While
walking in my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago, I came around a corner as the
sun was setting to the west. Light was peaking through in spots, but what caught my eye, was a rose glimmer that shone on a dark foreboding
cloud. I snapped a few pictures comforted by that luminous glow against the
darkness.
“The
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5),”
the disciple John likely wrote in
Ephesus at the end of the first century. It was a time of persecution for the
early Christians, and I wonder if John was trying to encourage these Ephesian believers amid
malignment and extreme cruelty threatening them.
I
love what the Tyndale commentary says about the verse. “. . . he (John) is
stating that the light has been shining and is still shining, and never has the
darkness been able to obliterate it.” And as to the verb tense in the last part
of the verse, “. . . implies that there has never been a single instance of
such a defeat. The most signal example of the failure of the darkness was its inability
to destroy Jesus. He, the true light, still shines on.”
No
matter how it may sometimes seem that the darkness is overcoming the light, “He,
the true light, still shines on.” John faced tough times including attempts on
his own life, with hope and truth, not despair. And so, we must as well.
We
remember Jesus’ words, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Jesus
is still shining through us. In every place and at all times, we can allow Jesus
to manifest his life in us. It’s a challenge to ever keep Jesus front and
center in our lives, but if we name the Name, then that is the standard.
Last
week was a dark week for many with the September 11 anniversary and the tragic and senseless assassination of Charlie Kirk. In times like these, we hold on to the
Light that never has and never will be overcome by the darkness. And that my friends
brings the greatest comfort of all.