Comprehending the Light

John 1:5

I’ve spent a long time puzzling over this scripture in John; it resurfaces every once in a while, but I’ve found it reappearing in my head more often than usual lately.

The beginning of this chapter is talking about Jesus Christ as a Divine Being—the Word of God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Verse four, the verse immediately preceding the one that nags at me says, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

Obviously these verses are about Christ as a Creator, Life-Giver, Light-Sharer. They are also about His relationship with humanity. He is a source of light and life for us. His vitality becomes a guide through darkness.

The next verse (verse five) then shifts to a discussion about the relationship between light and darkness.

“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

I think there are many ways to read this verse. In my head it used to read as:

“Individuals who are evil cannot comprehend the value of choosing what is good.”

I think this interpretation is skewed on multiple accounts. It assumes a stark dichotomy between “good” people and “evil” people. It also assumes that this verse refers to good and evil, when darkness and light could symbolize any number of things: confusion and enlightenment, sadness and happiness, despair and hope. It could also be literal—light vs. dark, and not metaphorical in any sense (I don’t think this is the case, but I’m being open-minded). Maybe it’s not about people at all, but the preceding verse makes me think it’s not that either.

This interpretation is also just…hopeless. The idea of being in darkness with no way of discerning light—or worse, being in darkness without an ability to discern the darkness in the first place—leaves me feeling profoundly lost. Maybe I’m just scared of the slow descent to the fall: the accidental slip, the forgotten habits. It speaks to my fears of the moment twenty years down the line where you realize that your life is no longer yours, it is merely something that has happened to you, and you never even noticed the light was waning. I’ve seen it happen.

We’re all susceptible to it, like when I read in the evening as the sun is setting and I don’t realize that I can’t see until someone comes into the room to turn the lights on. I guess what matters is what we do with the recognition of the dwindling light. A meaningful life is the privilege of someone who is willing to stoke the fire, or start it again after it goes out. Mediocrity is the reward of those who intentionally choose apathy.

And so my questions are many, and include, but are not limited to:

• What is “darkness” defined as?

• What does it mean to “comprehend” something?

• Does it then follow that the light cannot comprehend the darkness?

• Are we a part of the “light,” or is the light something external to us (Christ) that is a guiding source through the darkness? Or is it both?

• If you are in the dark, how do you know?

• If you are in the dark and you can’t see the light, how do you find it?

Or, translating the figurative into ideas (relating to other dichotomies like light/darkness) that are more down-to-earth:

• How do you progress if you are incapable of seeing what you are doing wrong?

• How do you learn what you need to learn if you don’t know what you don’t know?

• How do you trust that you will feel happy again if you can’t see the end of the sadness?

• How do I recognize when God is trying to speak to me?

The list could go on, I’m sure.

I guess this verse is from the King James Version of the Bible. The New International Version translates it as:

^“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

And then there’s the American Standard Version:

^“And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not.”

These verses both make it seem as if there is an ongoing war between light and darkness. I think the sense of permanence this instills is an interesting concept. Light and Darkness are defined in opposition to each other. They must exist at the same time, and each of them will never be the other.

Of course, in both instances, there were footnotes by the words “overcome” and “apprehended” indicating multiple options in terms of translation—all of which were synonyms to “comprehended.” So I found myself back at square one.

The original Greek is similar:

“καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.”

καὶ (kai) - and, even, also, namely

τὸ (to) - the

φῶς (phōs) - light, source of light

ἐν (en) - in, on, among

τῇ (tē) - the

σκοτίᾳ (skotia) - darkness

φαίνει (phainei) - shine, appear, seem

καὶ (kai) - and, even, also, namely

ἡ (hē) - the

σκοτία (skotia) - darkness

αὐτὸ (auto) - he, she, it, they, them

οὐ (ou) - no, not

κατέλαβεν (katelaben) - comprehend, overtake, seize tight hold of

I don’t really have any answers, other than these little thoughts:

• God is Light.

• We also have light. (Whatever you want to call it, it’s there. A tiny piece, straight from God. Woohoo!)

• The light in us will recognize and seek other light. (Light cleaves to light. We are built to progress.)

• The light is not going anywhere, nor will it be defeated at any point.

• No single person is only evil or only good, or only confused or only enlightened, or only sad or only happy.

• No one is lost. Even if we don’t recognize when we are headed for darkness, and even if we can’t comprehend the light when we are within the darkness, someone else does, and will help us. Maybe it’s God. Maybe it’s another person. Maybe it’s both. Either way, it’s there.

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I don’t know who the artist is, but I love this painting and thought it was relevant. I’d give them credit if I could.

Other recent loves:

Textured oil paintings of the sun on buildings (also not mine). My favorite time of day, and so vibrant.