John 3:19-21 (NIV): “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
Jesus’ coming brought God’s light into the world in a way that had not been seen since before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. Jesus was not just the living God; He brought life, real life, with Him wherever He went, and that life was the light of men (cf. John 1:4).
Jesus begins here a theme that continue all the way through John’s whole gospel, and which John continues to carry through his first letter and the Revelation: the battle between light and darkness. The primordial darkness was originally dispelled by the creative act of God, when He spoke light into existence (Genesis 1:3). But that was merely physical light that dispelled physical darkness. The spiritual darkness invaded the “very good” creation (Genesis 1:31) when Eve, and then Adam, chose their way over following God’s commandment (Genesis 3). Death, disease, and suffering, the markers of spiritual darkness, came into the world then, and spread all through the human race.
There were times, and there were people, all through history through whom the light of God shone faintly. But even in the best of them the darkness was still present, and tainted the light.
But when Jesus came, God’s light shone in Him without a trace of darkness. And the intensity of the light had two opposite effects on people. To those who were sick of the darkness, who longed to serve God with all of their hearts, the light drew them toward it, away from the darkness of their previous lives. This included many of the so-called “tax collectors and sinners.” They did not shun Jesus, but were willing, wanting to change, to turn away from their darkness to Jesus’ light.
But to those who were who were righteous on the outside but dark and corrupt on the inside, the Pharisees and teachers of the law, who pulled back from Jesus’ light, because it exposed who they really were. They were determined to keep their old lives of darkness and the positions of power and prestige that they had attained. For them, the light that was in Jesus dazzled their eyes, and showed the corruption that was in their hearts for what it truly was. It destroyed every pretense of righteousness that these men had, showing them to be nothing but whitewashed tombs. His light drove them back into the shadows, where they could seem righteous in their own eyes. So they hated the light, and they hated Jesus who embodied it. They could not rest until they had killed Him and extinguished the light that forced them to see the darkness in their own hearts.
Even today there are people who are drawn by the light of Jesus to Him and to His people. But only those who want to leave their darkness are drawn to His light. Those who love the darkness, who want to continue in their sins, still hate the light, because it shows the darkness in their hearts as it truly is. These lovers of the dark fight against God’s people, striving to put out the light of Jesus that shines in them. And the stronger the light, the more committed the Christian, the more they oppose them and fight against them.
But just as in Jesus’ day, the light-fighters are in a losing battle. There may be a victory here and there, just as the Jewish leaders believed that they had put out the light when Jesus died on the cross. But on the third day, the light burst forth from the tomb with enhanced vigor and clarity, and spread to the far reaches of the globe. The light is God Himself, so it can never be extinguished, as those first century darkness-dwellers discovered to their own ruin. Blessed is the one who seeks the light!
Father, thank You for this encouragement today, when it often feels like the darkness has the upper hand. Fan the light of Your presence in our hearts to high intensity, so that we can push back the darkness in our nation, in our world. Help us to shine with all of your light, boldly, and without apology, so that everyone can see You in us. Amen.