John 1:5
The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

If you turn on a light in a darkened room, the light enters and the darkness leaves. You may make the room dark again by removing the light or turning it off, but you cannot turn on the darkness to chase away the light.

Light is not the absence of darkness. Darkness is the absence of light.

We have flashlights to shine light into dark places. There are no “dark” lights to darken spots in a room.

The light, in John 1:5, is the truth of the gospel message. The light is Jesus, who came to save us and to show us God the father.

Jesus brought us light, or truth, to save us from our darkness. (He himself is the light.) Just as light fills a room when a light switch is turned on, the light of the gospel blows away the darkness that is in the world and in us. The only problem is, we must have receptacles that are capable of “seeing” the light, before we can make use of the light.

Even though the light shines, the darkness does not understand and cannot overcome it. The New International Version says, “the darkness has not understood it.” The word that is translated understood is translated differently by nearly every translation. It is one of the rare words in Greek that is not particularly precise.

There are two main meanings in the New Testament. One is the idea of understanding, perceiving, or grasping something mentally or spiritually. The other idea is one of overpowering, overtaking or making something one’s own.

It could be that John had both meanings in mind here, as both fit the context.

Most of the gospel of John concerns the Jews misunderstanding Jesus, and the conflict that ensued. The Jews, who were looking for the Messiah, did not understand the light, which was Jesus.

By nature, darkness cannot overcome light. And by human nature, we cannot understand or grasp the light naturally.

Light also, is useless if there is not a receptacle for it, or if we do not have the capacity to take in the light. The light of the sun does not help a blind man, no matter how bright.

Because of the fall, (Adam and Eve in the garden) we have all lost our spiritual eyes, and so, cannot understand the light until it has been revealed to us by the Spirit (See 1 Cor. 2:14).

This is what being born again is all about. When we are born again, we are given the capacity to receive light, or the truth of God.

Before we are born into God’s kingdom, we are not capable of fully grasping, or making our own, the deeper things of God. That relationship is just not possible. But, when the light that is Christ comes, he gives us eyes so that we can see the light.

The light that exposes the truth of God, and even the receptacles that make our perception possible, are all gifts from God. Ephesians 2:8 says that salvation is a gift from God, it is not something that comes from us.

If we have spiritual eyes, then let us look toward the light.