John 1:6-13 The Light Shines in the Darkness

With liberty comes laxity. In the fourth century AD, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The threat of persecution was reduced but another major danger replaced it. The church became powerful, prosperous and political. A deadly formalism and corruption crept in. The church, like traditional Judaism was becoming darkened.

John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom was determined to oppose this decadence and darkness. He was born in Antioch in Syria to a Greek family in AD 347. John was given a good education and learned rhetoric – the skill to speak effectively in public. After a reckless youth he turned to Christ in his twenties and he took his new commitment seriously. He became a monk, living such an austere lifestyle for several years that it affected his health. Of greater long-term benefit were his efforts to memorise the entire Bible. John moved from the monastic life for the church and was ordained as a presbyter in 386 AD. For twelve years he remained in Antioch, preaching frequently and drawing large crowds. John was more than just a clever speaker. He spoke clearly to ordinary people with messages that were simple and practical and used illustrations from everyday life. John constantly appealed to the Bible as God-given authority. It is claimed that his eyes shone ‘like burning torches’.

John Chrysostom had intended to stay in Antioch but the Emperor felt that Constantinople, the eastern capital of the Roman Empire, needed someone of quality to occupy the pulpit. The result was that John was kidnapped in 398, taken to Constantinople and persuaded to be bishop. It was not a happy appointment! The authorities wanted a superstar preacher; instead they got a man of God. Standing on the authority of the Bible, John sought to reform both the church and his society. Rejecting all attempts to pressure or limit him, he attacked extravagance and immorality and did all he could to deal with corruption within the church. He preached against excessive wealth: ‘It is foolishness and a public madness to fill the cupboards with clothing and allow men who are created in God’s image and likeness to stand naked and trembling with the cold so that they can hardly hold themselves upright.’ He practised what he preached. He sold off some of the art in the Bishop’s palace, refused to give lavish dinner parties, and criticised anything that involved excessive wealth and spending. Straightening out a corrupt financial system, John saved enough on his expenses in his first year to build a hospital for the poor. His attacks, not just against excessive wealth but against a whole range of social ills, gained him the friendship of the downtrodden and the hostility of the powerful. He refused to play politics and so it is hardly surprising that after five years he found himself banished from Constantinople to the edge of the Black Sea. There, in exile, he died in 407 and his last words were,

‘Glory be to God in all things. Amen.’

John Chrysostom was a model evangelist. He had fire in his belly and logic in his brain; he preached Christ with urgency and life in a language that all could understand. There was an extraordinary urgency to his message. As he said,

‘There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not seek to save others.’

He was also an evangelist with vision. In marked contrast to most of his contemporaries he saw beyond his own city and community, sending out church planters into the Danube Valley and eastwards to what is now Iran.

John was a man who preached that right beliefs had to be matched with right actions. He wanted to see his society and his church cleaned up.

John was a Biblical man. He took his stand on Scripture and taught that it had supreme authority. He encouraged his hearers to read the Bible too.

John proclaimed a simple lifestyle. He consistently opposed excess wealth and self-indulgent luxury.

John Chrysostom is an awesome figure. In troubled times he spoke out for an authentic Christianity; a faith centred on Christ, guided by the Bible and utterly independent of every pressure of culture. John was indeed a ‘golden mouth’ for the gospel: our age needs more men and women like him today.1

The Light is rejected

Looking back at the history of the church, it appears that God regularly raises up people who will oppose the staid ritualistic church and point people back to its foundation, the Lord Jesus. Men such as John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, John Calvin, George Whitfield, John Wesley and many others have courageously brought people back to the Biblical gospel. The apostle John wrote his gospel to do just this – he wanted everyone to know that Christianity is based on a relationship with the man who was God, Jesus Christ. This is how he summarised his message,

“The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” John 1:5

This statement is so simple, yet so profound. ‘Light’ for the scientist means ‘energy’, to the philosopher it means ‘wisdom’ and to the theologian it means ‘purity and perfection’. Surely John has all these concepts in mind. He has just reminded us that Jesus embodied all these characteristics. He had:

Energy - ‘Through him all things were made.’ John 1:3

Wisdom - ‘In the beginning was the word.’ John 1:1

Purity and perfection - ‘We have seen the glory, the glory of the one and only.’ John 1:14

The verb ‘understood’ that comes at the end of this verse has a double meaning. In the King James Version it is translated as ‘comprehend it’ whereas in the NIV it is translated ‘overcome it’. Surely both are intended. Those who are in the dark cannot ‘comprehend’ the gospel of Christ but at the same time it can also mean that the darkness cannot defeat or overcome the gospel.

