John 1:1-9
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend[a] it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
Sermon
Light. I think we take light for granted. For most of human history we did not have electric lights, and when it was dark, for the most part, it was dark. Sure, if you had the money for oil you might have a few oil fueled lamps around the house. But, for the most part, the only kind of light people would have for a lot of human history were lamps at night times. And fires.
This has made a big difference in how we view the world. We may tell one another “daylight is burning” now, but that is generally just an expression we use to get a move on. Many factories and businesses actually run twenty-four hours a day because we have this wonderful gift called electricity. Even farm equipment can run at night now. In fact, earlier this week as I was driving home I saw some folks working in their fields in the dark.
I think we take light for granted. At least until there is a power outage.
A homeless man came by our church just as services were about to end a few months ago. He was hitching his way from wherever he started to Florida. Anyway, he was telling me about leaving Pueblo on foot and making his way down Highway 50 in the evening. He said he was scared.
He would walk down the road, and he said that when you are in a car going down the road you don’t realize just how dark it is. But when you are on foot, and you in those open spots, and you start hearing the noises of all the animals, and things growling it can be kind of scary. Coyotes. Stray, feral dogs, and whatever you thought you would hear. And then some car would come screaming out around the corner, not knowing that there is some fella walking along the road, and the lights would blind him for a moment, and the cars would almost hit him at 70 miles an hour. Then it would just be dark again.
Even if you live in a world filled with electric lights, you can long for the light that only God can provide through sunlight. Maybe some of you have friends that have spent a winter in Alaska. I have spent 4 full winters in Alaska in high school, and several other parts of December and January while I was in college and graduate school. That was enough for me. Let me tell you, most of the time you can get through the holidays with it being dark. But at some point when you are in mid-January or February and the sun still seems to wait until you are at work or school to come up at around 10:30, and it goes down around 3 to 4 in the afternoon it gets old. You almost need get some Zoloft just as preventative medication for the long winter. It is not the snow that gets old, though it does. It is the lack of daylight that can get you depressed, drive people to drink, or simply put people into a foul mood.
Light is even more than convienient though. Light, light of a fire, light of the sun, and light in general is central to life and health. So lets us talk about light, what it means for people then and today, and what the Bible means when it talks about Jesus as the Light of the World.
Point #1 is Light is essential to life, health and happiness
Light is a big deal. And it was an even bigger deal in the time of Jesus. Light kept you safe, so that you could see things around you. The light of a fire cooked your food well enough that you did not get ill. Thieves came in the night to steal. Soldiers snuck into cities in the night to conquer them. That is why most fortified cities had night watchman.
Light was and is essential to crops going. Plants need water, light and soil.
Light is essential to life. And to the world functioning well. Perhaps this is why when God created the world, the first words that are attributed to God by the narrator of Genesis is “Let there be light”.
This leads us to point #2. Point #2 is that Light, throughout Biblical history, has been a symbol for the presence of God.
When God wanted to speak to Moses, he spoke through a burning bush. When God let the Israelites through the wilderness, his presence was visible to the people at night through a pillar of fire (and a cloud during the day). When God spoke of the Jesus’ presence and ministry among the people in churches, he spoke of a lamp stand that identified the churches. And when the book of Revelation ends, and there is a new heaven and new earth, one of the great blessings that is shared is that there is no night. There is light all the time. And that this light is the presence of God.
So when we speak of Jesus, we call him the light of the world. We discussed that Jesus was the Word last week, and how that related to God creating everything through a simple word. When we speak of Jesus as “The Light of the World we speak of Jesus as the creator, but also the first word of creation personified. Jesus is God’s first word, and incidentally his last word. Everything in Scripture centers around Jesus. Everything in creation beforehand is building up to his coming to earth to live as “God with us” Everything in history after that moment on is a response to that first word. He is like the light. Creation begins with him, and its end, when all who believe are in his presence, he is the last word.
When we speak of Jesus as the light of the world, we speak of Jesus as the presence of God among us. That is why we light the candles during Advent. That is why we sing “Shine Jesus Shine” during this season for at least a little bit of the year.
So John 1:3-4 says that that Jesus is the light of all mankind. And that this light is also life. We have a little better understanding of that now.
But verse 5 says something that “sheds a little more light” on our conversation. In the KJV, the NKJV and the old NIV (NIV has updated its translation in 2010 for release in 2011.) it says, “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend[a] it.” But most other version translate the passage this way, The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it. Did you hear the difference? One translation says, “Comprehend” it and one says “overcome” it. Which means what? Which are we to accept as a better translation? The answer is both translations are good, and because John is using layers of meaning for the word “light” and both are appropriate. If I were writing a translation, which I will NEVER do, I might say, “the darkness has not comprehended or overcome it”. The metaphor of light in this passage, in other words, speaks of two meanings, and both help us understand what it means when we hear about Jesus as God’s light.
This double entendre, most literally, is because the literal word picture of the Greek word is “to grasp”. And the word “grasp” speaks to both comprehending and overcoming.
So Point 3 is that Jesus as light of the world has not been grasped by the people he created.
