John 1.9-13
The various names, titles, and descriptions of Jesus Christ in Scripture are so revealing and important to understand. Christology is the study of the Christ and is a subject matter that ought to be better appreciated than it generally is in our time. In the first chapter of John’s account of the life of Christ, we have an important picture of Christ which stresses how vital it is to have a relationship with Him.
Can you even imagine what it would be like to be in a place of total darkness? When my wife and I married (on our honeymoon), we visited an area in the Ozarks of Arkansas. One of the places there we decided to visit was a cave. I only learned later how very claustrophobic she was, but she went along willingly—at least I don’t remember dragging her into the cave. When we had made it down into the belly of the earth a good ways, our guide flipped a switch which turned off all artificial lighting. It was DARK! A kind of darkness you can almost feel. It was a kind of darkness you never would choose to remain in for more than a few seconds. By inspiration, John presents to us the Savior as being like the light switch being flipped ON after having a moment like we shared in that cave in the Ozarks. The spiritual darkness that exists outside of Christ is infinitely more horrible than being without physical light!
In one of my trips to India I took a day off and signed up for a bus tour to see the great Taj Mahal. My traveling companion, Royce Frederick, had already seen it, so I went on the trip alone. We left early in the morning from Delhi and returned that same night. As we were returning to Delhi, we stopped at a place to rest a bit and drink some coffee. The sun was beginning to set as we arrived at the rest area, when we left it was rather dark. I did not pay careful attention as I was walking in the dark, and did not see a step. I fell and injured my ankle. It began immediately to swell. Later it changed color to indicate quite a bit of trauma had taken place. I blame the darkness for my blunder. Had it been light, I would have seen where I was walking and would not have taken the fall. In a much more serious way, Jesus, like light, can protect us from falling in a different way that will affect our eternal destiny. John wanted us to get that picture.
On October 6 our radio program (Walking in Truth) centered on a study of John 1.9-13. If you would care to listen to that message you may do so my clicking .
