Coptic Orthodox Answers

In name of the Father and Son, the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

Welcome to Coptic Orthodox Answers Deep Dive where we're diving deeper in the Gospel of John. So, we already saw the introduction of the Gospel and we also saw verses 1 to 5 from the first chapter. We saw there that John made it a point to declare and emphasize the divinity of Christ, how He is co-eternal, co-creator with the Father there from the beginning and so on. And now, starting at verse 6, he wants to jump to St. John the Baptist and he has good reasons to do so, as we shall see in a second.

So, what we have to understand is that St. John the Baptist preceded Jesus chronologically, right? We have to understand that St. John the Baptist is the one that baptized Jesus. We have to also understand that Christ's disciples were first the disciples of John. And in Mark 1:14, it says here:

'' 14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.'' (Mark 1:14)

So, Christ's ministry started after St. John was put into prison. So, because of all of these things, some people were confused. Some people didn't understand who John was in comparison to Christ and vice versa.

The fact of the matter is at the time of St. John the beloved, as he's writing his Gospel, there were still people there following St. John the Baptist, not following Christ. So, he wanted to demonstrate who St. John was in light of Christ Himself. We can already see a hint of this in Acts 19:1-3, but this is during the time of St. Paul, right? But this.... this idea continued until the time of St. John. It says:

'' 1 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, ''Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?'' So they said to him, ''We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.'' 3 And he said to them, ''Into what then were you baptized?'' So they said, ''Into John’s baptism.'' (Acts 19:1-3)

So, this is evidence that people at the time of Paul, this is maybe 20-30 years later, right?, they're still believing in the baptism of John and they haven't fully understood the reality of the Messiah and who Christ was. So, in other words, after the crucifixion, resurrection and the

Ascension of Christ and the sending of the Holy Spirit, still many years later, 20 to 30 years later, still St. Paul is finding people that are following the baptism of John.

And many more decades later, at the end of the 1 st century, St. John the beloved is finding that same issue. And therefore, he wants to clarify here that St. John the Baptist is the one that was preparing the way to the Lord. And therefore, anyone that follows St. John the Baptist needs to follow the Messiah. And that's the purpose of him writing these next few verses. So, he writes:

'' 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.'' (John 1:6-7)

So, his purpose was to be a witness for this other Light, capital L.

Verse 8:

'' 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.'' (John 1:8-9)

So, these three verses St. John writes is clearly to portray who St. John the Baptist is in comparison to Christ who is the true Light.

So, St. John Chrysostom answers two very good questions. The first one is: How come God needs a witness? So, he answers and says: No, God does not need a witness in that sense, because God is self-sufficient. He's self-fulfilled. He doesn't not need anything. Like, it says in John 5:34 that He does not need the witness of man. But the point is this witness is a revelation from God to us for our need, for our salvation. And by doing so, Christ reveals Himself to us for our own good. So, in other words, God does not profit from this witness. We are the ones, as humans, that do profit.

The second question has to do with the end of verse 9 where it says that Christ, who is the Light, capital L, brings light to every man coming into the world. So, St. John Chrysostom talks about how is it that it's every man. What is meant by that? So, he says:

''If He 'lights every man that comes into the world', how is it that so many continue unenlightened? for not all have known the majesty of Christ. How then does He 'light every man?' He lights all as far as in Him lies. But if some, willfully closing the eyes of their mind, would not receive the rays of that Light, their darkness arises not from the nature of the Light, but from their own wickedness, who willfully deprive themselves of the gift. For the grace is shed forth upon all...'' (St. John Chrysostom, Commentary on the Gospel of John, verse 9)

So, what he's saying is since Christ lights the entire world like the sun lights, sun, S-U-N, lights the entire earth, right? But some people live in darkness still. So, St. John Chrysostom is saying that Christ, who is the Light, enlightens the entire world, but still people reject that gift and choose to wilfully, willingly live in darkness, live in sin in the same way today that even if the sun, S-U-N, enlightens the entire world, I can still go home and shut down my drapes, right?, and live in darkness.

So, in the same way, people reject that Light, capital L, and they choose to continually, willingly live in that darkness and to commit sin and to reject Him. But then, it's not God's fault, because God has willingly given that gift, right?, to all of mankind. But it's up to us whether we choose it or we don't.

But in these verses, we also need to see a spiritual message for each one of us, because St. John the Baptist was a witness for Christ. And here, as Orthodox Christians livin' in the western world, we have a gift that has been given to us. We have the capital-L Light that is in us and we need to enlighten this world.

