The Witness

The Witness [∞]

▸ ± Joh 1:6-13 There was a man sent from God, whose name [was] John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all [men] through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but [was sent] to bear witness of that Light. 9 [That] was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The doctrinal pattern of Two has been well established in the previous gospels. Notice that John is the only one not to call John the Baptist 'the Baptist'. If anyone needed to distinguish himself from the Baptist, it would be John. John the Baptist did not testify that Jesus was the Light, or the Holiness of God. He testified that he was the Word and the Lamb of God. The purpose of John's gospel is to declare that Jesus is the Holy God. The Baptist testified to Christ in the flesh, and John testified to Christ in the mystery. Christ is the 'Elohim'. John is the only gospel author who identifies Jesus as the Light.

Neither John is the light. This is an important declaration in the context of a growing Gnostic contingent which understands Light to represent knowledge. John's writings have been mistakenly considered to be Gnostic by some. Up front he separates himself from such things. Though he will reveal many mysteries, he is not the light.

Now, this may seem like a heresy to those who are indoctrinated by the Nicolaitans. In one sense, Jesus in the flesh was not the greatest teacher, John was. Jesus taught a lot but no one understood him. He died alone, abandoned by his best students. John revealed the hidden mysteries of Christ. Jesus did not come to be a great teacher and model. By his perfect life (his holiness represented by light) he condemned us, having faced the same temptations without sin. He removed our excuses. Jesus came to be the culmination of all revelation, joining Holiness a Love in a perfect display of the character of the Father on the cross. But the apostles, and WE are his teachers. Jesus did not "Teach the World to Sing". We, now being made in his likeness in the flesh, are now the 'word' of God as he is the 'Word' of God.

The Baptist, is part of the First and Second Son Theme. The first son represents the flesh, the second the Spirit. The first loses his inheritance, the second gains it. Haran and Abram, Abram and Abraham. Ishmael and Isaac. Esau and Jacob. Jacob and Israel, Saul and David, Elijah and Elisha... it is a long list which includes John and Jesus, Adam and Jesus. The first son is not the light. The second son is made Holy and obtains the inheritance.

"The world knew him not" sounds redundant to "his own received him not" but they are opposite sayings. The world did not 'know' Jesus in 'marriage'. The Hebrew word for marriage is also 'doctrine'. Jesus was untouched by the teaching of the world though he was in the world. He is the untaught teacher, the unleavened bread. His own did not receive his teaching, they did not receive him.

Those who were his own did not receive him... but they were still his own. Those the Father gave to him eventually come to him, but not until after the cross. 'As many as received him; these are not ones given to him by the Father. Jesus said he only came for the Jews, but then also saved Gentiles. In the flesh he chose to save the Jews and not judge them at the Wedding in Cana. Later he chose to save the Gentiles when a woman wanted the crumbs from the table.

John is properly using the male gender... 'sons of God' as those who understand. There are no 'daughters of God, nor female angels because all the males in the Bible represent Christ (remember the coffee drinkers?) and all the women represent the church, his bride, those who are taught by Christ. The woman was deceived. The woman is taught by her husband. The silly oath of a woman can be cancelled by her husband. He gave us power to be sons who understand God.

We can become sons "IF" we believe on his name. There is nothing magic in that. His name is not a mantra or secret passsword. In Hebrew 'name' also means reputation. Do we believe in his reputation? Do we believe in the finished work of the cross? When we pray in his name, we are praying in his reputation. We don't pray for vengeance, but for mercy and love for our enemies. We don't pray for junk. We pray that we can be free from junk to follow him. And though we may pray to remove the cup of suffering, we are content to be in the will of the Father.

All of the desolate women of the Bible who have a child by the Spirit of God paint the virgin birth motif. The end of this is not the virgin birth of Christ, but it is our birth by the Spirit and that which is not of the flesh. We are 'born of a virgin' figuratively when we are born of the Spirit. The physical birth of Christ has been covered well by Matthew and Luke; John need not repeat it. Matthew and Luke had not yet recognized that we are included in that prophetic motif.