The Gospel of John - Part 5 (Jan 13 2013)

Summary of "A Man Sent From God"

In John 1:5, the Apostle John wrote: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

John could have identified a long list of examples of darkness NOT overcoming light. After all, he was drawing on more than 50 years of reflecting on Jesus’ life and teachings in connection with Old Testament Scriptures and the writings of Paul and others. So there are many other examples he could have called to mind to illustrate darkness NOT being able to extinguish the light despite its best efforts. For example, John could have been thinking of...

• God’s providence  in preparing both the Jewish and Greek/Roman worlds for  the coming of the Messiah
• the actual entrance of the Messiah into the world
• the perseverance of Jesus through the rejection of the Jews, the betrayal of Judas, the suffering and death by crucifixion
• Jesus’ triumph over death through resurrection
• how some believed, though many rejected, and were given “the right to become sons of God”
• the church thriving through persecution and the deaths of its earliest leaders (by the time John wrote, many of them had already been martyred)
• the promise of Jesus’ return (in other words, that there is more to the plan yet to be implemented; the current is not the last chapter in the story)

All of these most certainly illustrate that the light first promised is still shining. Darkness has NOT overcome it. And John could have written about these, but instead, he writes: "There was a man sent from God whose name was John.”

I love the way John juxtaposes this introduction with the claim that light is still shining in this dark world. In other words, John the Apostle makes this point: God’s sending of John the Baptist illustrates ways in which light continues to shine in this dark world. Here are four ways this is so:

• Through the unfolding of God’s plan
• Through God calling and commissioning ordinary people to make remarkable contributions to light shining through darkness
• Through God calling and directing people to bear witness of the light (not to upstage it)
• Through people responding to the light that is given with faith and with God-given passion to do what is right

God could choose you or me. He could call you, me, or all of us to play remarkable roles in his plan, roles beyond what we might ever imagine, roles profoundly  reminiscent of other greatly used men and women of God, in some cases, even those men and women who were so greatly used themselves, about whom we read in the Bible. With this in mind, here are two ways to begin applying today’s study, ways you can begin to participate and perhaps even play a remarkable role in light shining in darkness and the darkness NOT overcoming:



1. Humbly recognize that like John the Baptist you too are a product of God’s power and grace. Even if you really are named after Elijah or Moses or Joshua, humbly recognize God’s power and grace at work in your life to make your life an example of light still shining in darkness. This is God’s will for you: to be a light shining in the darkness. Jesus said: “You are the light of the world.”

2. Be yourself (you don’t have to become someone else, even someone like Elijah or Moses or Joshua), but invest your identity in:

• trust in the Lord and obedience to him;
• God’s cal and commission to serve as light in a dark world;
• demonstrations of God’s power, on display in your life through your service and sanctification as an ordinary person