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. ~ John 1:6-8
John the Baptist, the one predicted in Isaiah 40:3 as coming to "prepare the way of the Lord" now comes into the picture. His ministry was to set the stage for the coming of the truth, the Lord Jesus Himself. God chose to send Jesus' slightly older cousin, by six months, to bear witness to His arrival on the earth.
God knew exactly when John needed to be born, though it didn’t make sense to his aging parents at the time, Elizabeth and Zechariah. Elizabeth had been barren for many years; she was old when she became pregnant with John. Yet, God’s timing was not late or early; it was right on time.
According to Luke 1:5,36, Elizabeth was a descendant of Israel's first high priest, Aaron and a cousin of Jesus' mother, Mary. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was a priest who served in the temple in Jerusalem. This made John the Baptist of priestly descent.
John the Baptist's arrival was a fulfillment of prophecies which spoke of a voice in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1) who would come in the spiritual power of Elijah (Malachi 4:5).
John was sent to testify to the light. As soon as Jesus came, God prepared and sent a human being right alongside the light to bear witness to the light. God did not need John the Baptist to make Him known. Neither does He need you and me. I believe that He wants us, therefore He includes us. The implications of this are deep. He doesn't need us, He wants us.
John the Baptist identified the light; he told men who it was, because the Lord Jesus did not look like light. This is why people did not recognize Him as Messiah. He needed a witness. And, John downplayed his own importance. He denied himself and preached Christ. As a result, people came out to the hot desert to hear the one who was there to prepare the way of the Lord.
In v.7 we read that John came as a witness. The word used here for witness is martyreÅ. We get our word martyr from this Greek word. It is fitting that this word was chosen by God to describe the one who would later say, "less of me and more of Him (the Lord Jesus). This is what happens before we enter into the world of effective witnessing, we lose sight of ourselves in the One identified as the light. It is translated “testimony” in some translations. It isn’t just our words that introduce people to the Lord Jesus. It’s our whole life. God uses our yielded lives to point others to His Son.
Someone once said, "people do not care what you know until they know that you care." This is such an instructive quote when it comes to being a witness of the Lord Jesus. Our lives are a testimony to who God is and how He works in our lives. We do not have to try to “be witnesses” because we already are. If we have faith in the Lord Jesus, we are witnesses to His life.
John the Baptist came as a witness to the light which is something that reveals something else. John the Baptist didn’t even introduce people to God. He simply introduced them to the light who revealed who God was. Perhaps being a witness is simpler than we think.
Finally, according to v.7, "He (John) came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him (the Lord Jesus) all might believe." Notice: "through him," not on him. The aim of his testimony was that we all believe on the Lord Jesus. John's whole life pointed to the truth and worth of the One who was to come after him, the Lord Jesus Christ . This gospel was written so that we would believe on Jesus and on Jesus alone.
