John 1:6-8 Unveiling The Witness To The Light

05.10.08 John 1:6-8 (NASB)

Audio Sermon File: John-1:6-8

Going Deeper: Study Guide

Unveiling The Witness To The Light

Imagine if you were walking down the street and in the near distance - there was a man approaching you. What would you think if this man was loudly proclaiming rebuke, cursing, and used very strong language? Would you think he was a drunkard? Mentally deranged? Strung out on Meth? Would you think that God would have anything to do with such a man?
Today we are going to meet a man whom on the surface could be mistakenly put into the fore-mentioned category. But the man that I am alluding to was certainly no addict - no a drunkard, and in fact he had never had any wine or fermented drink. He was sober and his mind was sharp, for from birth he was "filled with the Holy Spirit."

The Man that I have been speaking about also had a unique outward appearance, being dressed in a garment made from camels hair, strapped on with a leather belt. A man that worked in the great outdoors. A man that was living off a unique diet - consisting of locusts and wild honey - the common diet of the poor.

This takes us to the starting point of this our message as we unveil God’s witness to His Light - His Son Jesus Christ. We also will examine the call for each one of us as Christians to be a witness to the Light.

Let us meet this man - from the Gospel of John. Please turn to the Gospel of John chapter 1 verse 6-8 - it reads: There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the Light, but [he came] to testify about the Light.

John was "The Witness to the Light." He prepared the way for the Word - Jesus Christ. And today we will discover the mission God prepared for him. Through 3 aspects of John’s ministry we will understand why God sent John ahead of Christ. And in understanding John the Baptist’s calling - may it be a reminder of the Lord’s calling upon each of our lives as Christians.

The first aspect of John’s ministry could be summarized as the presentation of the witness: There came a man sent from God, whose name was John - v.6

As we begin verse 6 there is a sudden shift from the heavenly exaltation of the character and nature of Jesus Christ - as the eternal - self existent - exalted creator, God…. to a special man - yet only a mere mortal and nothing more. This witness is none other than John the Baptist.
All 4 Gospels make reference to John the Baptist, and he is even referred to in the Book of Acts. Now we have the historical appearance of John the Baptist as undeniable evidence as to the nature of Christ expressed in the first 5 verses. Allow me to paint a profile of John the Baptist for you.

John the Baptist is one of the NT’s most mysterious figures. With John the Baptist’s arrival, it signified the end of nearly 400 years of silence between the OT and NT. There was no revelations from God nor His prophets. And now through John the Baptist - Israel was about to once again to experience God’s powerful Word. John the Baptist was born through the miraculous intervention of God, to a childless couple, Zacharias and Elizabeth, who were advanced in years (Lk. 1:7). John’s birth was foretold in a supernatural way - one of God’s angels, named Gabriel, came and announced his birth (Lk. 1:11-25). As an interesting side note - the angel Gabriel is the same angel that announces Christ’s birth. John the Baptist was a relative of Jesus Christ (Lk. 1:36). His ministry was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah of the OT about 700 years in advance (Is. 40:3-5; Lk.3:4-6). John the Baptist, was a herald, who prepared the way for the Messiah calling all to repent (Lk. 3:3). He proclaimed God’s wrath upon the unrepentant. He revealed that he baptized with water, and the One that would follow him would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Lk. 3:16). John the Baptist ministered in the spirit and power of God, a lot like the prophet Elijah. There is more about John the Baptist, but we will leave that for a little bit later.

At this point I want to draw your attention back at verse 6, and look at the word - sent. The emphasis of the sentence, is on that word ‘sent’ - meaning that John was commissioned - and under someone’s authority to reveal the truth. John was - sent - by God by divine commission and under His authority - and as a result, everything that John spoke of - regarding the Word of God… Jesus Christ - was true and life changing.

As we apply this passage into our own life, we must understand that as a Christian we share something in common with John the Baptist - and that is that - like you and me too - we must acknowledge that:

1. I Am Sent Out By God

For we are sent out by God to accomplish the full scope of the Great Commission. We have been sent by Divine commission - under the authority of Jesus Christ - "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matt. 28:19-20 NIV).

For some of us it is in our family, others it in your high school or university campus - and for the rest it could be at the workplace, shopping mall, on the bus - wherever there are people to interact with. And in light of the applicational aspect of today’s sermon - I ask you to consider - how much of the Great Commission has been worked out in your life since you became a Christian?

