Light and Darkness

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. -John 1.4-5, NASB

The prologue of the Gospel of John sets the tone for the rest of the fourth Gospel. The very first words declare that Jesus, the Word, is both eternal and divine, and that He is the Creator of everything. Then John says that in Christ was life, and that life was the light of men. Jesus is the source of life, and that life is a light in the darkness. Verse 5 is what has really stood out to me on this reading. "The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." Look at the tense used. Shines is in the present tense, did not comprehend is in the past tense.

The Light is eternal and constant; it always shines. The darkness is temporary, and it cannot comprehend the eternal. When Jesus came on the scene, the light entering the darkness, no one knew what to do with it, this theme is clearly shown through the entire Gospel.

Think about your reaction to light first thing in the morning. After hours of having your eyes closed, in the dark, you turn on a light, and at the very least, you squint. You may shut your eyes and turn your head, or bring your hand up to shield them from the blinding brightness that now fills the room. Your eye's accustomed to the dark, cannot handle the brilliance that is light, and so you look away. But as you expose yourself to the light, your dilated pupils contract, allowing you to see clearly. It takes time to fully adjust, I've been up for forty-five minutes and I'm still squinting, but the longer we are exposed to the light the more we can take in the light.

The only way to adjust to the light is to be exposed to it. The only way to understand and benefit from the light, is to embrace it. Darkness cannot comprehend light because it is the absence of light, and darkness is temporary because the light banishes it.

Jesus, the source of life who gives Light to men living in darkness, is eternal. The Light is overwhelming and incomprehensible at first, but living in the light allows our eyes to adjust, see what the light exposes, and receive eternal life.

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!