Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 1:6-8

"There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but [came] that he might bear witness of the light." — John 1:6-8 (ASV)

1. Previously, the Evangelist considered the divinity of the Word; here he begins to consider the incarnation of the Word.

   In this, he does two things:

   1. He discusses the witness to the incarnate Word, or the precursor.
   2. He discusses the coming of the Word, beginning at he was the true light (John 1:9).

   Regarding the first point, he does two things:

   1. He describes the precursor who comes to bear witness.
   2. He shows that the precursor was incapable of the work of our salvation, at he was not the light.

   He describes the precursor in four ways:

   1. According to his nature: there was a man.
   2. According to his authority: sent from God.
   3. According to his suitability for the office: whose name was John.
   4. According to the dignity of his office: he came as a witness.

2. We should note that as soon as the Evangelist begins speaking of something temporal, he changes his manner of speaking. When speaking above of eternal things, he used the word was, which is the past imperfect tense, indicating that eternal things are without end. But now, when speaking of temporal things, he uses there was, which indicates temporal things as having taken place in the past and coming to an end there.

3. And so he says, there was a man. This excludes from the start the incorrect opinion of certain heretics who were mistaken about the condition or nature of John. They believed that John was an angel in nature, basing this on the Lord’s words, I send my messenger before you, who will prepare your way (Matthew 11:10); the same is found elsewhere (Mark 1:2). But the Evangelist rejects this, saying, there was a man by nature, not an angel. The nature of man is known, and he cannot contend in judgment with one who is stronger than himself (Ecclesiastes 6:10).

   Now, it is fitting that a man be sent to men, for men are more easily drawn to a man, since he is like them. So it says, the law appoints men, who have weakness, as priests (Hebrews 7:28). God could have governed men through angels, but He preferred men so that we could be more instructed by their example. And so John was a man, and not an angel.

4. John is described by his authority when it says, sent from God.

   Indeed, although John was not an angel in nature, he was one by his office, because he was sent from God. For the distinctive office of angels is that they are sent by God and are messengers of God. All are ministering spirits, sent to serve (Hebrews 1:14). This is why ‘angel’ means messenger. And so men who are sent by God to announce something can be called angels. Haggai the messenger of the Lord (Haggai 1:13).

   If someone is to bear witness to God, it is necessary that he be sent by God. How can they preach unless they are sent? (Romans 10:15). Since they are sent by God, they seek the things of Jesus Christ, not their own. We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:5). On the other hand, one who sends himself, and is not sent by God, seeks his own interests or those of man, and not the things of Christ. And so he says here, there was a man sent from God, so that we would understand that John proclaimed something divine, not human.

5. Note that there are three ways in which we see men sent by God.

   1. By an inward inspiration. And now the Lord God has sent me, and his spirit (Isaiah 48:16). As if to say: I have been sent by God through an inward inspiration of the spirit.
   2. By an expressed and clear command, perceived by the bodily senses or the imagination. Isaiah was also sent in this way; and so he says, and I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me’ (Isaiah 6:8).
   3. By the order of a prelate, who acts in the place of God in this matter. I have pardoned in the person of Christ for your sake (2 Corinthians 2:10). This is why those who are sent by a prelate are sent by God, as Barnabas and Timothy were sent by the Apostle.

   When it is said here, there was a man sent from God, we should understand that he was sent by God through an inward inspiration, or perhaps even by an outward command. He who sent me to baptize with water had said to me: he upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him, it is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33).

6. We should not understand there was a man sent from God as some heretics did. They believed that from the very beginning, human souls were created without bodies alongside the angels. They thought that a soul is sent into the body when a person is born, and that John was “sent to life”—that is, his soul was sent to a body. Rather, we should understand that he was sent by God to baptize and preach.

7. John’s fitness is shown when he says, whose name was John.

   One must be qualified for the office of bearing witness, because unless a witness is qualified, his testimony is not acceptable, no matter how he is sent by another. Now a man becomes qualified by the grace of God. By the grace of God I am what I am (1 Corinthians 15:10); who has made us fit ministers of a New Covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6). So, the Evangelist appropriately implies the precursor’s fitness from his name when he says, whose name was John, which is interpreted as in whom is grace. This name was not given to him meaninglessly, but by divine preordination before he was born: you will name him John (Luke 1:13), as the angel said to Zechariah. Hence he can say: the Lord called me from the womb (Isaiah 49:1); he who will be, his name is already called (Ecclesiastes 6:10). The Evangelist also indicates this by his manner of speaking, when he says was, referring to God’s preordination.

