And the light shines also in my darkness.

Recently, I again read John 1:1-5, verses that I have read countless times before, but this time something was different.  A single phrase stood out, calling me to take a closer look.

John 1:1-5 (NKJV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2 He was in the beginning  with  God.  3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Strange that phrase had never stood out before… “and the darkness did not comprehend it” lends a trait to darkness I had not previously considered.  Could darkness be capable of intelligence or for that matter thought?  Another curiosity was the change in tense.  The light shines in present tense but the darkness responds in past tense.  I hoped to solve this unusual dilema by comparing several translations… it was like having an itch I could not scratch and I had to get to the bottom of it.

John 1:5 (NLT)
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John 1:5 (KJV)
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

John 1:5 (MSG)
5 The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.

John 1:5 (GW)
5 The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.

Two votes for past tense could not comprehend, one vote for past tense could not extinguish, and two votes for past, present and future inability to extinquish.  The word ‘extinguish’ added the mental picture of putting out a fire, as in overcoming or conquering something, and that kind of victory cannot be achieved without first understanding that which we seek to conquer.  So the darkness then, now, and forever, must struggle with the intrusion of light, yet will never prevail against it.  Hmmmm… so far so good.

It was about that time when my friend, Maikel, reminded me of something.  These verses parallel the creation story in Genesis.  Johns writings take us back to creation to teach us that Jesus was present “In the beginning…”, when God separated the light and the darkness.  Maikel’s point was that Jesus and His church are the continuation of this action of separating light from darkness.

But wait… If they are separated,

does the light still shine in the darkness?

This was not the rabbit hole I had imagined myself jumping into when I began this journey, but God’s path for me is rarely anything like what I am expecting.  With that in mind, it was time to revisit John 1 verses 1-5 with a fresh perspective.  This time I went to my AENT (Aramaic to English New Testament translation), as I often do when I feel I am getting closer but can’t quite reach it, hoping to acquire a deeper understanding of the intimacy between God and Jesus in the act of creation.

Yochanan 1:1-5 AENT
1 In the beginning was the Miltha. And that Miltha was with Elohim.   And Elohim was that Miltha.
2 This was with Elohim in the beginning.
3 Everything existed through His hands, and without Him, not even one thing existed of the things which have existed.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And that light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.

The word ‘overtake’ definitely fits in with the idea of overcoming, but wait… there is so much more….

‘Miltha’ is one of those words with multiple meanings.  It can mean word, manifestation, instance, or substance.  Elohim is God the Creator and Judge.  So in the beginning, when God, in the act of creation spoke the words “Let there be…” the manifestation of His substance, Miltha, was with Him.  Jesus is Miltha, the Ruach haKodesh or Spirit of God manifested in substance, the Son of God and man.  WOW!  In verse three we can sense the imagery of the word becoming a creative force in the  literal hands of the Miltha, like a sculptor working under the orders of a king.

It fills in the unfathomable gap between “God said ‘Let there be light'” and “and there was light” with Jesus!

Thanks again to Maikel, for pointing out the crucial fact that God only separated light and darkness. He did not destroy the darkness. The darkness is a reality we must contend with.  Jesus has come to bring light into the darkness.  He is the true light!  That, for us, is a message of boundless hope!  It was truth in the past, it is truth in the present, and it will be truth tomorrow!  No matter what kind of darkness we find ourselves in, the light of our Lord can reach us, and the darkness has no power to prevent it.  Amen!

Blessings & Adventure

Lynn “lynnibug” Rios

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