The Hope of John [The World]…

October 24, 2007 | 12:00 AM

Darkness abounds on Earth. John introduces us to Jesus as the eternal Son of God and Creator of the universe in the first five verses of his Gospel. From verses six through thirteen, he lays out the world’s response to the hope we are given in Christ.

“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.”

This particular John is the one we know as John the Baptist, who is Jesus’ cousin. He is not the same as the Apostle John, author of this Gospel. According to messianic prophecy, someone would come to announce the coming of the Messiah. John the Baptist fulfills that prophecy, pointing toward Jesus as the Christ.

“The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”

The world did not receive him. It’s particularly evident here in New Orleans, where hope seems to have faded from the lives of so many people. A little over a year ago, a Times-Picayune photographer attempted suicide by cop because he didn’t have the money to repair his house. He drove down Napoleon Avenue attracting attention of the police, and repeatedly said to them, “Just kill me, get it over with, kill me.” Hope is fading in New Orleans. On a much larger scale, we hear of the genocide in Darfur, the social collapse of Somalia, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the ever-increasing AIDS epidemic in Africa. There’s really no end to the suffering. It seems obvious that the world did not receive Christ- their only hope.

And we’re not alone. Israel, the Chosen People of God, rejected their Messiah. They turned him over to the Romans to be crucified- they didn’t know their Savior had come. Today, the world rejects Christ. It’s recorded throughout Scripture, but we can see it everyday just by walking outside. It isn’t a stretch to experience the pain of our world. But there is hope. The light, which enlightens everyone, came into the world.

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” God adopts as his own children those who believe in and follow Christ. There’s so much there, but I don’t have the time to really go deeper into the consequences. Earth-shattering. Remember also that Jesus’ name means “God saves”. I don’t think it’s an accident that John said “believed in his name.” There is such significance in Jesus (God saves).