8. Then he is described by the dignity of his office: he came as a witness.

   1. His office is mentioned.
   2. The reason for his office is given: that he might bear witness to the light.

9. Now his office is to bear witness; hence he says, he came as a witness.

   Here it should be remarked that God makes men, and everything else He makes, for Himself. The Lord made all things for himself (Proverbs 16:4). This is not to add anything to Himself, since He has no need of our good, but so that His goodness might be made manifest in all the things made by Him, in that his eternal power and divinity are clearly seen, being understood through the things that are made (Romans 1:20). Thus, each creature is made to be a witness to God, insofar as each is a testament to the divine goodness. The vastness of creation is a witness to God’s power and omnipotence, and its beauty is a witness to the divine wisdom.

   But certain men are ordained by God in a special way, so that they bear witness to God not only naturally by their existence, but also spiritually by their good works. Therefore, all holy people are witnesses to God, since God is glorified among humanity by their good works. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). But those who not only share in God’s gifts by acting well through His grace, but also spread them to others by their teaching, influencing, and encouraging them, are witnesses to God in a more specific way. Everyone who calls upon my name, I have created for my glory (Isaiah 43:7).

   And so John came as a witness in order to spread the gifts of God to others and to proclaim His praise.

10. This office of John, that of bearing witness, is very great, because no one can testify about something except according to the way he has participated in it. We speak what we know, and we testify to what we have seen (John 3:11). Therefore, bearing witness to divine truth implies a knowledge of that truth. So Christ also had this office: For this I came into the world, to give testimony to the truth (John 18:37). But Christ testifies in one way and John in another. Christ bears witness as the light who comprehends all things—indeed, as the existing light itself. John bears witness only as one participating in that light. And so Christ gives testimony in a perfect manner and perfectly manifests the truth, while John and other holy men give testimony insofar as they have a share in divine truth.

    John’s office, therefore, is great both because of his participation in the divine light and because of his likeness to Christ, who carried out this office. I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and a commander for the nations (Isaiah 55:4).

11. The purpose of this office is given when he says, that he might bear witness to the light.

    Here we should understand that there are two reasons for bearing witness about something. One reason can be on the part of the thing with which the witness is concerned; for example, if there is some doubt or uncertainty about it. The other is on the part of those who hear it, if they are hard of heart and slow to believe. John came as a witness, not because of the subject of his testimony, for it was light itself. Hence he says, that he might bear witness to the light—that is, not to something obscure, but to something clear. He came, therefore, to bear witness on account of those to whom he testified, so that through him, John, all men might believe.

    For as light is not only visible in and of itself, but through it everything else can be seen, so the Word of God is not only light in Himself, but He makes known all things that are known. For since a thing is made known and understood through its form, and all forms exist through the Word, who is the art full of living forms, the Word is light not only in Himself, but as making all things known; all that appears is light (Ephesians 5:13).

    And so it was fitting for the Evangelist to call the Son light, because He came as a revealing light to the gentiles (Luke 2:32). Above, he called the Son of God the Word, by which the Father expresses Himself and every creature. Now since He is, properly speaking, the light of men, and the Evangelist is considering Him here as coming to accomplish the salvation of men, he fittingly interrupts the use of the name Word when speaking of the Son, and says, light.

12. But if that light is sufficient in itself to make all things known, including itself, what need does it have of any witness? If so, the testimonies of John and the prophets concerning Christ were unnecessary.

    This was the objection of the Manichaeans, who wanted to destroy the Old Testament. Consequently, the saints gave many reasons against their opinion for why Christ wanted to have the testimony of the prophets.

    Origen gives three reasons. The first is that God wanted to have certain witnesses, not because He needed their testimony, but to ennoble those whom He appointed as witnesses. Thus we see in the order of the universe that God produces certain effects by means of intermediate causes, not because He is unable to produce them without these intermediaries, but because He chooses to confer on them the dignity of causality in order to ennoble them. Similarly, even though God could have enlightened all men by Himself and led them to a knowledge of Himself, He willed that divine knowledge reach men through certain other men to preserve due order in things and to ennoble them. ‘You are my witnesses,’ says the Lord (Isaiah 43:10).

