John 1:9-10 “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”
Portia in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” makes an astounding statement: “How far that little candle throws his beams. So shines a good deed in a naughty world.”
This observation goes only so far: it is noticed and enticing, but shadows still exist, and darkness can seem overwhelming. Darkness can try to ignore “that little candle.”
But draw closer to that light and it’s more than a curiosity. It illuminates the area around it.
We’ve all experienced the awe of a candlelight service: A dark room, one candle is lit, then another, and another. And as that flame is passed from one candle to the next, gradually the whole room is illuminated in a blaze of glory. All those flames are birthed from the one. And there is no darkness anymore.
So it is in the heart that is open to God and clings to God. Darkness may not understand light, but light banishes darkness.
Jesus came as the true light that illuminates all who receive Him. He yearns to shine brightly in this naughty, fallen world.