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THE HOSTILE DARK

John 1:5

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not put it out.

HERE we meet another of John’s keywords – darkness (skotos, skotia). This word occurs seven times in the gospel. To John, there was a darkness in the world that was as real as the light.

(1) The darkness is hostile to the light. The light shines in the darkness, but, however hard the darkness tries, it cannot extinguish it. Those who sin love the darkness and hate the light, because the light shows up too many things.

It may well be that in John’s mind there is a borrowed thought here. John, as we know, was prepared to go out and to take in new ideas, if by so doing he could present and commend the Christian message to others. The great Persian religion of Zoroastrianism had at this time a very great influence on people’s thinking. It believed that there were two great opposing powers in the universe, the god of the light and the god of the dark, Ahriman and Ormuzd. This whole universe was a battleground in the eternal, cosmic conflict between the light and the dark; and all that mattered in life was the side that you chose.

So John is saying: ‘Into this world there comes Jesus, the light of the world; there is a darkness which would seek to eliminate him, to banish him from life, to extinguish him. But there is a power in Jesus that is undefeatable. The darkness can hate him, but it can never get rid of him.’ As has been truly said: ‘Not all the darkness in the world can extinguish the littlest flame.’ The unconquerable light will in the end defeat the hostile dark. John is saying: ‘Choose your side in the eternal conflict and choose aright.’

(2) The darkness stands for the natural sphere of all those who hate the good. It is those whose deeds are evil who fear the light (3:19–20). The person who has something to hide loves the dark; but it is impossible to hide anything from God. His searchlight sweeps the shadows and illuminates the skulking evils of the world.

(3) There are certain passages where the darkness seems to stand for ignorance, especially for that wilful ignorance which refuses the light of Jesus Christ. Jesus says: ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness’ (8:12). He says to his disciples that the light will be with them only for so short a time; let them walk in it; if they do not, the darkness comes, and those who walk in darkness do not know where they are going (12:35). He says that he came with his light that men and women should not abide in darkness (12:46). Without Jesus Christ, we cannot find or see the way. It is like being blindfolded or even blind. Without Jesus Christ, life becomes lost. It was the German poet Goethe who in his dying words cried out for ‘Light, more light!’ It was one of the old Scots leaders who said to his friends towards the end: ‘Light the candle that I may see to die.’ Jesus is the light which shows us the road and which lights that road at every step of the way.

There are times when John uses this word darkness symbolically. He uses it at times to mean more than merely the dark of an earthly night. He tells of Jesus walking on the water. He tells how the disciples had embarked on their boat and were crossing the lake without Jesus; and then he says: ‘It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them’ (6:17). Without the presence of Jesus, there was nothing but the threatening dark. He tells of the resurrection morning and of the hours before those who had loved Jesus realized that he had risen from the dead. He begins the story: ‘Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came’ (20:1). She was living at that moment in a world from which she thought Jesus had been eliminated, and a world like that was dark. He tells the story of the Last Supper. He tells how Judas received the piece of bread and then went out to do his terrible work and arrange for the betrayal of Jesus; and he says with a kind of sinister symbolism: ‘So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night’ (13:30). udas was going out into the night of a life which had betrayed Christ.

To John, the Christless life was life in the dark. The darkness stands for life without Christ, and especially for that which has turned its back on Christ.

Before we leave this passage, there is one other thing to note. The word which we have translated as put out is in Greek katalambanein. This word can have three meanings.

(a) It can mean that the darkness never understood the light. There is a sense in which the man or woman of the world simply cannot understand the demands of Christ and the way Christ offers. To such people, it seems sheer foolishness. You cannot understand Christ without first submitting to him.

(b) It can mean that the darkness never overcame the light. Katalambanein can mean to pursue until one overtakes and so lays hold on and overcomes. This could mean that the darkness of the world had done everything possible to eliminate Jesus Christ, even to crucifying him; but it could never destroy him. This could be a reference to the crucified and conquering Christ.

(c) It can be used of extinguishing a fire or flame. That is the sense in which we have taken it here. Although some people did all they could to obscure and extinguish the light of God in Christ, they could not quench it. In every generation, the light of Christ still shines in spite of such efforts to extinguish the flame.