©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 1:6-8 (ESV) - There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
Question to consider: Who was this man sent from God to bear witness about the light?
The last time John appeared in the book of Acts was in chapter 8 when he and Peter went to Samaria and blessed those who were baptized by the deacon, Philip. After the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit, Philip went on to baptize the Ethiopian Eunuch, and Peter went by himself to Simon the Tanner’s house. There Peter encountered the Roman centurion, Cornelius, and learned that the Gentiles were also being given the Holy Spirit.
It’s possible that John went back to Jerusalem, but there’s nothing in scripture which corroborates this. According to tradition, John took Mary, the mother of Jesus, to Ephesus and stayed there until his exile to Patmos. If John had gone back to Jerusalem, it’s possible that he left with Mary when his brother, James, was beheaded by king Herod. After all, Peter had also returned to Jerusalem by this point and was arrested after the execution of James made Herod popular with the people.
I mention this because John and Peter were not only the closest of the disciples to Jesus, but they seemed to remain connected to one another whereas the other apostles scattered after the stoning of Stephen. Throughout my study of Luke, I pointed out that Luke’s intent was to give an ordered account to his friend, Theophilus, and that many of the details Luke gave seemed to fill in gaps left by the account of Matthew.
The gospel of Mark was written by John Mark whose mother owned the house where the Jerusalem church gathered. If the apostle Peter provided the source material for John Mark, it is possible that John received a copy of Mark’s gospel at some point and therefore wrote his own account as a response to it. Both of these accounts began with the witness of John the Baptist who was the forerunner of Christ, and the calling of the disciples. John went into more detail about these events and was more concerned with providing specific miraculous signs that proved Mark’s opening claim that Jesus is the Son of God.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for revealing Jesus to us through the eyes of multiple witnesses. We pray that You will use this account from John to help us see Christ as Your eternal Son who took on flesh to reconcile us to You. Amen.