In
John 1:4-5 we come face to face with the literary chain of sorites,[1]
(life, life, light, light, darkness, and darkness).[2]
These expand on the Word’s participation in creation in this context; later
John will expand to salvation, but not here.[3]
Notice in creation He is the source of life, his first creative act was light,
and the existing darkness was not able to overtake the light. The context of
these verses is creation centered. There are three features of the work of
Christ in creation:
- Life—“In Him was life, and the life was the
Light” (1:4). There is a parallel to the self-existing life of the
Godhead in John 5:26. Life was not created rather it was given (cf.
Genesis 2:7; Acts 17:25). There are two clear implications: First, Christ
is the life source. Christ empowered the creation with life. He is the
source of all life. Second, and somewhat difficult to understand is that
His life shared became light, for His “life
was the Light of men.” The article used with light in this context is
Anaphoric, meaning it is an amplification of life.[4]
If 1:4...is read in the
context of the first three verses, it is more likely that the life inhering in
the word is related not to salvation but to creation. The self-existing life of
the word was so dispensed at creation that it became the light of the human
race...At least in this verse, John is more interested in the source of light
(the life of the word) and its purpose (for the human race) than in the mode or
purpose of its dispersal.[5]
MacLeod makes three suggestions on this life as light:[6]
First, the given life gave significant light in that it was the communication
of the knowledge of God. Second, it could be the reflection of God that is seen
in His creation (natural or general revelation). Romans 1:20. Third, it is the
direct communication that the Lord had with Adam and Eve in the garden. I favor
the first suggestion which indicates that there is something in man that knows
there is a supreme being—the image of God. From it man has the natural
illumination of reason and conscience, insufficient as that may be to bring one
to the point of salvation—cf. Romans 2:15.
- Light—“The Light shines in the darkness”
(1:5a). Notice that the word “shines”
is in the present tense, indicating that innate light of creation still is
active in man. It continues in spite of man’s rebellion/darkness. This is
a clear allusion to the fall (Genesis 3). “The light shone in the darkness of the
act of creation, and it continues to shine in the darkness of fallen
humanity.”[7]
This light anticipates the greater light of the Incarnate Christ and the
light He gives in salvation (John 1:14). Harris notes “The question of
whether John has in mind here the pre-incarnate Christ or the incarnate
Christ is probably too specific.”[8]
John is using the old creation to set up the light which shines in the
work of Jesus Christ.
- Darkness—“The darkness did not comprehend it.”
Darkness in John is positive evil and it speaks of being the environment
of the lost. In the plan of God, darkness cannot overtake the power of
light. There has been debate over the translation of comprehend. The Greek
word is katalambano, meaning to grasp, obtain, to lay hold of,
overtake, apprehend, or comprehend. Many take the word to indicate that it
has no power to overtake the light and suggest a better translation would
be “overpower.” Darkness cannot penetrate or extinguish the light. This
statement is in the aorist tense indicating that the failure of
overpowering took place in the point of time—at the Cross.
[1] Sorites: an
argument consisting of propositions so arranged that the predicate of any one
forms the subject of the next and the conclusion unites the subject of the
first proposition with the predicate of the last. (Merrian-Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary, 11th Edition). It is sometimes referred to as the paradox
of the heap, for the Greek word means heap.
[2] Craig Keener, THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, [Peabody MA
[3] MacLeod, “The Creation of the Universe by the
Word: John 1:3-5,” 197.
[4] See Daniel Wallace, GREEK GRAMMAR: BEYOND THE
BASICS, [Grand Rapids MI
[5] D,A, Carson, PNTC: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN,
[Grand Rapids MI
[6] MacLeod, ‘The Creation of the Universe by the
Lord: John 1:3-5,” BIBLIOTHECA SACRA, January 2003, 197-198.
[7] George Beasley-Murray, WBC: JOHN, [Waco TX
[8] Harris, JOHN, [1:5],
www.Bible.org,
n.p.
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