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This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.

1 John 1:5-6

The Apostle declared the most central truth of Scripture, that God is pure and holy, that He is pure light and there is no darkness in Him. This means that God is always good, always right, always fair, and always reaching out to us in love. John used the images of light and darkness to help us see the simplicity and purity of this idea. In the physical world darkness and light cannot come from the same source.

So this leads him to the conclusion that if someone is not walking in the light of the truth of God, in goodness, righteousness, compassion, fairness, decency, then that person cannot be fellowshipping with God. He makes the assumption that we will take on the characteristics of who we are around, whose heart attracts ours. And the surest way to check who we are listening to and who we are ignoring is to simply see how we are acting.

If we are walking with God it will show in our lives, in our choices, in our attitudes, in our relationships. And if we are not walking with Him, it will show also. God does not lead us to do the wrong things and there is no excuse for doing them. God is always fair and right, but in our own sinful nature we can think and do the wrong things. This is because of our sinful nature that goes toward the darkness.

A friend of mine in high school, Michael, became a believer and I saw the beginning of the transformation of his character. Previously he had a cynical scowl across his face, but after he trusted in Christ this softened. The angry look in his eyes became kind, the rebelliousness went away, and instead you could see that here was someone who had moved from the darkness to the light, and this is the inevitable result of anyone who will walk with God through Christ.

Our church covenant says: “We pledge therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this Church, in knowledge, worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines… To walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, back-biting and excessive anger … to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.” We can make such a pledge because we are confident in the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The word “circumspectly” comes from the King James interpretation of Ephesians 5:15, “See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.” The word here means to walk aware of our surroundings, we may think of it meaning to walk diligently or carefully, knowing that temptations are around us, that we could slip and fall. The surest way to avoid our actions from becoming wrong is to guard our hearts by walking in daily fellowship with Christ, confessing our sins and trusting in His grace and goodness.

Looking at your life today, how right are your choices? How pure are your thoughts? Since there is no darkness in God, darkness should not be in the hearts or our choices. Turn to Him and He will become light in your life, transforming you into His own image.

Evening Devotionals darkness, light, testimony

So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

John 19:42

The preceding drama-packed twenty-four hours had been traumatic for the followers of Christ. From Thursday dusk until just before sunset on Friday Christ had celebrated Passover with His disciples, prayed in the Garden, been betrayed by Judas, was arrested, tried, and condemned to die, and was crucified on Calvary. A hurried embalming process as the sky darkened was all the time they had, then they placed Jesus’ body in a nearby tomb.

As darkness fell on that Friday sky the disciples went into hiding, fearing for their own lives, but also confused and traumatized by the death of their Master. They had shown themselves to be proper cowards, each to some degree or another. John, it appears, may have been the exception, but from side comments in the gospels he seemed to have some connections with some influential people and perhaps he felt safe on that account.

Two more influential men who were on the fringe of the movement of Christ – Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea – stepped in to provide a burial for Christ. Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews that had found Jesus guilty, but it appears he had not been invited to that meeting, having been known to be sympathetic to the young rabbi from Nazareth.

Earlier in Jesus’ ministry he came to Him in the evening, in the dark where the visit could remain in secret. It was during that secret meeting that Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about the need to be “born again” and that John 3:16 was first uttered to human ears – at least so far as we know. Later a heated conversation erupted in the Sanhedrin itself where Nicodemus defended Jesus, or at least he spoke up about due process and that they should hear Christ before they condemned Him (John 7:50-52). These two events revealed his sympathies but not his faith, and there remains some doubt whether or not he ever truly believed.

At least some of us, however, see his participation in the burial of Christ as an act that declared his faith. On a day when the opposition had clearly won, when Christ had been crucified as a common criminal – besmirching His reputation further – and His followers scattered, then it was that Nicodemus stepped forward to help with the burial of Jesus’ body. Otherwise, we assume, His body as a condemned criminal would have been thrown out on the dump heap, the literal Gehenna, to be consumed by carrion birds and maggots, and where Jesus said, “the worm dies not” (Mark 9:43-48; 2 Kings 23:10: Jeremiah 7:32).

What we do in the darkness reveals our true character. What we do when those with power and influence say to go one way, when the crowd follows that way, when there appears to be no benefit from going any other way, yet deep within our hearts we know it is wrong and a violation of our conscience – what we do then will reveal who we truly are. In the darkness, Nicodemus put aside all pretense, resolved any questions about his loyalties, and publicly stepped out in faith.

Clearly his faith was less than it should be or would become, because Christ had not yet been resurrected. He had not had the intimacy with Christ that the apostles had enjoyed – though even they did not believe He would be raised from the dead despite the many times Jesus had taught them this fact (Matthew 16:21; John 20:9). But Nicodemus settled his allegiances that day, and though, like many others, he disappears from the written story of the New Testament it seems unlikely to me that one who believed in the darkness should abandon that faith in the light. I see Nicodemus as one who continued to follow Christ, believing in the resurrection and gaining the fuller knowledge of who Jesus of Nazareth truly was.  

There are times in our lives when we feel incased in darkness, when we feel as entombed as Christ’s body, when we cannot escape the pain or the problem, when we feel that the enemy has defeated us and stands over us laughing, when we are abandoned by friends and colleagues, even those who promised us their allegiance. Terrible things happen to good people on this earth, and these things can destroy our confidence and all but snuff out the flicker of hope in our souls. But true hope is of God and comes into our hearts by His Spirit, so the flame is still lit, it is merely the shadows of the darkness that seek to hide its light.

Life may not be what we would have wished, all of our dreams may not have come to be – and that would be true for all of us – but the Lord is still good and His hope abides forever. The light of hope may flicker in our minds because of this evil world, but it does not go out. God is there in the darkness of our doubt, just as surely as He is in the days of our triumph. The psalmist cried,

If I say, “Surely darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

Psalm 139:11-12

Prayer:

Lord, as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus did, may we stand for You even during difficult times. In our darkest moments let us continue to believe in Your eternal goodness. Amen.

Evening Devotionals burial of Christ, darkness, faith, hope, tomb, trouble