4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Observation:
Jesus is the only light to the souls of men.
Devotion:
In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. Jesus is the start and the finish of where we must go for our light. In the synoptic gospels (the other three besides John), Jesus is presented as the King, as a man, as a servant. Deity is apparent throughout, but the purposes of the authors, being slightly different, also present us with a slightly different view of Jesus.
In John, Jesus is supremely presented as God in the flesh. In John He is presented as the Savior of the world. In this verse He is both our life and our light. There are other verses John wrote which carry this same theme:
1) And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14)
2) That was the true light (John 1:9)
3) I am the light of the world. (John 8:12)
4) Put your trust in the light while you have it. (John 12:36)
5) concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. (1 John 1:1&2)
The Bible depicts the man without Christ as dead in trespasses and sins. They are all the more dead since they do not even know of their deadness. Once a man comes to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, he is freely forgiven, and for the first time, knows what it is to be alive. So it is a very real sense in which Jesus gives me life. I am come, He says, that you may have life and have it abundantly.
I was reading some of Francois Fenelon last night. He said: “I was once as wise as any; thinking I saw everything, I saw nothing; I crept along feeling my way by a succession of reasonings, but there was no ray to enlighten my darkness; I was content to reason. But when we have silenced everything within, that we may listen to God, we know all things without knowing anything, and then perceive that, until then, we were utterly ignorant of all that we thought we understood. We lose all that we once had, and care not for it; we have then no more that belongs to self; all things are lost, and we with them.”
It is, of course, but a dissertation on my Lord’s words who said, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 16) I never found my life until I handed my dead body and soul to the Lord. Then, and only then, was I quickened, and became alive to share eternal life with my Lord. The darkness comprehends only itself, and cannot know light. My old life was darkness, dreary and dead; my new life is light, free and forgiven. Praise be to God!
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