In English we also have several words that also have double meanings. ‘Grasp’ can either mean to grasp with the mind or understand or it can mean to grasp in order to capture and destroy. The same Greek word is used of the boy Jesus healed who appears to have had epilepsy - he was grasped by these attacks,

“Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid.” Mark 9:18

All the early translations and commentaries use this meaning, that ‘darkness cannot seize or overcome the truth.’ This assumes that there is a spiritual war going on. This is so true, the darkness does attack but we are assured that it cannot seize or destroy God’s truth. In the parable of ‘the Four Soils’, commonly called ‘the parable of the Sower,’ Jesus describes this spiritual battle when the bird, representing Satan swoops down and seizes the seed or word of God from an individual to prevent it germinating. When Jesus first preached in the synagogue, a man with an evil Spirit called out, ‘Who are you?’ There is a spiritual war going on that all of us are involved in. John is telling us that whenever the light shines, whenever the gospel is proclaimed, darkness will attempt to snuff it out. We have all experienced this. When people first hear the gospel and are thinking it through, so often someone will come along and try to dissuade them. ‘Thinking of joining the God Squad’ are you?’ The battle is then raging in an occult way, in both meanings of the word! The voice of Satan may snuff out an initial interest in getting right with God, but in the wider picture God’s church will never be snuffed out, the darkness will not prevail. When we are tempted a battle rages within us.

The other meaning used by many modern commentaries is ‘to understand.’ To really understand a subject we have to grasp the opportunity to grasp its meaning. Paul used this word to encourage the Corinthians to grasp the spiritual prize being offered to them,

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets (or grasps) the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24

The gospel has to be grasped for the prize of eternal life to be won. There is no place for a laid back, casual, lazy approach where the gospel is concerned. It must be seized in the same way that Paul and Chrysostom seized it.

The English word ‘master’ has a similar double meaning. Our verse could be translated,

“Light shines in the darkness but darkness has not mastered it’ John 1:5

In a recent Cricket Test series, the English fast bowlers were trying to master the opposing batsmen, just as Satan is trying to master us. In South Sudan, Ethiopia and Nigeria and in many places of the world Satan is trying to outwit the churches, often by violence. But John, as God’s mouthpiece, tells us that the darkness did not and cannot master God’s truth.

However the word ‘to master’ can also mean ‘to understand.’ I have recently been trying to master ‘OBS’, a computer programme that enables church services to be broadcast on YouTube but I haven’t ‘mastered’ it or fully understood it yet. When we were medical students we used to take ward services in the London Hospital once a month. Patients enjoyed coming but it was obvious that most hadn’t the foggiest idea what the Christian message was about.

Surely what John is saying is that if I don’t take the opportunity to grasp, seize and understand the gospel I will have no share of its benefits. In fact I will inevitably be in the opposing camp and will even try to destroy it. This is the sad news that John writes about at the start of his gospel.

John the Baptist

The opening phrase about John the Baptist is striking,

“There came a man who was sent from God . . .” John 1:6

Our free will clearly does not determine everything! God arranged for the Baptist to come as a fore-runner to the Messiah.

Jesus describes John as being the greatest of men. He acted as the ‘best man’ of Jesus (John 3:29). What made him so great?

“He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that, through him, all men might believe.” John 1:7

This teaching has been so underplayed in Western churches, Christians must learn how to testify concerning Jesus to those around them. Furthermore we must learn to testify in such a way that people put their faith in Jesus. It is unfortunately possible to speak of Jesus in such a way that we can put people off Jesus!

There are some Christians whose message seems to focus more on them and their experience than on Jesus. John was not like that.

“He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” John 1:8

In John chapter 3, the apostle John tells us a bit more about what John the Baptist was trying to do. Clearly his aim was to ‘testify’ about and point people to Jesus. He said,

“The one who is from above is above all . . . The one who comes from heaven is above all . . For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God . . .” John 3:31-34

John the Baptist’s message was the same as that of Christians today,

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” John 3:36

No wonder Jesus considered him to be the greatest of men. There was no compromise in the clarity of his message!

