... it and is thoroughly unreceptive to it. It is this translation of John 1:5 that I wish to elaborate today. Before dealing with the meaning of the Amplified Bible's version of this passage, I want to talk about the function and purpose of darkness and light in two principal realms: the physical realm at the beginning of creation and the spiritual realm at the beginning of the second creation with the coming of Christ. In Genesis we find discussion of darkness in the physical realm. Genesis 1:2 says that the ...
... in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12) Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” (John 9:39) “He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.” (Daniel 2:22) “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the ...
... even then, "'gainst the season of sorrow...the bird of dawning singeth all night long." Those who stumble in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwell in the land of deep darkness, on them the light has shined. One of the most powerful images of darkness and light I ever experienced was on my first trip to Estonia in the early 90's for a meeting of the World Methodist Executive Committee, the first time the council had met in a former Soviet state, only a few short years after the fall of communism ...
... , of course, is a symbol of sin and estrangement. It is a symbol of a world without Christ. The sad nation of North Korea has been in the headlines in recent years. One writer has said that, if you want to really appreciate the contrast between darkness and light today, all you have to do is view nighttime satellite images of North and South Korea. South Korea is bathed in light, with its cities gleaming in the blackness, while North Korea, still primitive in so many ways, is dark. But it’s more than just ...
... the darkness of the night hid thieves. A lone pilgrim on foot was very vulnerable under such conditions. Thus it was that the Biblical writers described the difference that the coming of Christ could make in a person's life. It was the difference between darkness and light. Darkness with all its confusion and dread; light with all its promise and warmth. Thus Isaiah beckons us to walk in the light of the Lord, and Paul challenges us to cast off the works of darkness and death. In the eternal Word alone is ...
... the light. One of these modern, sophisticate rebels writes gaily: "Good and bad, right and wrong, Wave the silly words away; This is wisdom - to be strong; This is virtue - to be gay." Well, despite those brave words, the eternal distinction between darkness and light is forever maintained. In the 19th Century, Charles Kingsley could write, with the universal approval of society: "Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever." But our moral cynics have switched it around: "Be clever, sweet maid, and let ...
... . In our corporal lives, we fear darkness and crave light. But in our spiritual lives - in those intensely personal dramas which are played out in the privacy of our hearts and the sanctuary of our souls - our attitudes toward darkness and light are frequently reversed. Our spiritual lives often amount to a reluctant embrace of darkness and a headlong flight from light. The ancient Greek writer, Euripides, understood this human tragedy when he wrote, "People somehow fend off righteousness" (Hippolytus 93 ...
... in open huts." Many people live in darkness. FOR SOME, DARKNESS IS A CHOICE. There are people who seem to enjoy the dark. No question about that. The Greek philosopher Plato talked about people turning to and from the light and living with relative degrees of darkness and light, truth and error. He acknowledged that some people don't want to face the truth or the light. Others have lived in the darkness for so long that they would not leave it if they could. They are like the convict who was brought out of ...
... on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned,” he is describing that kind of anticipation about seeing the light which the Messiah will bring. One writer has said that, if you want to really appreciate the contrast between darkness and light today, all you have to do is view nighttime satellite images of North and South Korea. South Korea is bathed in light, with its cities gleaming in the blackness, while North Korea, still primitive in so many ways, is dark. But it’s more than ...
... are agonizing in their individual or corporate hellish night hoping for a break in the seemingly impenetrable dark overcast. Oh, how they long for the morning with its resurrected promises. Day is composed of morning and evening. Life gives us a serving of both darkness and light on our platter. Some seem to get a greater portion of darkness. It is certainly not very palatable; but man needs to learn how to digest it. Some men with a diet of darkness have somehow grown strong and healthy in spite of its ...
... God -- God incarnate come to earth to save and deliver us from evil. Not that everything will come up roses if we trust his working in our lives. But Christ acts with the power of that God who conquered creation's chaos, that God who could command the darkness and light at the time of the exodus, that God who defeated the darkness of death with the glories of Easter morn. It takes a God of might to overcome the dark evil in our world. But Jesus Christ is that Mighty God, who shines in the dark, and whose ...
... humans have sought the light around campfires, candles and torches at the approach of darkness. Light promises hope and warmth, safety and security. Deep within the human heart the onset of darkness stirs up unknown fears of forces of evil beyond our control. Darkness and light call forth contrasts of despair and joy; evil and good; weakness and strength; sin and salvation; shame and glory. Reach for the light, tonight, before it's too late! The festival of the Epiphany of Our Lord is a celebration that has ...
... darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4,5) Even as we gather on this night in this peaceful, beautiful Chapel, there is a certain tension, isn't there? It is the tension within tonight's gospel: Tension between darkness and light. The child at Bethlehem brought light, but he was light into the darkness. We gather here, illuminated by warm candlelight, but outside, cold December night is falling. The Carol we love to sing expresses this tension: The everlasting Light; The hopes and fears ...
