THE FROG SPA
John 1:6-9
#John1
READ John 1:6-9
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The True Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
As we take a look at this passage today, I want you to notice these phrases that the Apostle John writes to us:
“his name was John”
“he came as a witness to testify concerning the light”
“He himself was not the light”
And then Verse 9: “The True Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”
You might say, well you wanted us to notice pretty much the whole passage… well you are correct. Each phrase and each repeated word and every verse in this passage is packed with meaning for us. Let’s dig into these verses today, but first… a story…
THE FROG SPA
Maurice was excited to get to go to the spa day that his boss had purchased for him out of the blue. The boss even chipped in for a taxi ride there. There didn’t seem to be a reason for it so he had concluded that for once his boss was being nice and wanted to make him hoppier. His boss was rarely nice. Maurice was a hard working amphibian. He spent his days hopping from lily pad to lily pad bringing messages from Big Boss Leaper to the rest of the frogs and tadpoles in the area. There was a fly shortage in the swamp so there had been a lot of messages lately. He had been working very hard.
Maurice arrived at the spa ready for a day of rest and relaxation and recreation and reduction of stress. He found it interesting that when he arrived at the spa there was a protester outside the gates. The protester, who looked wild-eyed and a little strange, was shouting “Look, this place is dangerous… turn back now” and held up a sign “Don’t jump on the bandwagon.” That frog was very strange, but nothing could damper his mood… not even an annoying protester calling out for him to pay attention.
He arrived and immediately the pampering started. He had bacon and cheese covered french flies and a croak-a-cola shoved in his hand and was given a fluffy robe that smelled like exotic spices, but felt good on his skin. They put open toad sandals on his feet and led him to a big room with a TV. He sat down in the big room on a cushy lily pad and his favorite Soap Hopera… ‘Days of our Flies’… was on the TV. Oh yeah, he was going to enjoy this day!
After ‘Days of our Flies’ was over, Maurice the frog decided to hop on over to the snack bar area since he was still hungry. It was a buffet! What a place! After this day at the spa, he would probably gain a few pounds… which seems what the spa attendants wanted. He could see outside the window of the buffet that lots of other frogs were also having the time of their lives and relaxing well. Some were playing croak-et, some were playing basketball making jump shots, and everyone was having a good time. He also could see outside the gates of the spa that the protester was still there.
He was jumping up and down yelling at all the frogs in the spa. “Get out, the end is near!” “Come with me and be saved!” “Pay attention and get out now!” “Come this way!”
It wasn’t long until a bell sound went out through the whole spa and all the frogs headed to the main floor to the main spa area. It was a large round metal looking pool. There was a diving board and all the frogs took off their robes, jumped on the diving board, and went on in to the pool. Maurice just followed the crowd. He usually just followed the crowd. Maurice jumped on in the large round metal pool and enjoyed the water and relaxation.
Maurice had not been in the pool long when he started to sweat a little. It felt good. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but very nice and soothing. In fact, the spicy smelling robe he had taken off had made his skin feel soft and the pool made him relax even more. Everyone was enjoying the pool, but Maurice was feeling warmer and started to feel a little sleepy. All the frogs just were resting and relaxing in the pool.
The water got warmer and no frog seemed to notice.
The water got warmer and no frog seemed to notice.
The water got warmer and no frog seemed to notice.
Maurice the frog decided he’d had enough pool time and wanted to try something else. Besides, the water was getting pretty warm. He tried to get out of the pool, but the spa attendants encouraged him strongly to remain in the pool. So he did. It was so nice and warm. All the frogs stayed in the pool even though the pool seemed to get hotter and hotter by the moment.
The water got warmer and no frog seemed to notice.
The water got warmer and no frog seemed to notice.
The water got warmer and no frog seemed to notice.
The only frog who seemed to care and know what was going on was the wild-eyed weird looking boisterous protester that had been outside the gate. The protester frog… perhaps more like a herald of doom… broke into the spa and was now at the side of the very large now very hot pool.
“I’ve witnessed this before, come follow me now!” he ribbited to all the frogs.
“You will only live if you come with me, I can show you the way! Don’t croak in here!”
