Saturday, February 14, 2009
John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
THE LIGHT OF MEN
Scripture invites us to pursue knowledge and discover what is around us in all the exciting mysteries God has hidden in life. We can pursue science, medicine, art, literature and politics, and all that is right. But there is something more. If that is all we have, life at that level is narrow, cramped and limited, and we can never understand what is really happening.
It is only as we come to the level of divine light, to the Spirit-given understanding coming from the lips of Jesus through the Scriptures, that we begin to put all the pieces together. Only then can we see who we are, why we are here, and get the answers to the puzzles and conundrums of life.
So when John introduces his gospel, he wants us to understand this: the One he is going to talk about, this amazing man from Nazareth, is God himself somehow become a Man. He is the Creator become part of his creation. He is the Originator of life and of wisdom who somehow limited himself to learning as a little child, growing and partaking with us in the search for truth, and at last manifesting the fullness of it in his resurrected power.
This is the One who is at the center of our faith and of all things. Every human being sooner or later must deal with Jesus of Nazareth. He is the ultimate crisis in every human life.
It was John's prayer that through the message he brought to others, many would put their faith in Jesus as the Son of God and their Savior. May that be our prayer as well. And our work. For the light we have received, the life that is ours through Jesus Christ, that is not intended just for us. Amen.