It is only in the dependence upon the Holy Spirit, like John the Baptist, and the outworking of our calling that we can have courage and boldness to be sent out by God - to call all to repentance and to make that spiritual turn about in their lives - a 180 away from unrighteousness - to a sincere and humble response to Jesus Christ’s salvation and righteousness. May we be like an Isaiah - that we be reminded of his calling and response - we read from: Isaiah 6:8 - Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

And we know that Isaiah was faithful as God sent him right into a very spiritually dire situation in his nation where the people would reject his warnings and exhortations - his calling and the Word of God.

God sent His witness, John the Baptist to arrive on the scene before Christ as a witness to the Messiah. Therefore John had a distinct calling which gives us the purpose of the witness:
He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him (v.7).

Laid out in our verses today we have the human agent God uses as His witness, to testify about the Light - a witness to the TRUTH of the light, that would follow his ministry. The subject of ‘witness’ - as we find in our verses this day, is another one of the main themes contained in the Gospel. What we have going on, beginning in verse 7 is the emphasis of John the Baptist being a witness. The scene can be likened to a courtroom setting - with John the Baptist - being ‘A Witness to the Light’ - he is now introduced as a star witness, and he prepares to step into the witness stand to give his testimony.

What was the purpose of John the Baptist’s witness? The purpose of the witness was to testify to who Jesus Christ is - and we had a glimpse of who Jesus is, the last 2 lessons. In the preceding context of chapter 1 of this Gospel - John the Baptist was a ‘witness’ of Jesus Christ who - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ….. That Christ is eternally the light - the Creator and life giver. Christ has priority over creation, and we are part of His creation. Therefore He has the ultimate authority over each one of us. If Jesus Christ did not exist then we also would not exist, since Jesus Christ is the source of all things which came into being.

John’s the Baptists purpose as a witness was to point out that true life is found only in Jesus Christ because all things exist in Him; He is the cause, source, granter, and preserver of all life.
In Jesus Christ there is a special relationship to mankind, because we are the pinnacle of His creation - we are made in God’s image. But sin damaged this special relationship and we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Because of this Jesus Christ was sent to us so that some would be saved by Him through His voluntary and sacrificial death on the cross as payment of our debt of sins … and three days later His resurrection from the dead - effected for those who believe - eternal life.

Jesus Christ desires that we come to Him as our Light, through the repentance of our sins and entering a personal relationship with Him. True hope and ultimate victory in our lives is found only in Jesus Christ the Word. So it is as we look back to verse 7 - that God purposed through John the Baptist’s testimony - that all might believe - this is John’s purpose as a witness.

In verses 7 and 8, the emphasis is on the - witness. So the focus of these verses is not the person of John the Baptist - but it is the message that he bears that is important. A witness is important in establishing the truth and that is what John the Baptist functions as. John the Baptist’s preaching prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah: Mark 1:1-4:


The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: "Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, `Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.' " 4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

John’s purpose was to prepare and point people to Jesus Christ. John The Baptist confronted people with the message that they, and likewise us today - that you need to take a stand - to make a decision - acceptance or rejection - a response to faith or a response to continued faithlessness in Christ. This is the ‘Purpose of the Witness.’ Now it comes to our purpose as believers - and you and me must understand that like John the Baptist’s calling -

2. I Am Called To A Purpose


As a faithful Christian who walks by the Spirit - you are to be disciple makers - Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. The key verb in the Great Commission is not ‘GO’- but it is ‘MAKE’ - that is we are to be purposefully engaged in evangelism to make disciples of all the nations. We can’t say that God doesn’t need us to be involved in this noble task. As we understand Jesus’ words to His disciples - and by extension that includes you and me - we certainly cannot escape the fact that the Great Commission is a command - it is a Divine imperative - to MAKE disciples - and Jesus provides the means to fulfill His command.
This is through the Spirit of Truth - who is powerful alone for the task of witness - and He is the only One who can convict a sinner of the truth - but God calls us to a purpose - and that is to partner with Him in this venture. John the Baptist was given a specific function - and with the Holy Spirit’s help - he was to be - a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.

This is what Merrill C. Tenney wrote: "Without the witness of the Spirit, the disciples’ witness would be powerless; without the disciples’ witness, the Spirit would be restricted in his means of expression."

