John 1:4

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men”

               The previous context for this verse is how Jesus is the creator of all things and how nothing was made without Him. Here, we see the paraphrase of this context “in Him was life.” Reiterating in practical terms the same thing that was said in verse 3. This shows what was said helps us to understand that Jesus was life. This is the first time that life and light show up—two motifs that will be crucial throughout the rest of the gospel of John. Along with these being important motifs in general, it is also important that John first uses them in connection to Jesus and they follow one another. Jesus is the life, and that life is also the light of men. Giving us a framework that will be reemphasized multiple times throughout the rest of the gospel.

With the second phrase in the verse, John is showing why it is important to know that Jesus is the Life—because that Life is the Light of men. John is showing that, through this acknowledgment of Jesus having the life in Him and being revealed with the Father to be the creator of the world, this will enlighten the hearts of men. John will later show that this light chases out the darkness and allows them to have life which highlights a progression. The life bringer, who is Jesus, brings the light into our lives which allows us to see and then brings us back to life as only the life-bringer can.

Even though John says Jesus was life, following this statement to its logically conclusion with His final resurrection after death, Jesus still is life. This is crucial, but it follows that if Jesus is still life, then He still is the Light of Men. That means that for us, today, He still is the one that we must rely on to bring sense and enlightenment into our lives. This is why, as Christians, it is important to continue to daily read the words of Jesus and to pray so we can orient ourselves to be in alignment with what God wants for our lives. It is the way He speaks to us today, and we have a promise that if we do this the life-bringer, Jesus, God of everything made, will help us to understand Him more, open the “eyes of our heart” as Paul says in Ephesians chapter 1.

               If you do not know the Life-bringer, today is the day to make a commitment to follow Him. John shows in this verse that there is only one way for us to have light, to truly see, and that is for us to put ourselves in relationship with the life that is Jesus so that He might show us the way to life everlasting as only the creator, God of the universe, can. He asks us to come and answer His calling so He might come into our hearts and dine with us and we can begin our relationship with Him that will take a lifetime to truly flush out and grow…