"He himself (John the Baptist) was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light"
John 1.8 TNIV.
This verse has challenged me and I would like a little commentary from you. This verse clearly states that John the Baptist, who Christians often idolize as being super spiritual, is not the light. Yet later we see Jesus saying, "You are the light of the world" Matt. 5.14. So the question this raises in my mind is, are we the light of the world and if so, then why is John the Baptist excluded from this category?
This first idea that I am wrestling with is that maybe the Holy Spirit had not yet filled believers and so John the Baptist was not filled with the Spirit and thus in some sense lacked the true light. The counter to this idea is that we see the Spirit of God moving and working well before Acts 2. We even see the Holy Spirit at work during the baptism of Jesus in the form of a dove.
Another idea and one that I am leaning towards is that of reflections. John the baptist is a witness. In some sense I see John as a mirror of the greatness of Christ. The context from which Matt 5.14 is written focuses on the representation of our Father, by us, to the rest of the world. Although the text does say; "let your light shine," I think it is referring to the light that we reflect. Would you agree that when a mirror reflects light, in some small way that mirror takes ownership of the reflected light? Believing that when a mirror reflects light it takes some sort of ownership, then Jesus saying "let your light shine" becomes understandable. The light is not our own but we do take some ownership in how we reflect that light.If the mirror theory is correct then we are to be reflectors of the greatest light, the Christ. Taking this point further, reflectors simply show others the light. If that is the case then what a load off of our shoulders. We, Christians, do not have to save the world. We are not called to attempt to be savior for everyone around us. We are simply called to reflect, to the best of our abilities, the greatest light that will ever exists.
What do you think? Did John the Baptist not have the Spirit and thus wasn't the light or are we simply reflectors? Do you have other thoughts that I may have missed?
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