Daily Bread

Witness of the Light – John 1:8

“He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” – John 1:8

The Gospel of John started in verse 1 proclaiming that Jesus is God and He was present at the beginning. John wants us to see his book at that lens so that we will not be able to forget who Jesus is. Now, part of the first chapter is that John wrote about John the Baptist. He was a great prophet of God who prepared the way of the Lord. He proclaimed that he was not the Light and there will be someone who will come that is greater than him that whose sandals he is not worthy to untie. 

We also know that the first person who recognized Jesus even if He is still at Mary’s womb is John the Baptist. So, when he was ahead of Jesus, he was proclaiming to everyone about the fulfillment of the prophecy and about the Messiah coming. People mistakenly thought that he was the Light but he wasn’t and he corrected all of them because it is not him, but he is the one who prepares the way of the Lord. 

Now, what did John the Baptist do to prepare the way? He challenged and made the nation of Israel to repent. He has drawn many crowds to repentance and to place their faith towards God, the only God whom their forefathers worshipped. John the Baptist pointed the people’s faith towards the living God whom Abraham, Isaac and Jacob worshipped. John the Baptist did really prepare the way of Jesus and become the instrument who put those seeds of faith to the people so that when Jesus will come, they will recognize Him and they will accept Him as their Lord and Savior for their salvation. John the Baptist was really a great man of God. He was only the witness to the Light, the bringer of people to God. 

Who was John the Baptist referring to when he said that the Light will be coming? Why is He called the Light? — John the Baptist was referring to Jesus Christ who is the fulfillment of the prophecy since the Old Testament time. He was called the Light because the moment sin entered the world, a wide and big chasm of darkness filled the world. We are inside that darkness and we can never see light. We are all under the bondage of sin and death and it was something we couldn’t escape. 

Since we are under the bondage of sin and death, we are all dark inside. We sin over and over again and disrespect God’s holiness because of our sinfulness. We distorted God’s creation and have not honored our body. We have always been away from God and that distance between God and us has made us subject to eternal condemnation and we are making ourselves floating inside the dark chasm. 

So, Jesus Christ came to the world, became flesh and dwelt among us. He was our light in this dark world and the bringer of our salvation. He was crucified, died and was buried. He was indeed our light and our light was sacrificed so that we will reflect His light. As Christmas is almost there, we should be reminded that Jesus Christ came to this world to become our light. He was so ready to be sacrificed for us all. 

Therefore, as Christ came to become our light and  to be sacrificed for our sins, we are also called to become like John the Baptist who is the witness of the Light. Since we are already saved and we have received Christ’s light, we are the witnesses of it and we should also proclaim to the world that the Light will be coming again. We should tell the world that the Light has overcome the darkness inside us and they can also have that Light and salvation only if they will believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and accept Him as our Lord and Savior. 

May we always remember to thank God for sending His Son as the light in this dark world. Let us all become good and effective witnesses of Christ so that we will be able to bring more people to Christ and in His salvation. We should always put in our minds the true meaning of Christmas which is the coming of the Light in this dark world. Indeed, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year and we are all reminded of the time when Jesus was born to carry all of our burdens and sins and crucify it with Him on the cross. 

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