So far we have examined the presentation and purpose of John the Baptist - and we have been exhorted to know that - I am sent out by God - and that - I am called to a purpose… Now let us complete the portrait of "A Witness to the Light" and examine the proclamation of the witness…. He was not the Light, but [he came] to testify about the Light (v.8).

John was only the forerunner to Christ therefore - He was not the light. He called people to repent - calling people to have a change in their personal being. A change that was in preparation of meeting JC, the Son of God , the Messiah - who was about to be unveiled to the world in His public ministry.

As a side note - it would be helpful to understand what repentance means Biblically. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia. "Meta" has the same meaning in the English as the Greek, it means change. "Noia" is Greek for mind . So when we put these words together, the basic meaning of repentance is a change of mind. The picture of repentance in the Bible, is more than just an intellectual change. It encompasses more, and includes a change in a persons thought and will. The emphasis of Biblical repentance is the persons decision for the whole of himself to be changed.

John the Baptist appeared as ‘A Witness to the Light’ in order that God use him to preach a baptism of repentance . (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:4). The symbolism of John’s Baptism likely had it’s roots in OT purification rituals (Lev.15:13). John’s baptism indicated that a person had repented; he had changed his mind about his sin and his relationship with God. It was a public way of saying, "Through God’s grace I have taken a 180 degree turn towards God - I have changed my mind about my sinfulness. I now look at sin in the same way that God views my sin. I am a sinner and I cast myself on God’s mercy and His salvation to prepare me for the coming Messiah." As a result he was now intentionally and actively submitting himself to God and His Word for cleansing and forgiveness. It was a repentance that had to be demonstrated with a changed life in preparation for Jesus Christ, the coming Messiah.

Jews accepting John’s baptism were taking a bold step of faith. These Jews were admitting that they had been living like Gentiles - enemy pagans devoid of any spiritual life - unclean - blasphemers - God haters. So these Jews who came to John for baptism, were by their very actions - publicly - declaring their need to become the true people of God - genuinely, inwardly. This was an amazing admission by a Jew, because there existed a strong animosity toward the Gentiles by the Jewish nation - Gentiles were unclean - they were blasphemers - God haters.
John’s baptism dealt with those who were yet to come to faith in Christ, since Christ’s earthly ministry had not begun. The baptism that we observe today is different from John’s baptism. What we as a church observe is commonly called - ‘believer’s baptism’ - since it is administered to us as believers who have been forgiven of our sins in Jesus Christ before we are baptized. It is an expression of obedience to Christ for the salvation He has granted us. It is often said that our baptism is - ‘an outward sign of inward grace.’

The "Proclamation of the Witness" was a call to repentance. As we move on to the end of our passage in verse 8 - we now find out - the hard part of John the Baptist’s calling which was - to testify about the Light.

Now let us return and finish our profile of John the Baptist. Because of John’s ministry among the common people - it resulted in his notoriety. But among the political and religious authorities, he received mixed reviews - largely negative - rather than positive. John the Baptist was a forthright man and did not care for political correctness, but instead he spoke God’s truth. And in the end his bluntness in dispensing the truth - pricked the consciences of those who oppose Christ - and the preached truth became a threat to the authorities, which landed him in prison (Lk. 3:20). In the end John the Baptist’s life was suddenly terminated by a wicked plot. He was executed - his head being decapitated and displayed on a platter at a birthday party before all the guests (Matt. 14:6-11).

The hard part that many of us neglect in our Christian calling - is in the realm of Christ’s instruction that we are to bear witness for Him - meaning that you and:

3. I Must Be A Witness To The Light.

We are all to be engaged in evangelism - missions - the Great Commission. Yet their is an inherent - high cost - of being a witness for Christ like John the Baptist. If you look at the word testify - in verse 8 (witness in the NIV). In the Greek - we find something very interesting - we find that the word - testify comes from the root word martureo (also the words witness and testify in verse 7). And that word martureo is where we get the modern day English word martyr from. A person was given the title of a martyr - because that person was called to die for their uncompromising testimony concerning someone.

