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.
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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.” [. . .]
The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:6–8, 23, 35–36 ESV)
John the Apostle gives a compelling argument for who the Word – the Light – is. Starting with creation, we know the Word was with God and the Word was God, that all creation was made through him and that in him was the life and that life was the LIGHT of men, and when the time was right, John the Baptist’s eyes were opened and he knew his relative, Jesus, was the Word, the Light, the Lamb – the Son of God.
John the Baptist knew his standing, his purpose, and his place in his specific time in history. He had a God-given task to “bear witness about the light.”
In the courtroom, if we are called to bear witness, our responsibility is to share what we’ve seen and heard – to speak on what is true. John knew he wasn’t the Light, and he also knew who the Light came from and, more specifically, who the Light was. John’s purpose was to speak truth and to prepare the way for him and to cry out, “Make straight the way of the Lord.”
As unique as John the Baptist’s purpose was, we, too, get to join in his role of announcing the King’s coming. We get to join in with John and speak to what we know to be true; we get to bear witness about Jesus! What a great privilege and joy!
When we bear witness about the Light, he shines his light through us – his warming, spreading, exposing, and comforting Light. To those to whom we share the Gospel, who believe in his name, he gives the right to become children of God. Those children become our brothers and sisters in Christ, and his family grows.
God uses us to grow his family, and we get to reap the rewards of spiritual family: Community and fellowship for all eternity – starting now. Bearing with one another, encouraging one another, spurring one another on to good works, grieving and rejoicing with one another. We weren’t meant to just be a child of God, but to be a part of his family.
So, “Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere!” That Jesus Christ is the Light of the world; that he was born, lived a perfect life, died a sinner’s death, and rose himself from the dead so that you and me and everyone who believes can be a child of God and be a part of his growing family.
Jessie Rediger, along with her husband, Vince, and their four kids, are planting Mercy Church in Utah County, Utah.