... is that for Christians there IS no night vs. day, no dark vs. light. Since Christ’s arrival on earth, since Christ’s life among us for our sake and “our salvation” (v.11), we live in a different world than that of night and day, or dark and light. Christians live in a pre-dawn life, in the overlap of the ages, between the three stages of Advent. That’s right, you heard it correctly. In the Christian tradition there is not just one advent we celebrate, but three. The First Advent is the coming of ...
... ." In other words, she came to the tomb before daybreak. John was simply reporting the facts. And yet, there is another way these words might be interpreted. After all, the writers of the New Testament as well as Jesus himself often used the imagery of darkness and light to signify something else. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark. Darkness could refer to a world without Christ, a world without hope, a world of sin and death, a world where God's promises had been forgotten and God's ...
... you tell my secrets, I'll tell your secrets." And there is also another law of the land: even though I know your secrets, there is such a thing as "none of my business." What the global small town seems to have abandoned is the sense that darkness and light are part of the essential human condition. Wherever you find a human being, you find a potential "child of light," but you also find a "child of darkness." To be human is to have secrets. We all have secrets. The Ephesian author in today's epistle text ...
... that Jesus would have reached out to him. His entire life was one of demonstrating unending love to the least and the lowest. His was a love forever reaching out. But one more thing. His was a light that has for all time overcome the darkness. Darkness and light are favorite images in the Scriptures, as you know. When Jesus was crucified, there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. The imagery is clear. Jesus is the light of the world and that light was being snuffed out. Not forever, of ...
... the world and reverse death and erosion, offering a gift of eternal life and eternal kingdom with his gift of redemption and salvation. If the first human was “Adam Transient,” Jesus shines forth as “Adam Eternal.” This configuration of opposites: dark and light, death and life, sin and salve, change and permanence, mortality and eternity, even humanity and divinity pervade the story of the gospels, as well as the earlier Hebrew scriptures. Darkness can be changed by the presence of Light. Venom can ...
... . A young, punk kid, mouthing profanities and oozing hatred for all, shields a dying form on a tree. An old lady, wracked in cancerous pain, wraps a risen life in death. Vision. How else shall we see God at work in our world now? See God in darkness and light? See God in bread and wine? See God wrapped around us here as we share peace and love with one another? Did you come here to see candles, a tree, people, a church, God? There are mixed-up motives for our being here, for our existing and working ...
... 's crimes are committed under the cover of darkness. There is something inherent within us that says if you do it in the dark, nobody will see it, and nobody will know it. Well, darkness may hide man from man, but it does not hide man from God. Darkness and light are both alike to him. III. God Is Omnipotent "For You have formed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My ...
... man had paid no attention to the warning light of guilt. "When faith goes out the window," declares Sir John Hilton, "something else comes up from the drains." We live that close both to heaven and to hell. In the inner man we touch evil, and we touch God. Darkness and light, how they fight over our souls! But by the grace of Christ, your sins can be forgiven; you can get up and get back into life. The grass can break through the asphalt and live again. When "I, as-I-am" come to meet "God, as-God-is," my ...
... between the army of Egypt and Israel. The author of the text goes on to tell us that the cloud was two-dimensional. It was light on Israel’s side, but it was darkness on Egypt’s side. Genesis tells us that God controls night and day, darkness and light. God spoke one day and light was introduced to the world. James Weldon Johnson says in the Creation that God spoke and darkness rolled up on one side, whole light stood shining on the other. The cloud was day and night. The cloud was day to Israel ...
... of historic Christianity ought not to be hesitant in affirming our hope in the return of Christ. Make no mistake about it, Paul lived in anticipation of his Lord's appearance at the last day. Using the images of sleeping and awaking, darkness and light, the apostle, however, does not speculate on minute details about the end time but rather directs his readers to the imminent need for ethical righteousness. As warriors going into spiritual battle, they are to "lay aside" their old way of life characterized ...
... by verse 8: "Saul rose from the ground; and WHEN HIS EYES WERE OPENED, he could see nothing." On the surface this sentence refers to physical blindness. There had been a bright flash and now St. Paul was blind. But so often Christ used the images of darkness and light, blindess and sight, that there may be more here than a surface truth. Saul’s "eyes were opened and yet he could see nothing." Could this imagery not refer to a new beginning for Saul of Tarsus? Saul had been given a new slate. His past had ...
... falsehood /For the good or evil side Some great cause God's new Messiah /Offering each the bloom or blight And the choice goes by forever /Twixt the darkness and the light." (2) Herod was a man caught in the conflict between good and evil, darkness and light. Kingdoms in conflict. "Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God," says the author of the Gospel of Mark. Jesus knew that it was only a matter of time before conflict would come between men and women who followed him and those in positions of authority ...