Living Stones – Saturday, November 25, 2017
Loving darkness
John 3:19
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
The conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus that night is now coming to an end, John 3:1-21. Jesus closes with comments about light and darkness and the love men have for darkness.
We’d never know if Jesus’ choice of metaphor was a dig at Nicodemus, who himself came under the cover of darkness, but the metaphor fits with Jesus’ later description of himself, in John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Jesus also had a clear focus on how the day should be used versus the night. Just like the well known saying that older folk use on young people who are trying to do by night what they should have done during the day – you are taking the night and trying to make day.
When Jesus encountered the blind man and His disciples questioned him about the origins of the man’s blindness, He assured them that the man’s blindness was for the demonstration of God’s power through His Son. Then He makes this statement about work and the day, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5.
Later on, in a conversation around the time of the death of Lazarus, Jesus went into another comment about night and day when His disciples pointed out the potential danger of a visit to the Bethany where people were planning to kill him. “Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”” John 11:9-10.
While Jesus was consumed with doing His work by day and walking by day, He was contrasting His passion for the light and Himself being light with the passion of men. Men, He said, “loved darkness”
Darkness, as we know, is not a thing itself, rather it is the absence of a thing; the absence of light. In the absence of light, we are often rendered helpless, a state of blindness almost, which may be why Jesus brought it up when he was talking about the blind man.
The other thing about darkness is that life loses its colour. You could be in the midst of everything that there is, but it loses it vitality when, in the absence of light, anything that you could actually see is in monochrome, one colour.
What then is there about darkness that men would actually love it? It is a perplexing question that men would love a situation where there are conditions approaching blindness and where all the colour goes out of life.
Of course, Jesus did not leave Nicodemus guessing. He gave him a clear understanding of the choice made by men, “For everyone practising evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” John 3:20
For men, the workers of evil, groping in the dark is acceptable because it keeps the evil under cover. And anyone close enough to see can’t distinguish who and what they see because of monochromacy, one colour vision. This is not hard to understand.
While you are reading this, the United States of America is being rocked by sex scandal after sex scandal with new revelations coming every day at the speed of light. Exposure is coming in every sector, politics, journalism, entertainment, sports, and the church. Someone turned on a light and now we’re seeing men in their true colours. No more groping and grabbing.
Some might argue that we are taking the light and darkness metaphor too far because we live in a time when science and technology allow us to make daylight in the darkest of places. But while Jesus did refer to daylight once, we know that he wasn’t talking about physical light but spiritual. This is especially important to consider since some of the greatest deeds of evil were perpetrated in broad daylight.
Most important to us is this though, that we are the light. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before men …” Matthew 5:14-16. We have a responsibility to bring the light to bear where evil men would rather have the darkness they love. By this we save men, and, as we know so well today, we also save the victims of their evil.
Think on these things:
- Can you think of persons you know who would rather operate in the shadows than come into the light?
- Have you had any personal experience in the darkness, if so how did you come into the light?
- Do you engage with persons in ways that allow you to be like the light it the darkness?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would be exposed light in the surrounding darkness and not a lamp hidden under a basket.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex