4 "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood it." John 1:4-5
As most of you know, I am a theology geek. Some folks like to talk about the minutia of every scene in the Lord of the Rings, some folks revel in the details of Coach bags, others can tell you every statistical detail of the New York Mets for the last 50 years (poor souls). For me, I really dig the discussions, arguments, and studies on small details of scripture. One of my favorite discussions is about John 5.
If you look at your various Bible translations (NRSV, King James, etc...) of this verse, you will note that different translators come up with different solutions for how to translate the Greek word κατέλαβεν. In the NIV, which is where I took the scripture from above, it is translated as "understood;" but, other translations record it as "overcome," "overtake," or "overpowered." I wouldn't be surprised if you had only really been exposed to one of these other translations. It's one of those times where, simply put, the English just doesn't do the Greek justice. None of these translations is wrong, per se, but, all of them are incomplete. The term clearly means all of the above; it is one of those beautiful double entendres available to the Greek writer which is unavailable to the English translator.
Many of us went to candlelight services on Christmas Eve; some of us even heard this verse read during the service. I encourage you, regardless of the translation used, to think through the total meaning of what this verse says:
If I step into a room that is dark and turn on a light, the darkness vanishes; but, in the Gospel of John it is made clear that there is a light which shines on us, yet darkness is still there. Why?
If we try and puzzle through this, two thoughts jump to mind: 1) the light must be a very weak light (a candlelight in a dark forest), or 2) the light is very focused and not available for everyone ( a flashlight pointed at one section of a large, dark room). If we keep reading the Gospel, though, we learn that neither of these is an option. The light of God is "The true light that gives light to every man" (John 1:9). The light of God is all around us, is brought to each of us, and has not been overcome by the darkness.
And, yet....the darkness is still there.....
When I read John 1:4-5 from the NIV (and other similar translations), the part that strikes me the most is that the text clearly says that the light has entered the world, but, the darkness has not understood it. My expectation would be for the scripture to state that the light has entered the world but,we didn't understand it. Generally, the problem is user error...we simply haven't understood the Gospel well enough to adjust our perspectives; but, that's not the case here. There are plenty of scripture passages which talk about our failure to understand Christ's message; but, in this passage, the scripture points to the inability of the darkness to comprehend the light. We have a tendency to think of this darkness as a situation, or just the way things are... a non-sentient background that we just have to get used to. Within the context of this passage, however, that is not the case. In this passage, the darkness is a conscious force arrayed against us; but, it is also a conscious force which is ignorant of the ultimate foundation of reality. I think this has a special meaning for us this year.
Anyone who has watched the gut-wrenching footage from Newtown, Connecticut, or the plight of people escaping death and destruction in Syria cannot help but understand that there is darkness in the world. It's a darkness that we know exists, that we often recognize when it occurs; but that, deep in our soul, is ultimately confusing to us. We just can't understand why the darkness exists and why God allows it to continue to exist.
Something to think about as we struggle to reconcile acts that no sane person could truly understand is that, perhaps, the ultimate ignorance isn't ours at all. When everything is out of whack, maybe the adjustment issue isn't all on our shoulders.... perhaps the true confusion belongs to a darkness that doesn't understand that there is a final act to this play beyond its reach and perversion.
When Jesus came to us those many years ago, the darkness didn't disappear; but, it was put on notice. Many times in our lives, the darkness seems to be all around us. In the midst of these dark events, though, we are given a light to hold onto. The darkness, and dark people, in the world can't (or don't choose to) understand the truth that the light brings, but, neither can they overtake it. The great gift of the season for us is that, amidst darkness and confusion, the light of truth shines on us...and it will not go away.
Wherever you are this year, I hope you and your family are especially blessed this Christmas...hold onto the light.....