Jesus, the Light of the World

Let us look on at how the apostle John continues in John 1:9-12

a. “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” John 1:9

The gospel is unique, there are not versions of it – the definitive article is used. It is true, and this truth is for every person in the world. It is God’s light to our lives. We instinctively know that what Jesus represents and taught is true and the facts about his death and resurrection and the reliability of the gospel records can be substantiated. Yet only a minority of people want to recognise this light.

b. “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him.” John 1:10

What a tragedy it is that the creator of this world is rejected. This teaching that Jesus is our creator is a repeated theme in Scripture:

“. . . all things were created by him and for him.” Colossians 1:16

“. . . he (God) has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” Hebrews 1:2

The refusal to recognise Jesus is deliberate. We don’t want him to be our creator, as that would necessitate our living under his authority. Instead people make up excuses, such as suggesting that ‘evolution’ removes from them the necessity of considering Christ’s claims. However the laws of nature have no power to create anything, they can only describe the rules that the creator has used in his creation. Nature is often personified and even given a mind, with people foolishly saying ‘nature decided that . . .’. It is a tragedy that people try to hide behind such shallow thinking, They are empty excuses. The light has shone into people’s lives but people refuse to investigate whether Jesus’ claim to be God is valid. He is supported by the prophecies about the coming Messiah in the old Jewish Scriptures and the evidence that he did rise from the dead as both Jesus and the Scriptures had foretold. Were those disciples all duped somehow or were they all telling the truth?

c. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” John 1:11

The Messiah came to his own people, the Jews. He gave them every opportunity to investigate his claims. But just as the Jews had rejected the prophets God had sent to warn them in previous generations, now they rejected their own Messiah - ‘his own did not receive him’.

However there is now good news - a gospel to share,

d. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God . . .” John 1:12

To ‘receive Jesus’ means to believe in him. Our word ‘believe’ comes from an Old English word ‘lieben’ - to love. It has remained the same in modern German. To ‘be-lieve’ is to be personally committed to a person. It was in Victorian times that the meaning of ‘believe’ changed into accepting an idea or concept. However the ‘belief’ that God demands is much more than intellectual acceptance – it is a commitment to the person of Jesus, to love him, to follow him and to obey him. The book of Hebrews says:

“He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Hebrews 5:9

Paul reminds the Romans, both at the beginning of his letter and again at the end that without obedience there is no saving faith:

“We received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.” Romans 1:5

“ . . . so that all nations might believe and obey him.” Romans 16:26

What is the Christian Gospel?

Can we all explain the gospel if asked?

The gospel is the message about Jesus, who he is and what he has done to save us. He is the Messiah, God’s chosen king, who entered his world to give his life as the once for all time sacrifice for our sin. To become a member of God’s kingdom, individuals must repent of our old life, lived without God, and accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. The Light needs to be understood and grasped if it is to be of benefit. Jesus’ message to all people is to repent - to change direction,

“The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:15

Jesus is the King of this kingdom. Men are opposed to God because of our sin, and God is opposed to us because of his holiness. The separation is wide but was resolved by what Jesus did for us.

In the last book of the Bible there is a good illustration of what it means to receive Jesus Christ. Jesus is talking to a comfortable church of people who are not committed to living for him. It is a salutary warning that it is possible to be in a church but not to be a converted person, not to be ‘born again.’ These church people were ‘poor, blind and naked’ spiritually. Jesus tells them that they must respond to his warning – his love is not like cotton wool, it apprehends, shakes us up and wakes us up. Jesus says,

“So be earnest and repent.” Revelation 3:19

No-one should be casual and insincere about their relationship with God, we must be in earnest. How does a person start this relationship? Jesus says,

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me” Revelation 3:20

Jesus is knocking on the door of their lives. They may be Jews, God-fearers or complete outsiders but the opportunity for a relationship is there for all who change direction, who repent, and allow God to have his rightful place in controlling how they live. The thrill is that Jesus then starts a new relationship with us which is highly enjoyable. This is illustrated by him enjoying a meal with us.

Some who read this article will realise that they have previously kept Jesus outside of their life but realise that Jesus is knocking. We can either let the light in or reject him, in this latter case darkness will have engulfed us.

When the gospel is taught, there are those who are reluctant to respond. They prefer to remain in the dark. If that door is kept shut by them it is extremely hard to open it later in life. This is why the Bible teaches, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament,

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts . . .” Hebrews 3:7

All of us must decide whether we are going to seize the light and take Jesus to heart. It we don’t respond we will return to the darkness and we will forget that the light has shone into the world.

BVP

26 September 2020

1Taken from ‘Heroes of the Faith’, a blog by Canon J.John