And often we remain on our own in our churches. We remain on our own with our group of friends. We don't go and witness into the world enough. There's much darkness in this world, but Christ is in us and we need to go and need to mingle with that world. As long as the light is in me and I'm full of Him, then I am enlightin' others.

We have to be very careful. Not everybody is meant to do that. For example, a high school youth that is still not strong enough, that doesn't have this capital-L Light inside of him could be influenced by the world. So, our job is to get them ready, right? And through a life of prayer and through understanding the Scriptures and through the Eucharist, we can grow in Christ and... but then, it's a must. It's mandatory for us, as Orthodox Christians, to go and mingle with the world and provide light to this world, right?

So, we have to take that message, take that concept and apply it at work; apply it at school; apply it wherever we are, right?; apply it while we're buying food; apply it when I'm meeting a stranger; apply it when I see a poor man. All of these things we need to do. It is our responsibility.

Now going back to the Gospel, in verse 10, he says:

'' 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him...'' (John 1:10)

So, again, he wants to clarify. He says: yes, Christ was incarnate. The Son of God was in the world. But be careful. Don't confuse Him with the world. He is not from this world. He is the Creator. He's not a creation. And then, he continues:

'' 10 (...) and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.'' (John 1:10-11)

And this is the disaster, that Christ came to His own family, to His own friends, to His own things, but His creation rejected Him. He sent them a message of love, of forgiveness, of eternal life, but they rejected this.

St. John Chrysostom here comments on the word world and he says that the world here does not mean everyone, but it means everyone that rejects Christ, right? And thank God, hopefully we are not of this world, but we are from above, in the sense where we hope that this Light is truly in us. And it is truly in us. But we want to continually live in a way that this Light is growing in us, and again, for us to be able to enlighten this world.

Now, I think it's very fit for us to have a spiritual message here, because it could happen that we also reject Christ. We might not reject Him totally, but we can reject Him partially, in the sense where I can accept certain commandments from Him and reject others. I can accept certain fasts and reject others.

Then it becomes this cafeteria-style Christianity where I choose what I want and reject what I don't want. But the problem with that is that I become my own god. I reject God as He revealed Himself to us in its totality, but I accept certain aspects of Him and remove the rest. So, I accept a deformed or a changed, modified revelation from Him.

But that's very dangerous, because I end up following my own mind. And how far is that from being our own gods? It's very dangerous. And by doing so, we can easily become lukewarm, because I reject the difficult things and I accept the easy things. I can accept God's promises and the promises for eternal life and blessings on the earth and so on, but reject the fact that I have to struggle, that I have to confess my sins whether... to a priest, right?, 'Cause the priest is the presence of Christ Himself, so I confess to Christ from or through the priest, right? There's so many things that we can reject!

But then, am I accepting Him totally in the way that He revealed Himself to me or am I following my own mind? And then, we can see this in the different types, different denominations of Christianity. All denominations have different ideas, different practices, different traditions, although even the ones that speak against tradition, they add... they have their own traditions.

But what do I do personally? I need to accept God as He is. I accept the promises. I accept the challenges He has set for me. And I or we need to lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

So, we need to struggle and we need to struggle together. And when I do so or when we do so, we become children of God. And that's why, in verse 12, he says:

'' 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.'' (John 1:12)

Those who believe, those who become children of God are born:

'' 13 (...) not of blood, [meaning not of a biological process], nor of the will of the flesh, [meaning not through a sexual desire], nor of the will of man, [meaning not because a parent wants a child], but of God.'' (John 1:13)

We are born of God. It's a supernatural process where the Holy Spirit is involved and we become adopted to God. We become His children in that sense. And now that they have become children of God, they need to have their hearts and their minds set on things above, not on things of the world anymore, right? And that's why, in John 17:14, He says, when Christ was speaking to the Father:

'' 14 ''I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.'' '' (John 17:14)

So, through baptism, we become children of God and we have nothing to do with the world anymore other than being in it to enlighten it.

So, ultimately, what St. John the beloved is trying to do in these verses is to differentiate between two different characters. One is Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah and the other was St. John the Baptist, the forerunner, right?, the prophet that in his job is ultimately to demonstrate or to lead to who Christ is.

The second difference he's trying to emphasize in these verses is the differences between the two baptisms. John baptized with water and that baptism was a baptism of repentance. But Christ's baptism is very different. It involves the Holy Spirit. It's a mystery. And through it, we become children of God. We become adopted by God.

Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith. And glory be to God forever and ever. Amen.

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Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith.