Advent – Day 9
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:1-5
Have you ever been plunged into total darkness? Perhaps a moment when the electricity went out or a light suddenly died? The few times we’ve lost electricity during the night, my children have screamed from fright. It’s always jarring to go from light to utter darkness. Sudden darkness is paralyzing. Sudden darkness is fearful. Sudden darkness is disorienting.
When this happens I always tell my children the same thing: “Stay where you are until I get a light,” and I scramble around with my arms outstretched in an awkward attempt to avoid furniture and doors and walls until I find a candle or a flashlight. Then I spark the match or flip the switch, and the faintest beam of light penetrates the darkness. The light changes everything. The light brings order and peace and the assurance of life.
In the fourth Gospel, John opens his book with the imagery and analogy of word and light. From the very first stroke of the pen, these words reveal Jesus’ eternal nature and his deity. John begins, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) Word in the original Greek here is translated “logos”. In the book of John, it refers specifically to the person of Jesus Christ and establishes Jesus as one with and an expression of God the father. Furthermore, the phrase “and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” identifies Jesus as distinct from the Father yet also fully God. It is a picture of the perfect unity and the incomprehensible mystery of the trinity.
After establishing Jesus’ position, John goes on to say “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5)
The Greek word for “shines” in this case is the present tense, and refers to the first time the light shines. John’s intent is to reveal that Jesus’ birth was the first time the light of life shone on mankind. This light of life refers not only to rescue and redemption for the present day but also to the unfathomable, incomprehensible grace of salvation for all of eternity.
Four-hundred and fifty-six Old Testament prophecies pointed to the coming Messiah … one who would descend from the house of David and the stump of Jesse, one who would be born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem, one who would be called Immanuel, one who would redeem mankind and be pierced for our transgressions and save the people from their sins. And in the first five verses of John, the apostle states with unequivocal certainty that Jesus is he. Jesus is the light of life that shines in the darkness, and the darkness of depravity and despair and hopelessness and hell can never overcome it.
Tomorrow we begin that story. Tomorrow we take a journey to the first century AD, and we begin the unveiling of the sovereign events surrounding the Savior’s birth. But today … today we simply sit in the hope and the promise and the light of life. Because when we’re plunged into darkness, the only answer is to find the light. Dear Lord, long before the creation of the world, you promised and predestined your son to serve as our ransoming redeemer. He was with you in the beginning, and he was with ancient Israel in the manger, and he is with us now. Thank you for the promise of the light of life that extinguishes all darkness. When the darkness presses in and feels overwhelming, help us to cling Jesus and to the truth that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.
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