There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 1:6-13
From verse 6 the narrative is added to the poem, with the introduction of John the Baptist. The purpose of John’s life is to announce the arrival of Jesus as the Messiah. John is a witness that Jesus is the Messiah. In fact, John baptized Jesus, and he was with the crowd present at that moment. They were eyewitnesses of miraculous events, for which the voice of the Father confirmed that Jesus is his Son.
The fact that John is a reliable witness is essential for the evangelist because his testimony will be reported later. John’s righteousness was known to all. If John the Baptist gave his testimony, no one, in those days among the Jews, would have doubted what he said.
From verse 10 we have an essential summary of the gospel: Jesus came into the world, he is the Son of God, most people don’t believe in him. But to the few who believe in him, he gives eternal life. This is a promise from God.
Verse 11 reminds us that God had separated Israel as his own people. Jesus then came to his house. But his people didn’t believe in him and killed him. This was meant to happen so that we could have salvation.
Verse 13, anticipates Jesus’ speech to Nicodemus, in which he will explain what ‘born again’ means.
In these few words, we can understand a very profound concept.
When we are born physically, we are born from the will of our parents to procreate. But when we are born spiritually, deciding for Jesus, it is God himself who makes us be born again in the spirit.
Whoever believes in Jesus, and accepts his gift, has salvation. To believe in Jesus means that you believe that he is the Son of God, who is God himself. To accept him means that you don’t reject him, but you want to follow him, listen to his words, and apply them to your life. Also means that you understand that you are a sinner, and you cannot earn salvation with your strength, instead you realize that you need him as Saviour. Verses 9 to 12 show us well what the situation is, and what decision is up to each of us. Jesus came to Earth to show us the truth. Many rejected him, and few welcomed him. What’s your choice? Which side are you on? Are you one of those who reject him, or are you one of those who welcome him? This is a very simple and profound explanation of salvation. Many people reject Jesus, don’t believe in him, don’t accept him as a source of truth, don’t believe that they need him to be saved, and don’t listen to his words. But, on the other hand, few believe in him, accept his teachings as the word of God, listen to his words, apply them to their life, they understand that they need Jesus in order to be saved. They have been changed by God. By a change that comes from the inside of them. This change affects the way they see the world, and make their decisions. These have the right to be called children of God.
In a broad sense, all people are children of God, because he created us. But strictly speaking, the children of God are those who want to please God. We will find this definition of ‘children’ later in a discourse of Jesus to the Pharisees. According to what Jesus teaches us, the son is the one who does the father’s will, to please him. The Pharisees who persecuted Jesus and deceived the people will be defined by Jesus himself as children of the devil. In fact, they were doing the will of the devil, which is to deceive people so that they do not have salvation.
If until today you have not believed, if you have had doubts about the truthfulness of God’s word, today you have the opportunity, through these profound words, to change your opinion and admit that you need Jesus to be saved. The words in these verses are not from man, but from God himself. God is the ultimate authority regarding the truth. To know the truth, we must go to its source. God is the only source of truth; while the words of man are fallacious, the word of God is infallible. These words are capable of doing spiritual work in the listener. It is not man’s ability that leads to a conversion, but the Holy Spirit, working in the spirit of the listener or reader.