John 1:5

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

               There are two competing forces that Johns shows in this verse: the light and the darkness. These have always been commonly known to oppose each other, but what do they represent? The Light we get clues to what it represents in the last verse. There we find out that Jesus is life, and that life is the light of Men, so it goes to follow that the light talked about in this verse is the light of men which is Jesus, and the life found in Him. What opposes it then? The darkness. This isn’t just some ethereal force that opposes Jesus and the life in him but an inverse of what Jesus is. If Jesus is the life and light of men, then the darkness that opposes it is death and the darkness of men. This darkness of men is not just Satan, the arch enemy, but it is the darkness in the hearts of men that was there before and after Jesus came.

               Now that we know what the two pieces of the subject are, we can bring the verse together to really understand what it is saying. “The light [of men, Jesus,] shines in the darkness.” This shows that when Jesus came, He shed a light on the darkness of the world and the darkness in the hearts of men. John will expound on this later in this gospel, so this is important to keep in mind going forward—the interplay between darkness and light. When looking at the light, though, as mentioned in my summary of John, the light is the active participant that is doing the action, the light shines in the darkness. What does the darkness do in response? It moves because it cannot overcome it. It is important to note that when the light shines it overcomes the darkness.

               This verse gives us hope as Christians. Jesus overcomes the darkness. His light is more powerful than the darkness that tries to overcome Him. We need to remember this when we feel like the darkness is closing around us. Jesus knows that even the darkness of our own hearts can be overpowering when it comes to temptation and sin, yet John shows us that Jesus’s light shines in that darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. It might seem like the darkness is overtaking you, but take heart, we have a promise from God as John shows later in the gospel. Jesus says, “Take heart! For I have overcome the world.” We must lean on Jesus, and we do this in three practical ways. Firstly, by being in the Word of God daily. This is how God constantly preaches to us and revives our spirits. Secondly, by praying to Him. We have a direct line to Jesus through the Holy Spirit to be able to cry out when we need help but also continually check in to make sure we are aligned with Him. Thirdly, we need to find those around us, fellow Christians, to share our burden, take on our deepest fears and temptations so that we might stand shoulder to shoulder with them.

               If you do not know Jesus, then the darkness has you, but this is not the end. Jesus is the light of the World who shines in the darkness. He can shine in your personal darkness right now. There is no sin too evil or place too far that the light of Jesus cannot reach. He is calling to you now not to give up your sin but just to allow His light in so that the darkness in you, the sin and evilness, cannot overcome it, and He can heal all your sin and the brokenness in your life. If you are ready to believe that and accept Him, then just call out to Him. Say, “Jesus, I am a sinner, and I need you to cleanse my life.” He will come in right now and do that for you so that you can start your new life shining for Jesus.