    A second reason is that Christ was a light to the world through His miracles. Yet, because they were performed in time, they passed away with time and did not reach everyone. But the words of the prophets, preserved in Scripture, could reach not only those present but also those who would come later. Hence the Lord willed that men come to a knowledge of the Word through the testimony of the prophets, so that not only those present, but also people yet to come, might be enlightened about Him. So it says expressly, so that through him all men might believe—that is, not only those present, but also future generations.

    The third reason is that not all men are in the same condition, and not all are led or disposed to a knowledge of the truth in the same way. For some are brought to a knowledge of the truth by signs and miracles; others are brought more by wisdom. The Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:22). And so the Lord, in order to show the path of salvation to all, willed for both ways to be open—the way of signs and the way of wisdom—so that those who would not be brought to the path of salvation by the miracles of the Old and New Testaments might be brought to a knowledge of the truth by the path of wisdom, as in the prophets and other books of Sacred Scripture.

    A fourth reason, given by Chrysostom, is that certain people of weak understanding are unable to grasp the truth and knowledge of God by themselves. And so the Lord chose to condescend to them and to enlighten certain men before others about divine matters, so that these others might obtain from them in a human way the knowledge of divine things they could not reach by themselves. And so he says, so that through him all men might believe. As if to say: he came as a witness, not for the sake of the light, but for the sake of men, so that through him all men might believe.

    And so it is plain that the testimonies of the prophets are fitting and proper, and should be accepted as something we need for the knowledge of the truth.

13. He says believe, because there are two ways of participating in the divine light. One is the perfect participation which is present in glory: in your light we shall see light (Psalms 35:10). The other is imperfect and is acquired through faith, since he came as a witness. Of these two ways it is said, now we see through a mirror, in an obscure manner, but then we shall see face to face... now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I am known (1 Corinthians 13:12).

    Among these two ways, the first is the way of participation through faith, because through it we are brought to vision. So where our version has, If you do not believe, you will not persist (Isaiah 7:9), another version has, If you do not believe, you will not understand. All of us, gazing on the Lord’s glory with unveiled faces, are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image, which we have lost (2 Corinthians 3:18). This is from the glory of faith to the glory of vision, as a Gloss says.

    And so he says, so that through him all men might believe, not as though all would see Him perfectly at once, but first they would believe through faith, and later enjoy Him through vision in heaven.

14. He says through him to show that John is different from Christ. For Christ came so that all might believe in Him. He who believes in me, as the Scripture says, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’ (John 7:38). John, on the other hand, came so that all men might believe, not in him, but in Christ through him.

    One may object, however, that not all have believed. So if John came so that all might believe through him, he failed.

    I answer that both on the part of God, who sent John, and of John, who came, the method used is adequate to bring all to the truth. But on the part of those who have fixed their eyes on the ground (Psalms 16:11) and refused to see the light, there was a failure, because not all believed.

15. Now although John, of whom so much has been said, even including that he was sent by God, is an eminent person, his coming is not sufficient to save humanity, because human salvation lies in participating in the light. If John had been the light, his coming would have been sufficient to save humanity; but he was not the light. So he says, he was not the light. Consequently, a light was needed that would be sufficient to save humanity.

    Or, we could look at it another way. John came to bear witness to the light. Now it is the custom that the one who testifies is of greater authority than the one about whom he testifies. So, to prevent John from being considered to have greater authority than Christ, the Evangelist says, he was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. For he bears witness not because he is greater, but because he is better known, even though he is not as great.

16. There is a difficulty with his saying, he was not the light. Conflicting with this is, you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8); and you are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Therefore, John and the apostles and all good men are a light.

    I answer that some say that John was not the light, because this belongs to God alone. But if ‘light’ is taken without the article, then John and all holy people were made lights. The meaning is this: the Son of God is light by His very essence, but John and all the saints are light by participation. So, because John participated in the true light, it was fitting that he bear witness to the light; for fire is better exhibited by something on fire than by anything else, and color by something colored.