John's Creation - A Model For Understanding The Gospel Of John (Part 4 of 0)

Seeing The Light: (Day 1, John 1:1-3:21) – Part 4

From the model we have introduced (April, 2001), we realize that light” is the first keyword we encounter in John’s Gospel, the central element of Day 1 of John’s spiritual creation. Nevertheless, before we analyze the gospel with this metaphor, we must necessarily ensure that the scriptural concepts of “light” and “darkness” are fully grasped, for they have deeper levels of meaning than might be first supposed.

Understanding light and darkness in scripture

Simplistic understanding suggests light represents things that are “good” and darkness represents things that are “bad.” Yet scripture introduces prin­ciples such as:

The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness (I Kgs. 8:12).

This is clearly contrary to the simple understanding of darkness repre­senting all things bad. The idea that the Lord “dwelling in thick darkness” relates to some possible version of God dwelling amidst sin, in however tenta­tive a connection, is frankly untenable. Thus our understanding of the Biblical terms “light” and “darkness” must be enhanced. We achieve this by using verses from the Psalms and Proverbs in parallel translations:

I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old… (Psa. 78:2).

I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old… (Psa. 78:2, NIV).

The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wis­dom and instruction… To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings (Prov. 1:1-2,6, KJV).

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline …for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise (Prov. 1:1-2,6, NI V).

Using all the parallel terms above, we can compile four equivalents for the scriptural term “darkness:” “parables,” “riddles,” “hidden things,” “words of the wise.” From these simultaneous equations we solve the deeper meaning: the scriptural components of “light” and “darkness” are best interpreted as understanding, and not understanding, respectively. This metaphor makes immediate sense: to represent things that are difficult to perceive mentally with things that are difficult to perceive visually is intuitively right. Indeed the phrase “to be in the dark” exists in modern parlance as a metaphor for not understanding something; likewise the phrase “to see the light” metaphorically describes the point of understanding. We now return to I Kings 8:12 and realize that it is an insight into the relationship between man and God. God is explaining to Solomon that when the feeble torchlight of mortal understanding is pointed in the direction of the Almighty, it is swallowed in the huge gulf of darkness that is our God known only through His revelation. We look toward God as if to behold the Almighty, but we see only darkness, for there is simply nothing that we can truly claim to understand in what we behold.

With this in mind, therefore, we are enabled to develop a basic premise for Day 1 in John’s Gospel.

Basic premise

In this section of John’s Gospel we anticipate the gospel message to be portrayed with the creative element of “Light.” Jesus will be at the center of that message as the Light of the World. We particularly expect the contrast between “light” and “darkness” to be evidenced in terms of who understands, and who does not, with Jesus portrayed primarily as the one who both under­stood God’s plan and enabled others to understand it.

Natural and spiritual light

We have previously developed this study of John’s Gospel as a descrip­tion of the spiritual creation, as a comparison to the natural creation. It is essential to note that John is presenting more than just a parallel between the spiritual creation and the natural creation, for to simply equate the two would be to misunderstand the essential superlative of the spiritual over the natural. It is not that the spiritual light (Christ) is equal to the natural light of creation: rather the latter is far superior. What is especially satisfying from John’s presentation of the spiritual creation sequence is that we discover why the spiritual light is better than the natural light.

In the natural creation, God spoke, and light came into being (Gen. 1:3). But the words God spoke to create the light, i.e. the manifestation of His intended will, faded away and were heard no more. The light that they created still exists, but it is non-sentient: bouncing around the universe unaware of its own Creator or purpose, being governed wholly by the laws of physics in all of its attributes and movements.

In the spiritual creation, John takes great care to describe the provision of Jesus simultaneously as the light of the world and as the embodied word of God (1:14). So in the second creation, the spiritual, it is not only the light that endures but also the purpose (word) with which God created it! Thus the spiritual light (Christ) is far superior to the natural light for an explicit reason: Christ retains the express purpose of the Almighty within him, thus he makes sentient decisions about where he shines and whom he illuminates. This is a stunningly simple yet profound introduction to Jesus Christ, the one man who had the very will of God embedded in his heart and mind, who shined in the dark world of men selectively and intelligently, illuminating whom he would.

There is another thought on light within the natural creation that we are edified to consider. Light, we have reasoned, is the metaphor for understanding. How fascinating (and humbling) it is, therefore, to realize that in all the realm of science, light remains an entity whose fundamental form (though universally described using the term “photon”), remains unknown. The Nobel laureate physicist Albert Einstein, whose theories still define the contemporary physical understanding of light, said:

“Every physicist thinks that he knows what a photon is. I spent my life to find out what a photon is and I still don’t know it.”

God has given us light (illumination) so that we might be able to see and understand the natural world around us. Furthermore God has chosen to use physical light in scripture as a metaphor for spiritual understanding. Yet how beautifully and powerfully is the supremacy of Almighty God maintained, for the very metaphor of understanding itself, light, remains a thing that man cannot understand! The author suggests that profundity of this reality is considerable, and should not escape the reader.

Jesus Christ in John’s gospel: the Light

Read John 1. We find, pleasingly, that it opens with an introduction of Jesus Christ using exactly this metaphor of light. Specifically three state­ments are made:

In him was life, and that life was the light of men (John 1:4).

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

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world (John 1:9).

We interpret these verses using “understanding” as the element which light represents to obtain their full meaning. Ultimately it is “understanding” which brings life (1:4), because it enables us to respond in the appropriate way to God’s love. Consider the act of baptism. We could not have guessed that being immersed in water could possibly bring us eternal life except Christ had taught us. Furthermore, an essential part of baptism is to perform the action with a full understanding that one is enacting an imitation of death as Christ also died, to make a conscious decision to “kill” the natural man. Without this understanding (enlightenment) baptism is merely the act of getting very wet, and achieves no useful function.

