The Light Has Come…so what?

John 1:9-10, CEB

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.

Genesis 1:3-5, CEB

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.

                As we said in our first reflection concerning John’s prologue (1:1-18), this opening section of John frames the way we should read the rest of the book.  One of the front-and-center themes that John develops throughout the book is that of Light.  Light is capitalized because is one of John’s names for Jesus.  It is also one of the ways John describes what Jesus does. 

                “True light” has arrived in Jesus.  The implication is that there is light that is less than true.  We could take off in twenty different tangents from that statement, but let’s resist that temptation and stay with the simplicity of John’s assertion; any light that is not that which Jesus is and brings is not, by definition, true Light.   

                Humans don’t generally realize this truth.  We do this in multiple ways.  First, even though we experience the true Light (The true light that shines on all people), we don’t recognize it as a gift of God.  Sometimes we convince ourselves that we are making our own light.  Sometimes we ascribe the source of the light to other people (hence the author’s need to remind us that John the Baptist is NOT the light, but only a reflection/witness). 

                The next mistake people make regarding the light is built upon the first.  Because we mistake the light as something other than God or from God, we regard it as something no better than light’s opponent, darkness.  Later, John will even assert that “The light came into the world, and people loved darkness more than the light.”(3:19) 

                The World, John’ name for all the people on Earth, often fundamentally misunderstand or are completely oblivious to the true Light.  This fuels John’s reasons for writing the gospel and it should fuel our reasons for listening to this gospel.  If we take this reading seriously, John’s prayer is that we will come out on the other side fully recognizing and embracing the One who is the true Light.  That is my prayer as well. 

Questions:  How is Jesus the “true” Light to you?  How have you taken this for granted?

Prayer:  God, you have given the light to all of us.  May we be among those who recognize the gift for what it is and fully embrace it with all that we are and all that we do. Amen.

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the true “Light” to be recognized by more of the “world.” 

Song:  In the Light – DC Talk