This word grasped has two meanings. Let me repeat them.
One meaning is to comprehend or understand. The other is to overcome.
Plato, in documenting the life and philosophy of the philosopher Socrates, tells a story about people in a cave. He tells this story in Greece a few hundred years before Jesus was born. Plato tells a parable about people all living in a cave. There is this very minimal amount of light, but not enough light that they can ever really make out much of anything. Instead, what they mostly see is shadows. Big scary shadows, and small little shadows. But all of these shadows, they believe that this is reality.
Then someone leads them outside the cave. And they began to see the world as it really is. They began to comprehend what life is like, what beauty is like, and that what looks one way in the shadows of darkness, looks different in the light of day.
John says that Jesus has come into the dark world as light, the darkness has not comprehended it. He is referring to something like this. The world needs to understand the truth. They need to “see the light” as Hank Williams would sing it. They need their minds and hearts enlightened. The world is still a dark place, but as the gospel takes territory for the Kingdom of God, light moves into it. Because people who are ignorant or unwilling to “see the light” comprehend the truth of Jesus. When the do comprehend or understand, they come out of the cave. Hank Williams put it this way:
I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin;I wouldn't ask my dear Saviour in.Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night;Praise the Lord, I saw the light!
ChorusI saw the light, I saw the light.No more darkness; no more night.Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight.Praise the Lord, I saw the light!
Just like a blind man I wandered alone,Worries and fears I claimed for my own.Then like the blind man that Jesus gave back his sight;Praise the Lord, I saw the light!
Chorus
I saw the light, I saw the light.No more darkness; no more night.Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight.Praise the Lord, I saw the light!
I was a fool to wander astray,For straight is the gate and narrow is the way.Now I have traded the wrong for the right;Praise the Lord, I saw the light!
CHORUS
The second meaning of the word grasp is to overcome. Jacob, when he was born, had a name that literally means the “grasper” which is also translated “the wrestler”. In other words, grasping also has to do with conflict. And in Hebrew memory at the time of Jesus, there was a miracle in the middle of a conflict that I think ties into the intent of what God was saying through John in this passage.
This story is found in the Apocrypha, which is in Catholic Bibles and not in Protestant Bibles. It is the story of the Macabee family, especially Judah. One version of the story is written in I and II Macabees in the apocrypha, though others tell the story too. It is the event that Hebrews celebrate at this time of year called Hannukah, which is a festival of lights.
The history behind Hannukah begins about 200 AD. It is at that point that the nation of Israel comes under Syrian control. The first Syrian leader that ruled over them was benevolent. The second, named Antiochus Epiphanies was not so. He forbade Jewish customs. He went into the temple and killed people in the temple. He sat on the throne, and he had pigs killed on the altar (pigs were considered unholy and unclean).He banned circumcision. He killed a Woman named Hannah and her seven sons because they refused to eat pork when they were commanded to.
About 5 years after the takeover, in 155 AD, A man named Matthias and his sons began an insurrection against the Syrian ruler. Soon his son took over the rebellion. The son’s name was Judah, but he was nicknamed Judah Maccabeus. The nickname is commonly translated as “the hammer or hammer of God” but can also refer to an acronym of a verse that speaks to the mightiness of God.
Anyway…They fought their war with a series of ambush attacks and won quick victories. Eventually the temple was liberated from the Syrian leadership. They needed to purify the temple. Part of the purification involved burning candles in the sanctuary. They only had enough oil for one day. But miraculously, the candles burned for all eight days it took them to make new oil to burn in the temple. It was a sign that God was with them, and that God was going to continue to be with them as they battled against the evil oppressors that they had not overcome completely.
It is with this in mind that I think John says that the darkness has not overcome the light. The darkness cannot defeat the light of Jesus. All the forces of darkness and evil cannot defeat the powers of light and good. Both the Advent of Jesus and the miracle of Hannukah point to the truth that the forces of light cannot be defeated by the forces of darkness, and that the light of Christ is on the move and ultimately has the victory, both at the cross and at the second coming of Jesus.
It is with this present and ultimate victory through Jesus in mind, began with his coming into the world, that we both celebrate and long for as we come to the Lord’s Table. The Lord’s Table reminds us that Satan’s doom is sure, he defeat is secured, his ultimate loss is guaranteed. Jesus stuck the death blow to his oppression and power when he conquered sin and death on the cross.
The question is, how will you respond.
Annie Dillard tells a story about light, based on research by a scientist named Marius Von Senden recorded in a book called Space and Sight. It is a study of people whose blindness was caused by a kind of cataract, and thus, when the technology developed, could be cured. A number of them opted to have the surgery. And, a number of people who opted to have the surgery hated the result. They found ways to cover their eyes even though they could see, and begged for the surgery to be reversed. They hated the light. Too much stimulation. Too much to learn. Too much change. Too much color.
Many reject God’s light for a similar reason. They fear it. It asks to much of them they think. It is unfamiliar. I beg you not to run from God’s light, but to embrace it. Embrace the understanding, the truth, and the victory that comes with faith in Jesus, that we find at this table.
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