The Light Shines in the DarknessSample

A humble witness

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness. (…) He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said.’” (John 1:6-7, 23)

The apostle John writes about another John, who was sent from God “to bear witness about the light”. He is often called “John the Baptist”, since he baptized a lot of people who repented from their sins and wanted to begin a new life with God. Even before John was born, an angel announced that he would be a special servant of God. His commission was “to make ready for the Lord a people prepared” (Luke 1:17). After his birth, his father Zechariah sang:

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

to give knowledge of salvation to his people

in the forgiveness of their sins” (Luke 1:76-77).

That was exactly what John did. He told the people to repent and to be ready for the coming of the Messiah. People wondered whether he was the Messiah himself, but John denied it. He was just a “voice”, he said. All attention should go to Jesus. Sometime later, when the crowds follow Jesus instead of John the Baptist, he commented: “Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30).

John was not focused on himself, but on Jesus. Is He your number one priority as well?