September 16 (John 1:5)
The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness has not overcome it. (ESV)
On a sunny day as
light streams through the windows, it is impossible to see the light. It illuminates everything. You are surrounded by it, and because it is impossible
to be apart from it, it is not possible to see it truly. Now consider the brilliance of a star in
space. It blazes fiercely, defiantly
against the darkness, and while the darkness may surround it, it cannot
overcome the light, but rather retreats and dissipates as the rays press ever
outward.
The oldest
Christian hymn outside the Bible is Phos
Hilaron. It dates to just over 200
years after Jesus and opens by calling Him “O joyous light.” Now think again about the stars in the
far-flung galaxies of space. Call up an
image of the unending blackness and the lights that pierce it. Jesus is the light that created those
stars. He traveled the infinite distance
from heaven to become flesh and shine upon earth as no star could ever do. And that supreme, powerful, creative light is
a joyous one.
The word hilaron in the title of that ancient
hymn gives us our word “hilarious.” Yes,
Jesus is the hilarious, wonderful, joy-filled light of everything! Radiance, explosive radiance that literally
takes over darkness…that is Jesus. That
is your Savior and God, my friends.
Oh, Jesus, I can
hardly express my joy when I think of You, when I truly ponder all that You
are. In the words of another great hymn,
“Be
Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart.
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.”
Copyright © 2017 by Steven R. Perkins
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