The light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:5
God almighty tabernacled among men. God of God and Light of Light. He was born as the prophets foretold. A host of angels announced His birth. A star was sent across the sky to lead kings to his house. And yet one of the striking things in this story is the darkness, the blindness that is settled over the people. Think of King Herod in this story. He is an old king, about to die, and he is informed by the wise men of this astrological phenomena marking the birth of a Heaven-sent King, and after gathering all the priests and all the scribes in the land he realizes that this must be the birth of the Messiah, sent from God. And yet somehow rather than going to worship Him, he decides to kill Him. What kind of mind games did he play to convince himself that he could defeat God?
Or think of the pharisees, they were the best of the best, they knew every verse of scripture by heart. And yet they were dumbfounded by Jesus. They said, “search and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.” John 7:52 – And yet the most famous passage of the coming messiah in all of Scripture, Scripture of which they had the punctuation memorized, Isaiah 9 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given..” just a few sentences earlier in the prophecy it is declared this would happen in Galilee – “By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”
And yet the darkness did not comprehend it.
Judas saw every miracle that Jesus performed. So did the chief priests. And they both decided the best action was to kill this man.
What kind of insanity is this blind? The God who rolled out the heavens is before you and you think you can kill Him. What is this insanity?
Well, it is the same insanity that grumbles when you have to get out of bed, that complains about the weather, that is lazy at your job. The same insanity that bites at the kids when they are going too slow. The same insanity that casts a lustful glance, that envies his job, that covets her kitchen. Sin is insanity. Does the God of heaven not see what you are doing when you sin. Does His Spirit not dwell among us?
2000 years ago the Light of all light entered into this world and we no longer live in darkness, there’s no use acting like we do. Our sin is a weak lie, it is insanity. Hear the glorious truth of the gospel – we live in the light and so walk in that light.
Zach Browning – December 17, 2023
