Light up the World - John 1-2

John is a very crafty writer. Whereas the other gospel writers (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are trying to give us an account of the activities of Jesus and include His travel, His miracles, His teaching and His interactions (kind of an all inclusive look at the Savior), John is giving us very specific and very direct information about Jesus. He wants us to know something and chooses carefully His examples and what teachings of Jesus he includes in his writing. He begins with a dialogue about John the Baptist. In that dialogue he tells us that John, although quite dynamic and engaging was not the Light, but only a messenger for the light. Others came to John the Baptist to see if he was the Christ (Messiah), Elijah, or a prophet, or someone else of great importance. If John the Baptist had a marking agent he would have been advised to "go with it!" John was popular and had a good following of people. He was odd, but in an engaging way. But rather than take the place of the Light, John points out that he was sent to simply "bear witness to the light" (1:6-8). This is something we all should take note of. WE ARE NOT THE LIGHT! We are to bear witness of the true Light of the World. Our ability to complete our mission while here on this earth is tied to understanding that fact. We are here to testify to the Light of the World. No matter how charismatic or eloquent we are, we are to bear witness to the light. No matter how insignificant or uninteresting we are we are to bear witness to the light. No matter how rich or how poor; how healthy or how sick; our popular or how isolated we are - we are to bear witness to THE LIGHT. Our job is to the light up the world and not with ourselves but with the Light of the Gospel which is the story of Jesus. Or, as John the Baptist will say in our next weeks reading, "He must increase but I must decrease" (3:30)