Light for Every Man

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world (1:9)

What was the greatest moment in human history? The answer may differ from person to person. The traditional answer would be the discovery of fire or the invention of the wheel. A historian might refer to the flowering of the intellectual life of Greece in the 5th century B.C. Another may argue for the imposition of world law under Roman Empire. A modern person might refer to the discovery of atomic energy, to the space trip, or the invention of computer and internet.

The Light was Coming

All these moments are interesting and important. In their own way they are very significant. But no thinking Christian would ever answer the question without pointing to the greatest happening in the human history; that is Christmas! It is the day when the Creator God came into this world in the person of Jesus Christ; the day when the Almighty became so a fragile and defenseless child. Beside this event all others fade into insignificance by comparison. It is about this moment that the present text speaks when it points to the coming of Jesus during the days of John the Baptist: “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” (1:9).

A True Light

We see here two words that draw our attention. The first is the “true” light. We know from the previous verses that John had already used the word “light” to describe Jesus (vv 4-5). In this verse, he says Jesus is “the true light”. The Greek word John is using is “alethinos” (). This word means “true” not as opposed to “false” or “wrong” but as opposed to “partial” or as we would say, “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” as opposed to part of it. A better translation might be “real” or “genuine.” So we must say that the light of Jesus Christ is the real light and that all other lights are imperfect or misleading.

Too often, however, we mistake the partial lights for the real one. In this regard, even John the Baptist was not an exception. In fact he was so unique in his ministry and complimented by Jesus to be the greatest man born of women (Mt 11:11a) that there were many followers believing him to be the Light. But John without ambiguity states that he is not the light. That is why we have to read verse 9 in the context of the 3rd paragraph (verses 6-9).

Current world views can also compete for the real light. For example, the light that men followed in the 19th century was the light of “progress.” A belief in “progress” was based on the discoveries of science and diplomacy, and it was linked at least psychologically to “evolutionism” or more broadly to “atheistic materialism.” But the dream of progress burst like a bubble in the history of two world wars. Even after two great wars, people never stop in the pursuit of material prosperity. Yet, we see today the crisis of “capitalism” in the very heart of the richest country in the world. The so-called “big three” automakers and dozens of banks and finance companies go bankruptcy.

The world’s lights are not necessarily false lights. They are simply imperfect or partial lights. They don’t provide what we most need for the satisfaction of our inner hunger and thirst. But Jesus says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink”(7:37a). He also says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (8:12).

Every Man

The second important teaching in this verse is that today the Light (of our Lord) shines on every man. Here we must realize that John is writing toward the end of the 1st century (the apostolic area), and he had known the conflict that had come about as a result of preaching the gospel to the Jews.

Well, who are the Jews? They, like many modern Christians, thought that because God had blessed them they were the only ones whom God could be blessing. They looked back to their religious heritage and boasted in it. They considered the Light shed abroad to be their property exclusively. The Jew even hated the Gentiles and held that Gentiles were created for no other purpose than to be fuel for the fires of hell. But even their Bible (the Hebrew Scripture) says that Israel must be a light to the Gentiles. Yet, they had always refused their calling. The Greek would never dream that knowledge was for every man. The Roman world looked down on the barbarians, the lesser breeds without law. But Jesus came to be a light to every man so that not only the Jews but also Greeks and Romans might share in his Kingdom. Only our Lord Jesus Christ has a heart big enough to hold the entire world.

That is glorious, of course. But it also has a somber side. For we ask ourselves what happens when the light shines on everyman? We must answer, “It brings the works of darkness to light.” When Jesus came into the world, men and women hated him for existing simply because he revealed how dirty and vile they were morally. He did that then and he does that today. So if I am going to allow his light to shine on me, I immediately find myself to be at heart a child of the darkness. Then what? Shall I yield to a qualm of conscience or simply ignore and make war against it?

To answer this question, we need to recall the grim and dark picture of this country only two generations ago. According to Archibald Campbell, a longtime missionary to Korea, there was spiritual darkness until the Gospel of Christ was brought in. Men sold their daughters, their sisters, and even their wives into prostitution. Better-class women were not to be seen in the streets. Young girls had to wear great hats, made of reeds, four feet across, which completely hid their faces from view. Wife beating was common place. You could see a man dragging his wife along the street by the hair. Onlookers shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘That thing’s going to die.’ Appealing to the police proved useless because they do the same at their homes. There was little to be called integrity. Campbell goes on saying, “Selfishness is in the very physical make-up…Medicine men were in business for a living, but hospital service for the sick and afflicted was beyond comprehension. If they cannot pay for it, let’em die! Lepers were outcasts. The blind were beggars.”

But then the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ arrived, and in the space of just two generations the country began to be transformed. Values changed, and this was true even though the Light had begun to shine in only a small percentage of the whole population. How amazing!

Let’s ask ourselves again, “What happens when the light shines on everyman?” First, His coming dissipates the shadows of doubt. Until he came men could only guess about God. His coming made invisible God Visible, the untouchable God touchable. Through Jesus we know who God is and what he is like.

Secondly, his coming dissipates the shadows of despair. The Light has come to the world that was in despair. We are aware of our helplessness in necessary things. We like to do something good but do not do it. We hate our sins but cannot leave them. But with the coming of Jesus a new power came into life. He came not only with knowledge but with power. He came not only to show us the right way but also to empower us to walk in it. He gives us not only instruction but a presence where all the impossible become possible. The darkness of pessimism and despair was gone forever.

Finally, his coming dissipated the shadows of death. The ancient world feared death. To them it was at best annihilation, and at the worst it was torture by whatever god there may be. But to us, it is only a door to a larger and newer life. Because of Jesus, all bitterness of death is past for every man. Praise be to the Lord our Light! Amen.

Prayer

Our Heavenly Father, thank you again for your gathering us this time to worship you, glorify your name, and listen to your word. We also thank that you came into the world in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ to live among us so that we may see you, hear you, touch you, and talk to you. Because of you, O, Lord, we have come to know who God is and what He is like. Although you are God in nature, you became like one of us to learn obedience from what you suffered and once made perfect, you became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey God. Therefore, O, Lord, pleas empower us to love you with all our strength. Also, empower us, in this season of Christmas, to look around our neighbor who is in need. We want to be the good news to them. Yet, O, Lord, make us humble to acknowledge that we are not the Light but rather a witness to that Light. We pray also that, whenever we bear witness to you, make us bold enough to speak to others about you so that men and women might believe in you. In Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Questions to Consider

One of the key themes in <John> would be “to witness” (or to testify). What does verse 9 contribute to this theme? Can God bear witness effectively? How?

John says that Jesus is the “true” light. What does it mean by the word “true”? Does this phrase imply that there had been other lights during the ministry of John the Baptist?

Meditate on the phrase, “the light shines on every man.” What happened then when it was shining on you? What is happening now when it keeps shining on you?