John the Baptist had but one purpose: To lead people to the One true
light. He had never encountered the Life-Light personally, but once
Jesus came to him, John the Baptist, filled by the Holy Spirit,
declared: "This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but
in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had
the first word." (John 1:15 MSG). And as such, John the Baptist
testified about Jesus.
He wasn't the only one: "As soon as Jesus
was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was
opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting
on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with
him I am well pleased.'" (Matthew 3:16-17 NIV). The Holy Spirit
testified as well that Jesus was the one by descending like a dove from
Heaven. In so doing, our Heavenly Father also concurred that Jesus was
the one, His very own Son.
This confirms that Jesus is the real
Messiah, the real Life-Light. When two or three testify, there is no
more doubt: "On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be
put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only
one witness." (Deuteronomy 17:6 NIV); and "For where two or three come
together in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20 NIV).
We, too, can confirm the reality of Jesus as well. After all, we are
experiencing Him every day!
One of our church members recently
died of ovary cancer. She saw some of the early symptoms but thought it
was nothing until it was too late. She passed away 10 weeks later.
To God's glory, this lady didn't suffer at all. Rather, she tried to
share God's love with everyone she was in contact with. She would refuse
to take her medication, for example, unless the attending nurse gave her
a hug.
Though she always thought of others first, she was not the
Life-Light; but she knew the Life-Light intimately, and this is what
touched everyone who cared for her. Jesus was her everything!
Naturally her family grieved, especially her father. When he saw me, he
went straight to me and held me for a long time; and I kept him in my
arms. After all, he is my friend. I wish I could have done more. Just
holding him, however, was all he needed. Here, too, we can testify to
the Life-Light. We are inspired by Him to walk in His footsteps, to
shine our Jesus-light to the world: "You are the light of the world. A
city on a hill cannot be hidden." (Matthew 5:14 NIV)
Rob Chaffart
