John 1:6-13: The Light of the World

John 1:6-13:

The Light of the World

By Dr. Hal Harless

Foundation Fellowship of Greenville, TX

June 14, 2009

I. Introduction

A. Please turn to John 1:6.

B. While you are turning.... The story is told

of a couple who took their son, 11, and daughter, 7, to Carlsbad Caverns. As always, when the tour reached the deepest point in the cavern, the guide turned off all the lights to dramatize how completely dark and silent it is below the earth's surface. The little girl, suddenly enveloped in utter darkness, was frightened and began to cry. Immediately was heard the voice of her brother: "Don't cry. Somebody here knows how to turn on the lights."[1]

II. Exposition

A. Background

1. We are in the prologue to John's gospel, his introduction (John 1:1-18).

2. We saw last time that the Word was God, the Creator, the Source of life and light (John 1:1-5).

3. We saw that the darkness of this world tries to suppress the light, but it is unable.

4. John uses that for a transition to focus on the Light in today's verses.

B. Exposition: The Light of the world (John 1:6-13)

1. The witness to the light (John 1:6-8)

a. John the Baptist's source (John 1:6)

^1:6There came a man sent from God, whose name was John (John 1:6).

1) The significance of John the Baptist

a) John the Baptist's personal significance to John

i) It is practically John's signature in this gospel to not refer to himself by name.

ii) When John mentions two disciples of John turning to follow Jesus, he does not mention their names:

³⁵ Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" ³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus (John 1:35-37).

iii) Later, John does identify one, "One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother" (John 1:40).

iv) Following John's normal pattern he may well have been the other follower of John the Baptist.

b) John the Baptist's significance to his followers

i) Multitudes went to be baptized by John, "all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins" (Mark 1:4-5; see also Matt 3:5-6; Luke 3:1-18).

ii) Some thought that John was the Messiah, "the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ" (Luke 3:15).[2]

iii) Paul encountered followers of John the Baptist in Ephesus years later (Acts 19:1-7).

iv) There is even a religion called Mandaeism still in existence (60,000-70,000), living mostly in Southern Iraq until recently, that claims to follow John the Baptist and rejects both Jesus and Muhammad.

c) John the Baptist's prophetic significance

i) Malachi prophesied, "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD" (Mal 4:5).

(a) Elijah will be one of the two witnesses in Rev 11:3-12 that will precede the Day of the LORD.

(b) Jesus said, "¹³ For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come" (Matt 11:13-14).

(i) One as the Messiah's forerunner when He comes to suffer

(ii) One before the Day of the LORD when the Messiah will establish His rule.

ii) Isaiah prophesied:

³A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. ⁴Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; ⁵then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken" (Isa 40:3-5).

(a) Only Isa 40:3 is quoted as referring to John the Baptist (Luke 1:76).

(b) The other two verses refer to the Day of the LORD (Isa 2:12-15).

(c) John the Baptist was preparing the way for "the LORD" and "our God" (Isa 40:3). This, too, teaches the deity of Jesus Christ.

d) Jesus Christ's testimony to John the Baptist

Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. ¹³ For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵ He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Matt 11:11-15).

2) John the Baptist was sent from God

a) John the Baptist was sent with God's authority.

b) The Gk. word translated "there came" is an aorist (snapshot) verb in contrast with the imperfect (continuous past) tense used about the Word; the Word always was, but John the Baptist came on the scene.[3]

c) The Gk. word translated "sent" means "send with a commission, send with authority, send for a purpose."

b. John the Baptist's mission (John 1:7)

⁷He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him (John 1:7)

1) "Witness" (martyria) means "confirmation or attestation on the basis of personal knowledge or belief ... testimony in court."

2) The Gk. word translated "might believe" is used ninety-eight times in John's gospel and means "to consider something to be true and therefore worthy of one’s trust."

3) John indicates that he wrote "so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:31).

4) There are no other conditions for salvation than simple trust in Jesus Christ.

c. John the Baptist's identity (John 1:8)

⁸He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light (John 1:8).

1) It has been said, "There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."[4]

2) "He was not the Light"--John is absolutely clear that John the Baptist was not the Light, but he testified about the Light and pointed people to Jesus.

3) We are not sources of light either; we are to reflect Jesus Christ by testifying to Him.

2. The true light (John 1:9-13)

a. The True Light enlightens the world (John 1:9).

⁹There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man (John 1:9).

1) The Prophet Isaiah wrote:

He [God] says [to the Messiah], "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth" (Isa 49:6).

2) There is some doubt whether the phrase "coming into the world" refers to "every man" or "the true Light."

3) In either case, the true Light enlightens each-and-every human being.

a) The Gk. word translated "every" is singular, and that indicates grammatically that it is "emphasizing the individual members of the class denoted by the noun every, each, any."

b) Because of sin, we do lack a natural ability to respond to God.

c) We must have God's grace in order to be able to believe.

d) "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men" (Tit 2:11).

e) This verse indicates that God's grace is given to everyone.

b. The True Light created the world, but the world did not know Him (John 1:10).

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him (John 1:10).

1) We learned in verse 3 that the Word/True Light is the Creator-God.

2) The Gk. word translated "know" means "to indicate that one does know, acknowledge, recognize."

3) "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him" (NIV).

4) The irony is that the world did not recognize its own Creator when He came.

c. The True Light was not welcomed by His own people (John 1:11).

¹¹He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him (John 1:11).

1) One might understand the world of godless Gentiles not recognizing their Creator, but surely Israel would recognize Him!

2) The Gk. word translated "His own" is neuter, i.e., "the things which were his" (BBE) or "He came to his own homeland" (CJB).

3) The Gk. word translated "those who were His own" is masculine plural, i.e., "his own people" (CJB, CSB, ESV, GWN, NET, NLT).

4) The Gk. word translated here "receive" means "to welcome."[5]

5) Neither Jew nor Gentile gave the True Light the reception that He deserved.

d. The True Light gives those who receive Him the privilege of becoming children of God (John 1:12-13).

¹²But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13).

1) How to become a child of God

a) Nevertheless, the rejection was not total!

b) The Gk. word translated "received" means "to enter into a close relationship, receive, make one’s own, apprehend/comprehend."

i) The word is related to "comprehend" (or "suppress") in verse 5 and "receive" (or "welcome") in verse 11.

ii) John indicates in verse 12 that receiving and believing are the same thing.

iii) Ninety-eight times in this gospel, John will make the same point. Not believe and be baptized; not believe and commit; not even believe and repent!

iv) Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone plus nothing.

v) We make Jesus Christ our own by simple trust; we must not complicate what God has made simple.

c) The Gk. word translated "right" (exousia) means "authority but includes power (dunamis). Here it is more the notion of privilege or right" and implies "title, warrant, or authorization, carrying with it all needed powers."[6]

d) "Children" (teknon) means "that which is borne or born, a child (cf. Scottish bairn, from Anglo-S. beran, to bear)."

i) John prefers this term because he is thinking of our new birth.

ii) Paul prefers the Gk. term huios ("mature son") because he is thinking of our position in Christ.

e) "His name" means "the sum of all characteristic qualities which attach to the bearer of the name."[7]

f) "But to all who did receive him he gave the privilege of becoming God's children. That privilege was given to those who do believe that he really is what he is" (BARCLAY).

2) How NOT to become a child of God

a) "Not of blood" refers to genealogical pedigrees.[8]

i) "Not of natural descent" (NIV).

ii) "Not because of bloodline" (CJB).

iii) H. A. Ironside said:

That means that even if your parents were two of the best Christians that ever lived, they cannot give you divine life. That cannot communicate their new nature to you. It is only God who can do that.[9]

iv) God has no grandchildren; you cannot inherit faith!

v) You must simply trust Jesus Christ and Him alone.

b) "Will of the flesh" refers to parents wanting a child.

i) "Human desire" (NIV).

ii) "Nor by human choice" (NAB).

iii) You cannot willpower yourself to be a child of God!

iv) You must simply trust Jesus Christ and Him alone.

c) "Will of man" refers to a father's desire for children.

i) The Gk. word translated "man" is masculine and means "male."

(a) "A husband's will" (NIV).

(b) "A husband's decision" (NET).

ii) No one else can make you a child of God.

iii) You must simply trust Jesus Christ and Him alone.

III. Applications

A. Sharing Jesus

1. John wants us to reflect the True Light by witnessing to Jesus Christ.

2. God does the enlightening; we just do the witnessing.

3. We make Jesus Christ our own by simple trust; we must not complicate what God has made simple.

B. How not to become a child of God

1. Pedigree or good blood. God has no grandchildren.

2. Will power

3. No one else can make you a child of God.

C. Invitation