jesus the light of life, then we’re called to help other people when their way is dark. We are to let our light shine. When people are walking even through the darkest valley, God still sheds the light of life upon us and through us to those who feel like they cannot see any light at the moment. Og Mandino wrote, “I will love the light for it shows me the way. Yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.” There is a sense in which we are like the moon (I hope you saw it last night or early this morning) which has no light of its own; all it can do is reflect the light of the sun. We can reflect the light and love of Jesus to others.
One final thing about light is that it can both illuminate or it can blind us if we aren’t careful. That is the way it is with Jesus as the light of the world as well.
Blaise Pascal observed, “In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.”
“Light has many functions that make it a good symbol for Jesus. Light helps us see things. Jesus gives us the truth about God and about life, our origin, and our destiny. Light guides us as we travel. Jesus guides us safely through life to our heavenly home. Light promotes growth and life. Jesus brings us everlasting life. Light warms and comforts. Jesus welcomes us and calms us. Light prevents crime. Jesus is goodness itself. Light dispels darkness. Jesus pierces the darkness of sin and death and conquers them. All the darkness in the world cannot put out one candle flame. Jesus cannot be overcome by evil.”[2]
How can we be witnesses to the light who is Jesus? John the Baptist had to overcome skepticism and resistance among the Pharisees and even upset some of his own followers. We can show similar courage and conviction as John and Tim Tebow. We can be open to opportunities the Lord may present; there may be people who would surprise you who are open to hearing John’s message about Jesus. Witnessing to the light is basic to being a Christian.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Zechariah describes a time (14:7) “when God comes to reign over all the earth, there shall be continuous day (it is known to the Lord), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light.” In the final chapter of the final book of the Bible, in John’s vision of heaven, in Revelation 22:5, it says, “And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, they will reign forever & ever. Amen”
Blessing – The cross, we will take it. The bread, we will break it.
The pain, we will bear it. The joy, we will share it.
The Gospel, we will live it. The love, we will give it.
The light, we will cherish it. The darkness, God shall perish it.
The Iona Community