Some frogs did not listen to him and stayed in the now almost boiling pool of water. A few frogs, like Maurice, listened to him and pushed their way past the spa attendants and hopped out of the spa. Maurice had become very unhoppy in the pool. The crazy protester had Maurice’s attention now and he finally listened. Maybe the protester wasn’t as crazy as he once thought.
Maurice felt like a polliwog and could barely move. What had been going on to him in there?! These spa attendants were ker-mitting some kind of awful deed and so had his boss… Big Boss Leaper… by sending him here. Maurice knew that he had narrowly escaped a very bad situation when all of a sudden all the spa attendants dumped in butter, Cajun spices, diced onions, green bell peppers, garlic, salt, cayenne pepper, chopped up celery, tomatoes, and a whole bunch of rice.
All of the spa attendants called out at once [in Louisiana Cajun accent]… “This is goin’ to taste so very good we gar-on-tee!”
Maurice and the other frogs barely hopped away to freedom. The wild-eyed now-not-so-crazy protester frog had shown them the way to safety and had shown them the path out of danger. They all got a little way from the spa to safety and the protester turned back to go back to the spa.
“Where are you going?” Maurice asked in surprise.”
“I have to go back to lead others out,” he croaked back quickly, “I am the one who points to the way to life and safety and salvation.”
The End.
RE-READ John 1:6-9
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The True Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
WHO IS JOHN 1:6-9 TALKING ABOUT?
It might seem confusing, but the Apostle John is NOT talking about himself in these verses. He is speaking about another man named John. This man is known as John the Baptist… now he wasn’t a “Baptist” like we would think of “Baptists” today… but he is called ‘the baptist’ because he was a prophet who eventually baptized people in the desert and pointed them to Jesus who was the long awaited Christ.
ILLUSTRATION… More Holy Hilarity, Samra, 1999, pages 36-37
A mother tells the story of her four-year old son and his older sisters who were having a discussion about names of the books of the Bible in the New Testament. The oldest daughter called out, “Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.”
Her son asks, “You mean John Brown who goes to our church?”
The sister replied immediately, “No, I think it is John the Baptist.”
Her son asked, “Does he go to our church too?”
To which her middle child piped up, “No, we are Methodist.”
John the Baptists’ own story, which John the apostle refers to him being “sent from God,” begins in Luke 1. His father Zechariah was a priest and it was his turn to serve in the temple and lead the people in worship. As he was burning incense before God for the people, he felt a presence. It was an angel of God!
The angel had a message for Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. A son was promised to Zechariah and Elizabeth even though they were super old and well past child-bearing years and this son of theirs would be no run-of-the-mill guy for the angel said, “he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). He would be a prophet and his name was to be John. His name and his life was foreseen and ordained by God. This son, named John, will be one who is great in the sight of the Lord and will bring revival to the land of Israel. In fact, in Luke 1:15 the angel tells Zechariah “he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.” Wow.
What was Zechariah’s response to this angel and the news? Disbelief. His heart was filled not with excitement or thankfulness or joy—but with unbelief. How can this be? How is this possible? Did you get the wrong address? Because of Zechariah’s unbelief, he is unable to speak until the boy is born.
I can imagine 9 months later when Elizabeth was giving birth… news traveled fast. Everyone gathered around old Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house to share in the miracle that was taking place inside. She was having a baby, and it was a boy! A strong healthy boy! Eight days later it was time to circumcise the baby and give him a name. It was Jewish custom for all the relatives and a friend to come to this joyous occasion of naming the baby and this day was no exception. In all the fuss and the fury, it was decided by all those in the house that this young man would be named Zechariah—after his righteous and upright father. It seemed like a consensus until they motioned to Zechariah for his opinion. They almost left him out—he’d been so quiet lately.
He said the baby’s name would be… John. After he was named, the praises poured from the mouth of Zechariah for God. Everyone in the room was so astonished and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that God was with this child. God had kept His promise to Zechariah and Elizabeth.
That is the guy the Apostle John is talking about in these verses. We will get more into John and his message and ministry later in John 1, but if you knew nothing about him, this will due for now.
WHAT WAS JOHN SUPPOSED TO DO?
It seems that John the Baptist had one job to do. It was his job to grab people’s attention and to point them to the fact that Jesus Christ was coming on the scene. He was to show the way.
Matthew 3:1-6 (in another Gospel book) summarizes for us, “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’ 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: ‘A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'’ 4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.”