A martyr is someone who gives their life up for a cause - called to die for their uncompromising testimony - and in the context of John the Baptist - that cause was for the sake of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - as it states in verse 7 - so that through him all men might believe. John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ and that included - as Luke 3:18 states - So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people. You and I must - testify about the Light - despite the inherent cost. And we can be faithful in carrying out the Great Commission because we are not alone - because we have the Helper - the Holy Spirit of truth. When we read the other 3 Gospels we find that despite persecution the disciples were able to be bold - courageous in evangelism. For example - in Matthew 10:16-22 - let me read that to you.
Jesus is instructing His disciples as He is about to send them out to preach - that the Kingdom of God is at hand:

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 "But beware of men, for they will hand you over to [the] courts and scourge you in their synagogues; 18 and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 "But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. 20 "For it is not you who speak, but [it is] the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. 21 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father [his] child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 "You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

What Jesus is saying is that if His disciples remain faithful to their calling - and as they go to the ends of the earth to proclaim the Gospel - they are going to be put under the gun - under intense scrutiny, rejected, pressured to renounce their Lord - they will be persecuted and even put to death for the sake of the Gospel - because the world loves sin and hates God.


And in Acts 5 as Peter and the other apostles - who were imprisoned for preaching the Gospel - after being providentially released from prison by an angel - they continued to courageously proclaim the Gospel - let me pick up and read from Acts 5:29:

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. 30 "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. 31 "He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. 32 "And we are witnesses of these things; and [so is] the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him."

We must be witnesses - to testify about the Light - it is a non-negotiable. The witness of Jesus’ disciples - and likewise every Christian - is also powerful because it is through our redeemed and transformed lives that the world can have tangible evidence that Christ is able to save people from their sins.

Therefore through our changed lives in Christ - and our faithfulness to Him - the world’s rejection of Christ would be refuted. So it is then - that the indwelling Spirit of God - in each believer of Christ - you are fully equipped with the spiritual tools - so that you can be a partner in the Gospel. You are energized by the Holy Spirit to be bold in proclaiming the truth.

Isn’t it true that the best lessons are through doing? So may we prove ourselves to be doers of the Word, and not merely hearers (Js. 1:22) and therefore feel the full effects of the power of God’s Word being worked out in our lives - and see the Gospel changing lives. So let us be exhorted today that we can have courage to share the Gospel because we have the sure testimony of the Word of God before us. And so it is - that we are responsible to bring to bear upon the world the knowledge of Christ’s saving grace and love. John the Baptist had a special purpose given to him by God, who sent him to His people - he was to be A WITNESS TO THE LIGHT.

May we also be truth bearers this week as the Lord sends us out to be His witnesses.



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Exegetical Note:
In the Gospel of John, the Apostle John never mentions that the John, that he is writing about, is John the Baptist. The reason for this is that the Apostle never states his own name - as he always made reference to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." It has been already granted that the, John, that the Apostle now is writing about - is well known to the audience of the Gospel. Therefore the only other John that is of major significance is John the Baptist. All 4 Gospels make reference to John the Baptist, and he is even referred to in the Book of Acts.


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John the Baptist like the Apostles of Christ were credible in their witness because they had been eyewitnesses to the truth - and had personal knowledge of Christ from the beginning of His earthly ministry. As the Apostle John wrote in his letter 1 John 1:1-4:

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life-- 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

And so this witness now comes to us through the testimony of the Holy Scripture. Jesus comes into our sin darkened world, as God veiled in human flesh, because as the life giver - He is the Light of the world. And Jesus never ceases to shine as the Light of the word. John the Baptist’s purpose as a witness was to establish the fact that Jesus Christ is the only one who is able to take away the spiritual darkness in our lives. Only Jesus Christ can overcome the power of the darkness of evil and sin. The life giver - the Word of God - Jesus Christ, who made all things is worthy to be trusted with our character and lives as we turn to Him for the complete forgiveness of our sins.


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What have we learned through this lesson? To sum things up we find that the Apostle was careful in distinguishing that John the Baptist was not the light (Messiah) but that he was only ‘The Witness To The Light’ - sent by God. John was the witness to God’s unfolding plan of redemption in Jesus Christ - like the function of a lamp which is to let the light be seen and that was John the Baptist’s role was. The purpose of John the Baptist’s witness is the same as the central purpose of the Gospel which is found in 20:31: but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. Therefore the only true Light is found in Jesus Christ, and that true meaning and purpose in life is not found in ourselves, from others, or even in things, but it is only found in Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist was not the light. But he was the forerunner to Jesus Christ who is the light of the world, offering eternal life to those who would follow Him. What is the bottom line of John’s witness? He is telling us that JC is the only true Savior, none that came before Him or after Him - despite their claims they are not the "real thing."

(For a full explanation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - click here - http://www.doihaveeternallife.blogspot.com/)
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