The Lamp (John 1:6-8)

Review

A couple of weeks ago, we began our look at the Gospel of John, mainly verses 1-5.

We saw the “Logos” in all its glory, as He is the foundational truth.

John 14:6.

We saw that the Logos was preexistent, in that Jesus had no beginning.

We saw that the Logos is deity, in that Jesus was face to face with God when the Universe was created.

We saw that the Logos was self-existent, in that Jesus gives life to all that has life.

Both eternal and physical life, as Jesus created all things.

Alongside this life, comes light. We’ll see this more and more as we go on, even tonight.

John the Baptizer: John 1:6-8.

A Man, sent from God.

There is already a stark contrast between this man, and the Logos that we learned about last week.

The Logos was “God”

This is a man from “God”.

There is prophetic significance to this man coming from God.

For over 400 years there had be “silence” from God, in that there was no official prophet sent by God to speak His Word to the People.

God sent John in the form of a prophet:

2 Chronicles 24:19; 25:15.

Jeremiah 7:25; 25:4, 5.

The People viewed John the Baptizer as a prophet:

Matthew 21:26.

Jesus taught that John the Baptizer was a prophet:

Matthew 11:9.

John the Baptizer followed the prophetic model.

Matthew 3:4. Prophets clothes and diet.

2 Kings 1:8.

Zechariah 13:4.

Matthew 3:7-12. Prophets Message.

Jeremiah 3.

The Prophet’s foretold of the coming of John the Baptizer.

We’ll talk more about it in a couple weeks, but John the Baptizer quotes Isaiah 40:3.

Malachi 4:5.

A Man, as a Witness.

The Gospel of John leaves out the description of John as “the baptist”, rather it refers to Him as a Witness.

John 1:15, 19, 32; 3:26; 5:33.

This is based on the Law of Moses

Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15.

We use this principle in church discipline matters:

Matthew 18:15-18.

1 Timothy 5:19, 20.

Jesus refers to four witnesses:

John 5:33-46.

Witness of John.

Witness of Works.

Witness of the Father.

Witness of the Word.

This follows John, the Gospel Writer’s purpose.

He wants people to believe in Jesus for eternal life.

Therefore John the Baptizer is displayed as pointing toward the Messiah.

John 1:7b.

A Man, as a Lamp.

Compared to the true light, John’s ministry was meant to be temporary.

He was not meant to always have the preeminent place that he had in 1st Century Jewish Society.

John 3:30.

Acts 19:1-3.

He was a lamp, shining the way to the true Light.

John 5:35.

“When the sun is shining in all its beauty, who are the ones that are unconscious of the fact? Who need to be told of it is shining? The blind! How tragic, then, when we read that God sent John to ‘bear witness of the Light’ How pathetic that there should be any need of this!” A.W. Pink.

Spiritual Blindness always needs the light.