John looked a little crazy. John preached out in the middle of nowhere. John even ate weird things. I imagine John the Baptist looking like a wild man out in the boonies preaching his heart out and preparing people’s hearts for the day Jesus arrived to begin His ministry. These few verses in John 1 repeat for us that John the Baptist was a witness to the light.
We already know who the “light” is based on previous verses. We have talked for the past two weeks about John 1:1-5 and we know that Jesus of Nazareth is the Word made flesh and the light and life coming into the dark world.
* John the Baptist is the crazy eccentric man trying to get people’s attention so he can point to Jesus.
* John the Baptist is the prophet preaching so that he can show people the way of salvation.
* John the Baptist is the herald of the Christ who is getting people’s hearts prepared for His message.
RE-READ John 1:6-9
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The True Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
VERSE 9
As I was looking over these few verses, verse 9 really stuck out to me.
As we talked about last week, “light” is a symbol of life and goodness and is a symbol most definitely for Jesus. In verse 9, we are reminded that Jesus is the "True Light." In other words, Jesus Christ is the absolute perfect example and complete source of life and goodness and godliness. This sounds a lot like Jesus in John 14:6 when He says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus claims to be the one and only. Jesus claims to be The Way. Jesus is the… True Light.
We must remember that Jesus Himself consistently speaks about Himself as light… The Light… The True Light:
* Jesus says in John 8:12: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
* Jesus said again in John 9:5 that He was the “light of the world.”
* He says in John 12:36, “Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.”
* John 12:46, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.”
Now, unlike some of the promises in the Old Testament which were only for the People of Israel, this True Light is offered to everyone… to the entire world. Every single person has this True Light offered to them. Remember John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” Four times in these two verses… “the world,” “whoever,” “the world,” and “the world.” God loves the entire world enough to send His Son for the salvation of anyone who believes in Him. Not all people will choose to accept the True Light. Some will stay in the dark, but the light shines in the darkness nevertheless.
RELATE THE STORY/APPLICATION
So here is my thought about this passage and how it applies to us and I am going to use Maurice the Frog’s story a little bit to make my point.
The story of Maurice was that he arrived at a day spa that was actually a big pot of boiling water… hopefully you caught that. If Maurice had stayed in the pool, he would have been cooked. The slow heat was not noticeable. Most of the frogs didn’t notice or didn’t care that they were in the pool as it got hotter and they just died. Staying in the hot pool means death. Staying in the cooking pot means death. For Maurice, there was a crazy not-so-crazy frog who got his attention and led him out of danger to being safe.
The world is like a big pot of water and we are a bunch of frogs. The world is darkness. The world is bad. We are all in the pot and the world just gets darker and darker and worse and worse and sometimes we notice and sometimes we don’t. We are all in the pot cooking to death. The end result if we stay in the world is death. Spiritual death. Separation from God. In this passage, John the Baptist came as a witness to the True Light and showed people the way to Jesus. He was a witness for Jesus. Jesus is salvation.
Two thoughts:
First: Are you still in the pot? Are you still in darkness? Are you still lost? Maybe you didn’t even know that you were spiritually in trouble. Please know that all of us have sinned and fallen short of where and who God wanted us to be. We are all in the same pool. Please also know that Who will help you and save you and bring you peace is Jesus Christ who is the True Light. He is the way for peace in this life and salvation for our souls. He is our way out of darkness and lost-ness and guilt. It is time for you to choose Jesus, to confess Him, and to be baptized into Christ taking Him as your Lord and Savior.
Second: Maybe you are already a believer and Jesus and it could be that as you think about the story of Maurice that maybe you feel like the one outside jumping up and down trying to show the way. I don’t want to draw this out too far, but maybe you are John the Baptist for someone… someone who wants to show the way to Jesus. There is someone in your life who isn’t a believer yet and is just sitting in the world and is slowly boiling to death. I would like to encourage you today to be patient and persistent at the same time.
Look for opportunities to pray with people when their lives are in rough patches.
Look for the time when that person that you love finally realizes they are in hot water and then be ready to be a witness of the Gospel for them.
Look for them to be at rock bottom and then share your journey of faith and how Jesus Christ brought you help and peace..
CONCLUSION IN PRAYER
