Why was John chapter 1 verse 4 written?

Answer 1

John's teaching emphasises Jesus' role as God. Importantly, this verse and those preceding it establish the relationship and Jesus' presence at the beginning as mentioned in Genesis. It also emphasises God's power over all of creation and our own lives. It is further clarified in Acts 17:28. "In him we live and move and have our being." Christ and His work to save mankind is the light. Light in itself was not sacred to John or the early Christians, rather that it is the absence of sin and darkness in God. God is here established as one with Jesus who existed from the very beginning.

Answer 2

A: John 1:4: "In him was life; and the life was the light of men. "

This can only be fully understood in the context of the verses that precede it and those that follow. In verses 1-3, John describes the Word (Jesus) as being present at creation; he was God and in him was life.

An important motif of the early Gnostics was that light was sacred. Some scholars say that the community in which John's Gospel was written early in the second century was a moderately Gnostic Christian community, and we see many references in this Gospel to 'light' and other Gnostic concepts. Thus, John 1:4 bridges the creation, "In him was life", to this important Gnostic principle, "and the life was the light of men". the next few verses go on to mention John the Baptist, but then that John was "not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light." From this the reader can see that the allusion is to Jesus.