”God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.“
John 1:6-9 NLT
John, the writer of John’s Gospel, said of John the Baptist, “he was simply a witness to tell about the light”. In our societies, a witness is someone who sees an event and who is prepared to stand up in a court of law or some other solemn place and say what they saw. They “tell about” something. But in the setting before us, in the first few verses in John’s Gospel, John the Baptist was witnessing something that had yet to take place. Through the Holy Spirit within him he was foretelling what was to come. John had an unique ministry in that he introduced his cousin Jesus as the Messiah who was bringing “light to everyone”.
The early disciples were entrusted with the ministry of witnessing as well. We read what Jesus’ last words to them in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” But these men and women had been with Jesus. They had lived with Him. They had seen the miracles, the healings. They were there, and were involved, in the feeding of five thousand men and their families. They were in the boat when Jesus came to them walking on the water. They were there behind a locked door when Jesus appeared amongst them. John the Baptist was a witness of what was to come. The disciples were witnesses to whom Jesus was and what He had done.
But what about us pilgrims? We are told to be witnesses to Jesus as well. Of course, we were not there in John the Baptist’s shoes. Neither were we in Israel when Jesus walked the highways and byways, seeing His miracles and hearing His teaching. But we can be witnesses to all that Jesus has done for us. We can tell others of the changes the Holy Spirit has made in our lives. We can testify about events and even miracles that God has done for us. And even a new Christian, taking the first steps in their pilgrimage, can tell of God’s saving love and grace. We have so much to be a witness for.
There were times when the people failed to understand who Jesus was or what His teaching was about. The spiritual leaders of His day did their best to rubbish His teaching and even ended up complicit in His early death. Jesus was counter-cultural, a radical who overturned the status quo in His society and, for a brief three years, touched earth with Heaven itself. And because of Him, the world changed radically, as witnesses to Jesus and His earthly mission propagated the Gospel throughout the world. We pilgrims will also be ill-treated and maligned. We too will be ridiculed and ostracised. But we are witnesses to all that God has done for us, and we can share our messages of hope, seasoned with God’s acts of grace, to all those around us. Each one of us is “simply a witness to tell about the light“.
Dear God. We look back over our lives and find so much that You have done for us. We are so grateful. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 