If you were in church on Christmas morning, you are likely
feeling a bit of déjà vu. You are
probably asking yourself; didn’t we just hear this gospel passage from
John? No, you are not wrong. We DID just have this passage from John on
Christmas morning. So why are we hearing
it again? Because one service was simply
not enough time to devote to such an important gospel passage as this one. Indeed, a month of sermons could be based
upon this passage and still barely scratch the surface.
The beginning of John sets up a number of themes that will
run throughout his gospel, themes that are important to understanding Jesus
Christ, his ministry on earth, and the beginnings of the early church.
In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God and
the word was God. God, in all three
persons was present at the creation of the world. The book of Genesis tells us that the earth
was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, and the Spirit
of God swept over the face of the waters.
Here we have God the Father, the Word Jesus who was with God and who was
God, and the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. John helps us to understand the three aspects
of the Trinity, the triune nature of God as all present and acting to create
the world and bring about life.
“What has come into being in him was life, and the life was
the light of all people.” Life and light
are major focuses of John’s teaching. So
too is the concept of witness. “There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
John the Baptist was sent by God to be a witness to the light.” The gospel is quite clear, “He came to
testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to
testify to the light.”
There had been no prophet in Israel for 400 years. And then John appeared, preaching a message
of repentance and return to the Lord.
Even though he was very odd, dressing funny, eating strange food and
spending a lot of time in the desert, his message resonated with the people. And the people responded. They came from far and wide to be baptized by
John. John was seen by some as a prophet
and by others as potentially the Messiah himself.
John the Baptist would not allow this idea to gain any
traction. He was extremely clear that he
was NOT the long awaited Messiah. He
told all that he had been sent simply to prepare the way of the one who would
come after him, the one who would be so far above him that John would not be
fit to even untie the thong of his sandal.
“This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me
because he was before me.” How could he
come after him and yet be before him?
John the Baptist is echoing the idea that John is expounding in the
gospel that Jesus is the Word; the Word who was with God at the creation of the
world and was therefore long before John the Baptist.
Saint Andrew, one of the twelve apostles, was also a witness
to Jesus. He traveled with him, ate with
him, heard him teaching in the synagogue and saw the miracles that Jesus
performed. While he was a witness to all
of this, he is not one of the better known disciples. Unlike Peter or James, Andrew merits only
occasional mention in the gospels. But
these mentions are very telling. Each
time Andrew appears, he is introducing someone to Jesus. Andrew is the one who introduces his brother
Peter to Jesus, and at the feeding of the 5,000, do you remember where the
loaves and fishes come from? They are
brought by a small boy, a boy who is introduced to Jesus by Andrew. Andrew has a special role in bringing people
to Christ and he is a witness to the light, but he is clearly not the
light. And the same is true of John the
Baptist. He is aware of the light, but
is also quite clear that he is Not the light.
The light of the world, the light that broke the darkness is Jesus.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into
the world. The life was the light of all
people. In both of these statements,
John is saying something quite revolutionary.
For unlike much of the Old Testament, unlike themes from other religious
traditions, John is telling us that Jesus came into the world not simply for
the Jews, but for everyone. All people,
Jew and gentile, roman and Greek, slave and free; Jesus came for them all.
The ancient world was full of hatreds and distrusts. The Jews hated the Gentiles. The Romans hated the Jews. The rich hated the poor and the feeling was
very much reciprocated. All felt that
God was for them, and only them. Some Priests
made a living by feeding into this idea and reinforcing the idea that each of
them was God’s elect, that God had a special relationship with them and only
them. And into this realm comes Jesus
Christ, God himself, preaching a message of grace, compassion, and love. Not just for some, not just for those who
looked like them, or talked like them, or thought like them, but for everyone.
This Jesus who ate with sinners, healed lepers, conversed
with women, tax collectors, and Samaritans; this man came to bring light to all
people, not just some people. This was
unheard of in the ancient world and was further proof that God himself had come
into the world. But many did not
understand it, and, as often happens when something is misunderstood, they
feared it.
We see this in today’s world as well. Many religions seem to speak and act as
though God is there for them and only them.
Even among the Christian churches it can be difficult to find agreement
on who is and is not saved by Jesus Christ.
It is this sad tendency to exclude some while including others that has
been with us since the beginning of time.
But that is not why Jesus came. This
is what Paul is saying to the Galatians.
The early church in Galatia was deeply concerned about the presence of
Gentiles in the church and there was great conflict about whether these people
must become Jews in order to be followers of Christ. Paul’s answer to this is the same as in
John’s gospel; that the light of the world came for all people, not just for
some.
We face similar issues in our churches today. There are those who would have the church be
only for people who agree with them, or people who look like them, or people
who think like them. But that is
inconsistent with the message of God, the incarnate light to the world. He
didn’t come to save just the Episcopalians, or the Jews or the Muslims. He came to save us all. John is very clear that Jesus is the light of
ALL people, not just some. Let us always
keep that in mind, let that light shine in your hearts, and never let the
darkness overcome it.