In the same way, we understand John 1:5 and 1:9. Understanding has always struggled against the risk of being lost amid the ignorance (1:5)— how appropriate is the metaphor of light here! It calls to mind the image of a fragile candle flame, with a complexity and beauty unmatched by the structureless void, its ignorant counterpart, with always the risk of losing the flame to that darkness, snuffed out in its cold embrace. Likewise it is necessary to obtain this light, this understanding, from Jesus himself (1:9). One might otherwise suppose that there are “many paths to truth,” and the Bible, even Jesus him­self, is only one available route, with other pathways open through different religions, or acts of meditation, or studies of science. How thoroughly these thoughts are contradicted by this opening lesson in John! This careful meta­phor in the opening verses of John unambiguously paints the picture where there is no other source by which we might be ignited in the understanding of God than by the Light of Jesus Christ. Truly the gospel message of Jesus is the light that brings life (1:4), from which we can overcome the darkness (1:5) and from whom we receive that light ourselves (1:9).

Israel in John’s gospel: the Darkness

Read through John 1:15-51, 2:12-3:21. In deliberate contrast to the light of the world, John introduces us to those to whom Jesus was sent: the house of Israel. The Jews represent the darkness, and it is easy to see why (Table 1). The text is composed of a stream of questions, an obvious indication of those who understand nothing of what is going on (darkness = failure to understand).

  1. “Who are you?” (1:21)
  2. “What then?” (1:21)
  3. “Are you Elijah?” (1:21)
  4. “Are you the Prophet?” (1:21)
  5. “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?” (1:22)
  6. “What do you say about yourself?”                                                           (1:22)
  7. “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’                                                                                        (1:25)
  8. “What sign do you show to us, since you do these things?”                   (2:18)
  9. “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?”                                                                          (2:20)
  10. “How can a man be born when he is old?” (3:4)
  1. “Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (3:4)
  2. “How can these things be?”               (3:9)

Table 1: Twelve questions posed by the Jews to John the Baptist and Jesus upon encountering the ministry and person of Jesus Christ.

The Pharisees’ lack of understanding of all the things that either John the Baptist, or Jesus, have come to do (Table 1), culminates in Nicodemus’ final, bewildered comment: “How can these things be?” (3:9). These questions are coming from the Pharisees and Sanhedrin, the religious leaders of God’s people, those whose knowledge of the scriptures was the greatest, and yet who still understood nothing of them. Truly man without Christ is in utter darkness. [Notice how this point is emphasised by the attractive detail that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night (3:2).]

It is important to realise that this lack of understanding is not a mere misfortune for the Jews; rather it constitutes a serious failing on their part. They had been commissioned by God to be His witnesses (Isa. 43:10-11), to declare His Name to the nations and proclaim the coming of the Messiah. They were to be lights themselves to the surrounding peoples, illuminating the dark gentile nations. The Pharisees were not only failing in that task, but also hindering those who might otherwise have done it (Luke 11:52). Therefore the Gospel of John teaches both that the Pharisees were in darkness, and also that they constituted the very darkness against which the light was struggling. This metaphor allows a greater understanding of their culpability in their fail­ure to respond correctly to the light of Jesus Christ.

However, lest we place this culpability upon them carelessly, we should recognise that this same commission to “understand” God’s purpose falls upon ourselves, and not just the Pharisees of old. The proverb declares:

“Evil men understand not judgement: but they that seek the LORD under­stand all things” (Prov. 28:5).

We do well to take this commission most seriously to heart, and assess our performance at it, before we would move to condemn another’s lack of un­derstanding.

Discipleship in John’s gospel: seeing the light

The next concept introduced with this metaphor is discipleship, and the association is subtle. John records Jesus’ first direct statement as:

“Come,” [Jesus] replied, “and you will see” (John 1:39).

It is fascinating within the construct of John’s Creation that this is the first direct statement that Jesus makes in the gospel! It is also a fascinating insight into the nature of discipleship. Here is the light of the world, intro­duced to the children of Israel, and he is inviting them to follow him so that they will see. This completes the picture of light and darkness we have con­sidered, because clearly there are two available responses to the invitation. One is described by the earlier verse: The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (1:5).

In terms of what we have deduced about light and darkness as scriptural metaphors, this verse is no longer merely a commentary, it is now a defini­tion. It is by definition that those who understand are in the light and those who do not understand are in darkness. Notice that the NIV offers “the darkness has not overcome” the light while the KJV has “comprehended it not” (1:5). These two offerings are instructive, as they present both the idea of a conceptual overcoming and a raw physical overpowering. Perhaps “grasped” is therefore the best English word to use, since both interpretations are maintained. It is possible to grasp something intellectually, in the mind, or to grasp something physically, with the hands. The section above has demon­strated the Pharisees’ inability to grasp Jesus intellectually; interestingly John’s Gospel also cleverly includes detail of the failure of the Pharisees to grasp Jesus physically:

“At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come” (John 7:30).

“Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp” (John 10:39).

Yet the response of a few, a chosen few, was not characterized by the darkness that cannot grasp the light. Their hearts were enlightened by Jesus’ presence and they knew (understood, were enlightened by) what they had found:

Andrew: “We have found the Messiah” (1:41).

Philip: “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth” (1:45).

Nathanael: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel” (1:49).

This is Day 1 of John’s Creation and these faithful men have found the Light of the world who gives light to every man; even as we find him now in the opening pages of John’s Gospel. Come with me, he says, and I will make you see.

And that, of course, is exactly what we hope to do.