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| How John Was a Witness of Christ, and Specially of “The Light.”
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30. How John Was
a Witness of Christ, and Specially of “The
Light.”
It may be asked why we should have gone through all this
when the verse before us is, “He came for witness, that he might
bear witness of the light.” But it was necessary to give
John’s testimonies to the light, and to show the order in which
they took place, and also, in order to show how effective John’s
testimony proved, to set forth the help it afforded afterwards to those
to whom he bore it. But before all these testimonies there was an
earlier one when the Baptist leaped in the womb of Elisabeth at the
greeting of Mary. That was a testimony to Christ and attested His
divine conception and birth. And what more need I say? John
is everywhere a witness and forerunner of Christ. He anticipates
His birth and dies a little before the death of the Son of God, and
thus witnesses not only for those at the time of the birth, but to
those who were expecting the freedom which was to come for man through
the death of Christ. Thus, in all his life, he is a little before
Christ, and everywhere makes ready for the Lord a people prepared for
Him. And John’s testimony precedes also the second and
diviner coming of Christ, for we read,4774
“If ye will receive it, this is Elijah which is to come. He
that hath ears to hear let him hear.” Now, there was a
beginning, in which the Word was,—and we saw from Proverbs that
that beginning was wisdom,—and the Word was in existence, and in
the Word life was made, and the life was the light of men; and all this
being so, I ask why the man who came, sent from God, whose name was
John, why he came for witness to bear witness especially of the
light? Why did he not come to bear witness of the life, or of the
Word, or about the beginning, or
about any other of the many aspects in which Christ appears?
Consider here the texts, “The people which sat in darkness saw a
great light,” and “The light shineth in darkness, and the
darkness overtook it not,” and consider how those who are in
darkness, that is, men, have need of light. For if the light of
men shines in darkness, and there is no active power in darkness to
attain to it, then we must partake of other aspects of Christ; at
present we have no real share of Him at all. For what share have
we of life, we who are still in the body of death, and whose life is
hid with Christ in God?4775
“For
when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear
with Him in glory.” It was not possible, therefore, that he
who came should bear witness about a life which is still hid with
Christ in God. Nor did he come for witness to bear witness of the
Word, for we know the Word who was in the beginning with God and who is
God the Word; for the Word was made flesh on the earth. And
though the witness had been, at least apparently, about the Word, it
would in fact have been about the Word made flesh and not about the
word of God. He did not come, therefore, to bear witness of the
Word. And how could there be any witness-bearing about wisdom, to
those who, even if they appear to know something, cannot understand
pure truth, but behold it through a glass and in an enigma? It is
likely, however, that before the second and diviner advent of Christ,
John or Elias will come to bear witness about life a little before
Christ our life is made manifest, and that then they will bear witness
about the Word, and offer also their testimony about wisdom. Some
inquiry is necessary whether a testimony such as that of John is to
precede each of the aspects of Christ. So much for the words,
“He came for witness, to bear witness of the light.”
What we are to understand by the further words, “That all might
believe through Him,” may be considered later.
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