Advent 3

The Expositor’s Greek Testament, Volume I (Matthew–John): Commentary Chapter 1

But to this question also John answers οὐκ εἰμί, because the Jews expected Elias in person, so that although our Lord spoke of the Baptist as Elias (Mt. 17:10–13), John could not admit that identity without misleading them. If people need to question a great spiritual personality, replies in their own language will often mislead them. Another alternative presented itself: ὁ προφήτης εἶ σύ; “art thou the prophet?” viz., the prophet promised in Deut. 18:15, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, like unto me”. Allusion is made to this prophet in four places in this Gospel, the present verse and ver. 25 of this chapter; also in 6:14 and 7:40. That the Jews did not see in this prophet the Messiah would appear from the present verse, and also from 7:40: “Some said, Of a truth this is the prophet; others said, This is the Christ”. The Jews looked for “a faithful prophet” (1 Macc. 14:41) who was to terminate the prophetic period and usher in the Messianic reign. But after Peter, as recorded in Acts 3:22, applied the prophecy of Deut. to Christ, the Christian Church adopted this interpretation. The use of the prophecy by Christ Himself justified this. But the different interpretations thus introduced gave rise to some confusion, and as Lightfoot points out, none but a Jew contemporary with Christ could so clearly have held the distinction between the two interpretations. (See Deane’s Pseudepig., p. 121; Wendt’s Teaching of Jesus, E. Tr., i., 67; and on the relation of “the prophet” to Jeremiah, see Weber, p. 339.) To this question also John answered “No”; “quia Prophetis omnibus erat praestantior” (Lampe). This negation is explained by the affirmation of ver. 23. Thus baffled in all their suggestions the deputies ask John to give them some positive account of himself, that they might not go back to those who sent them without having accomplished the object of their mission. To this second τίς εἶ; τί λέγεις περὶ σεαυτοῦ; (ver. 23) he replies in words made familiar by the Synoptists, ἐγώ φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ … ὁ προφήτης; John applies to himself the words of Is. 40:3, blending the two clauses ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου and εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν into one: εὐθύνατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου. By appropriating this prophetic description John identifies himself as the immediate precursor of the Messiah; and probably also hints that he himself is no personage worthy that inquiry should terminate on him, but only a voice.

, (NIV) 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ” 24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” 28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

How important is light? A photographer will go at length describing the type of light available based on its source whether it is natural, fluorescent, tungsten, full daylight, cloudy, etc. He will also talk about the direction it is coming from and how long the exposure is, the aperture setting, the shutter speed etc. Understanding light is key to great photography.

How important is light? A photographer will go at length describing the type of light available based on its source whether it is natural, fluorescent, tungsten, full daylight, cloudy, etc. He will also talk about the direction it is coming from and how long the exposure is, the aperture setting, the shutter speed etc. Understanding light is key to great photography.

Having a dependable source of light at night is important if you are traveling on the highway or just traveling through your hallway to another room in the middle of the night. Businesses depend on good outside lighting to ward off criminals.

Light is essential in reading whether it illuminates the pages of the book or that light source comes from a screen.

God must think that light is important too. It is one of the first things he created. Interestingly, he created light before he created the sources of light. Light was created before the stars!

During this Christmas season, you may use lights in special ways such as lighting your homes, a Christmas tree, candles, etc showing how important light is in those ways.

One of the properties of light is that it shows us the way. It is this property of light that we will consider today. John the Baptist was not the light but he showed the way to the Light of the World. Jesus is the Light of the World. He shows us the way to God the Father and salvation.

Our text is selected verses from . We do well to consider the missing verses from that chapter as well. John begins with some important statements about Jesus Christ. (highlight)

John 1:1–14 NIV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John teaches us about the origins of Jesus. Before he came to earth he existed as true God from all eternity. He was present at creation. God made all things through him. He is described as the Word for just as words reveal information, Jesus revealed who God the Father is to mankind.

Jesus is also called the light of all mankind. Here the emphasis is also on the revealing nature of Jesus. Just as light which shines in the darkness reveals what is there, so too Jesus came to those in spiritual darkness to reveal the true nature of God.

John then continues by writing about another John — John the Baptist. As we were reminded last week and is expanded on more today, the work of John the Baptist was to prepare the way for Jesus. He also came to be a witness as to who Jesus.

Jesus benefitted from others talking about him. As I said last week, Jesus had grown up in relative obscurity. There was nothing he did out of the ordinary that would have had people take notice and wonder who he might be. But even after he started his ministry, not everyone agreed on who Jesus was. Just as people questioned John the Baptist as to who he was, recall Jesus’ own question near the end of his ministry and the different opinions that people had. John’s summary here is valid — sort of a precursor as it were.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

(NIV)

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Here is a conflict that is seen often in the Gospel and which has a good explanation. On this occasions (and others like it), the disciples are told not to say Jesus is the Messiah. But when John the Baptist testified about Jesus, he said he was the Messiah. (NIV)

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

Several verses later Andrew tells Peter “We have found the Messiah.”

Why the conflict? Depended on popular opinion as to what the Messiah would come to do. When it was to be a political king, then don’t spread the word. But if it was to emphasize his spiritual kingdom, then by all means. This is what John the Baptist did.

John 1:33–34 NIV

33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

And so we see the nature of light here. Jesus, the true light was coming into the world to reveal God the Father to us and so that we might believe. John served as a reflective light to reveal Jesus as the Messiah to us.

It is this person that John came to introduce people to. Although there was a lot of interest in John, he was very humble and deflected attention to himself. Like the moon which has not light of its own but only reflects the light of the sun, John’s mission was to reflect the light of the Son, Jesus, by using the attention given to him to deflect it to the coming of Jesus.

John did draw attention to himself. His appearance and his message drew large crowds. Some were genuinely interested in who he was. Others were suspicious. Recall how he answered the inquiries of the Jews (describe).

Later, Jesus would refer to his followers as lights. He says we are the light of the world? As lights of the world, what is our purpose?

Later, Jesus would refer to his followers as lights. He says we are the light of the world? As lights of the world, what is our purpose?

Not to be narcissists and point to how great we are.

We are to be like the moon which reflects the light of Jesus. Our goal is to point people to Jesus.

Application: Sometimes, we meet new people. I know that often we get into a pattern and it seems that we seldom meet new people or make new friends. Test? Consider who you exchange Christmas cards with. Is it the same year after year or are there new cards because in the past year you met some new people? When we meet someone new, we have an opportunity to tell them a little bit about ourselves — a lot about our Savior. Can we not use the as an opportunity to testify to the light, the true light who shines in the darkness?

Ephesians 5:8–17 NIV

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

John did draw attention to himself. His appearance and his message drew large crowds. Some were genuinely interested in who he was. Others were suspicious. Recall how he answered the inquiries of the Jews (describe).