Hiding In The Light

John 1:9-18

To fully understand the Gospel of John’s prologue, in fact its overall message, we must first come to appreciate the 1st Century Israelite’s understanding of what light represents. As our personal theologies have grown to where they are through the doctrines and interpretations of theologians throughout the millennia, the root of who Jesus was for those 1st century Christians ran deeply through Judaism and could not yet be separated from those beliefs.

The language we use today to represent the different things Jesus represents to us – justice, salvation, self-sacrifice, peace – was forged by great Christian thinkers such as Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Boesak, and Wright. However, the Christians of the 1st Century, when the way of Jesus Christ was in its infant stages, had people whose thoughts and writings were still grounded in Judaism as they tried to clear a new path for the followers of Christ to follow. The words they relied on were law, grace, and truth.

While we have great symbols of our faith which provoke images of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus – the manger, a star, the cross, an empty tomb – the people in the 1st century relied on images such as water, darkness, and light. John’s Gospel makes the best use of that last image, that of light,

Genesis 1 gives us these words, “When God began to create the heavens and the earth— the earth was without shape or form, it was dark over the deep sea, and God’s wind swept over the waters— God said, “Let there be light.” And so light appeared. God saw how good the light was. God separated the light from the darkness. God named the light Day and the darkness Night.” Yet, when we take a closer look at this we note that day and night, light and darkness, were created before the sun and moon and stars. In fact, it took God another 3 days to create that which would mark the day and night.

What, then, is light?

God is represented by a column of fire, a source of light to ancient Hebrews, as they walk through the desert. God is revealed as light to Moses on the mountaintop. The burning of lamps for many of the established festivals of their day is of great importance as well; so much so that there is actually a Jewish code of law which states that the purchasing of oil for the lamps of the Sabbath and other festivals take precedence over the purchase of food.

In the New Testament we are reminded not to hide our lamp under a jar or bed. We are told the story of the bridesmaids of which half had oil for their lamps and half did not, therefore keeping them from entering the banquet. When Jesus is baptized there’s a great light which comes down from the heavens that shines on him. With these examples, and more, we can see the importance of how the word “light” as well as all the symbolism which portrays light is within the stories of the Bible.

The Gospel of John is no different in its use of the language of light. However, its understanding of what the light is differs from that which we may be accustomed to. Today we understand biblical light to be something that shines on our path and shows us the way into God’s never-ending love. We see the light as something which enters us and can be shared with others along our paths. John’s Gospel’s use of light is much, much more than that.

The Old Testament professor at Vancouver School of Theology, the seminary which I attended, is Patricia Dutcher-Walls, a world-renown Old Testament Scholar. During one of our sessions with her the question was asked, “How is it that light and darkness was created before sun, moon, and stars?”

In true Patricia Dutcher-Walls form she answered with a question. “What is necessary before sun and moon can be created?” The room was silent. After a minute or so she asked, “For that matter, what is needed before anything could have been created by God?”

The more seasoned students answered, “The Spirit of God.” “God’s breath.”

“Good, good,” she said in only the way Professor Dutcher-Walls could, “And what exactly did that breath of God do?”

Almost immediately the light went on in the room. Before we could say anything, though, our esteemed professor said, “In biblical Hebrew, light represents understanding, truth, justice, peace, and even life itself and the revelation of these things is expressed in terms of the revelation of light. The creation of light at the beginning of creation is the creation of the life-force and wisdom of all things.”

She continued, “The Hebrews believed that “the light” is what runs through every living thing. It is what connects us and unifies us under the one God. It is understood that when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden that the light was shattered, therefore separating humanity from the rest of creation and God. It is the basis of Jewish theology to reunite the light in order for all of creation to be as God had intended from the very beginning.”

I thought about those words a lot and let them sink into my being. Light is the life-force of all living things as well as the understanding of how that life-force unites all living things. Then, when I began my course on the Gospel of John and re-read this prologue for the first time with a new understanding of how the 1st Century Hebrew people understood the concept of light, I developed a deeper understanding of who Jesus Christ was to the first followers of Christ.

John’s Gospel also does something very interesting with the concept of light. Not only is the light which comes into the world the life-force and understanding of how all of creation was meant to live in unity, it is also the light which brings into focus all things. John’s Gospel not only includes the Hebrew concept of light, but also the Greek way of thinking that the word light represents the ordered entirety of the universe.

John’s Gospel blends the symbolism of Jewish light with the word “light” from the Greek world in which the author lived to give us the one thing which the Light of the world is: all of life in its entirety.

One of the questions asked in our course on John’s Gospel was, “What can you see when the lights are turned on?” Everything seemed to be the unanimous answer. So the follow-up question helped put the professor’s point more into focus. “So, what you’re saying is that when you turn on your kitchen lights you can see what is in your cupboards and in your refrigerator?”

The point he was trying to make was that when the light is turned on we can see everything that is exposed by that light. In order for something to be seen it has to be exposed to the light, which in turn exposes whatever stands in it for that which it is truly. In the Gospel of John, light is a symbol of many things, including the life force of all things, but mostly the light is there to be a light.

However, light is not used often in the Gospel, the actual word only being written about 16 times. So, while the concept, symbols, and word for life is important, that importance is made even more so by the limited use of the word. In fact, the use of the word “light” is limited to only 2 people; the narrator and Jesus.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is called the light of the world, Jesus himself calls him the light of the world. The light shines but people hide from it because they love darkness better; coming into the light would expose their inner-most secrets. And Jesus tells us to walk in the light of day to lessen our chances of stumbling. But, probably the 2 most effective uses of light by John’s Gospel are these: when Nicodemus approaches Jesus during the night and when Mary seeks Jesus at the tomb at the break of dawn.

This week the Christian calendar will be celebrating the Epiphany, the day when Jesus Christ first appears to the Gentiles as told of in Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus. The Magi are said to have traveled from a place far east of Bethlehem, having only one thing to guide them; a great light in the sky. It was this great light which shone brightly in the desert as the Magi and their caravan rode to find the newborn Christ. It was this great light that shone into the cave as the Christ-child lay in a manger, his father and mother to one side, unsure of what to make of these men of great wealth as they lay gifts at their child’s feet.

The light of Christ never goes out nor does it ever dim. It is a light that shines for us, with us, unto us, and beyond us. The light with which all of creation looks towards to unite us and to help us understand what that unity is shines in this sanctuary, in our bodies, and in our hearts. Let this light shine, my friends, and gather together with everyone else’s light in order for the words of John’s prologue to come true.

Here now the Gospel according to John;

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word was with God in the beginning. Everything came into being through the Word, and without the Word nothing came into being. What came into being through the Word was life, and the life was the light for all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light. 

A man named John was sent from God. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him everyone would believe in the light. He himself wasn’t the light, but his mission was to testify concerning the light. 

The true light that shines on all people was coming into the world. The light was in the world, and the world came into being through the light, but the world didn’t recognize the light. The light came to his own people, and his own people didn’t welcome him. But those who did welcome him, those who believed in his name, he authorized to become God’s children, born not from blood nor from human desire or passion, but born from God. 

The Word became flesh and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. John testified about him, crying out, “This is the one of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than me because he existed before me.’” From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace; as the Law was given through Moses, so grace and truth came into being through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made God known.

The Light shines forever.

God is always with us.  Amen.