John 1:1-18[1]
I’m pretty sure that
most of us no longer remember what it’s like to light a candle to bring light
into a dark room. We use candles these days more for decoration, or the
fragrance, or simply the “presence” of a light on a dark night. I’ve grown up
entirely with “artificial” lighting in my home. I don’t remember a time when I
didn’t have artificial lighting in my home. The only time I ever used candles
for lighting was when we had hurricanes or other storms that knocked out our
electricity. Some of you may still use candles for that, but most of us don’t
even use candles for “emergency” light anymore. Instead, we buy battery-powered
lamps that are much brighter. We use candles for decoration. We use electricity
for lighting, and even a relatively dim 60-watt bulb is the equivalent of 60 to
70 candles. And we typically have much brighter lighting going in our houses.
We have flashlights on our phones that may overpower a single candle, and even
the light from the screens we have going constantly can be brighter than a
candle. I have a handheld flashlight that can be positively blinding! Some of
you may as well. I’m pretty sure we don’t view a single candle as a source of
light any longer.
By contrast, the whole
Bible was written in a time when there was no artificial lighting. Candles and
oil lamps were the sources of light. There were no street lamps, and none of
the lighting they had was “instant,” like the flip of a switch or the push of a
button. You had to actually “light” a candle or a lamp. And not with a device
that you “clicked” on and off. Not with a match that could took from a box and
could simply strike to light it. I think it’s hard for some of us to relate to
a world not filled with artificial light. We’re so dependent on flipping a
switch or pushing a button and having instant light. I would say that we may
not be entirely comfortable with that kind of darkness—real darkness. The
darkness you experience when you’re off in the wilderness. Some people can
enjoy it. The light of a campfire in the wilderness, or the light of the stars
and the moon on a clear night, can be mesmerizing. But for some of us that kind
of darkness can feel oppressive, or depressing, or even frightening.
John’s Gospel presents
the good news of Jesus Christ in terms of light shining in the darkness. Not
only do I think that we have difficulty appreciating the light, we may a hard
time grasping the darkness of our world. There is much that makes this a truly
wonderful world, but we also live in a world full of darkness. We’re surrounded
by it—violence in our schools, poverty that reduces working people to living in
their cars, and racism that sparks hate crimes against people of color and of
different faiths. But the darkness can be within as well. Many live in constant
fear. They struggle with loneliness, depression, and even despair. They carry
wounds and burdens inside them that the rest of us don’t normally see. Then
there’s the darkness that exists in our world on a broader scale, from the
corruption of greed to the destruction of warfare. We live in a world that can
feel very dark indeed at times.
The good news of our
Gospel reading for today is that Jesus came into this world as light. The light
that he brings is called “life” in John’s Gospel, and it’s for everyone (Jn.
1:4). John’s Gospel wasn’t talking about “life” in terms of everyday, walking
around, living-and-breathing life. The point was that Jesus came to bring a
different quality of living. Rather than living in the darkness of fear or
greed or hatred, Jesus came to bring a quality of living defined by God’s “grace
and truth” (Jn. 1:14). God’s “truth” calls us to a life defined by love—the
love Jesus demonstrated by giving his life for us all. God’s “grace” assures us
that there’s nothing we can do to make God love us more and there’s nothing we
can do to make God love us less. This grace and truth together offer us a
quality of living that shines like a light in the darkness because when we know
that God accepts us, we not only accept ourselves, but we can also accept
others. That can be real light in this world for a lot of people. It can change
our whole outlook on life!
The phrase in this
passage that sticks in my mind is the one that says, “The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (Jn. 1:5). There are some
difficulties with this verse, including even how to translate it. Some of the
older versions say, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not
comprehend it.”[2] But I think the more pressing problem we have to deal with
is that Jesus, the light of the world, was brutally executed on a Roman cross.
Despite our faith that Jesus was raised from the dead and lives even now, some
still today would say that the light of God’s grace and truth and love that
Jesus brought into this world has been extinguished by the overwhelming power
of darkness in our world. At least there are some people who feel like the
darkness has “put out” that light. They have a hard time seeing the “light” in
their lives. They have a hard time seeing that the “light” makes any difference
for them. I think those whose lives have been “overcome” by darkness may have
difficulty putting their faith in Jesus as the “light of the world.”
But you don’t have to
have been totally overcome by the darkness in this world to have known its
effect in your life. I would say that most of us here today have experienced
some form of “darkness” in our lives. Whether it’s the greed that may deprive
us of home or career, or the fear that violence in its many forms can instill,
or the anger and even hatred we may feel toward others, whether it’s any kind
of mistreatment we’ve experienced, most of us have known the power of darkness
in this world. I don’t think the promise of the gospel here is that we will
never have to suffer from the power of darkness in our world. The promise is
that the darkness, however powerful it may be, does not overcome the light. I
like the way the Good News Bible says it: “The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has never put it out.”
However dark this world
may feel to us, however dark our lives in this world may feel, the good news of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that the light of God’s grace and truth and love
in Jesus Christ always shines, and the darkness has never put it out. I also
like the way our version for today, the Contemporary English Version, puts it:
“The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out.” The
faith, hope, and love that God’s love in Jesus brought into this world live still
in our hearts, no matter what we have had to endure. “The light keeps shining
in the dark, and darkness has never put it out.” The quality of living that
Jesus brought to us through God’s love is like a candle that gives its light to
all in darkness, and it’s a light that never goes out. But it’s a different
kind of light than what were used to. It’s like candlelight. Candle light is
soft, gentle, and reassuring. We may have to look harder for it in the midst of
all the other sources of so-called “light” in our world. But the light of God’s
grace and truth and love is there, a light shining in the darkness. “The light
keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out.” And that light
will keep shining in our world until there is no more darkness. And the darkness
will never put it out!
[1] © 2026 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 1/4/2026 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2] For example, the King James, New King James, and New American Standard
versions.
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