When Darkness Overcomes the Light

I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.

–John 8:12

In 2023, for the first time in a long time, Christmas was canceled in the village of Bethlehem. There was no Christmas tree in Manger Square; there were no Christmas lights illuminated. City officials said that such festivities seemed out of step with the horrors of the war taking place in Israel. The darkness of death had overcome the light of Christmas.

That was not the first time that darkness had overcome the light of Christmas in Bethlehem. Two thousand years ago, an angel appeared to a group of shepherds on a nearby hillside. The angel announced, “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11). Then the angel’s voice gave way to a multitude of angels proclaiming, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased” (v. 14).

But when King Herod heard of the Messiah’s arrival, he ordered every Jewish baby boy two years of age and younger to be killed. The villagers who had witnessed the announcement of Christ’s birth suddenly found themselves burying their children. The light of Christ’s birth had been eclipsed by darkness.

In a sense, we’ve lived in that darkness ever since. People thought the light of Christ’s coming would forever erase the darkness, but it hasn’t done so. Perhaps there will be an empty place at your Christmas table this year because your family has been touched by the darkness of death. Perhaps darkness has invaded your life in the form or illness or family conflict. Or perhaps you read news headlines and you simply feel overwhelmed by the darkness of the world around you. You wonder, Considering the darkness we’re still experiencing, was Christ’s coming really what it was built up to be? Is light the best representation of Christ?

Several years ago, I read an article by pastor Bob Russell explaining why light is still an apt description of Jesus Christ. I want to expand on his ideas this week as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Light of the world who overcomes our darkness both now and in eternity.

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Today’s devotion is adapted from “When Darkness Overcomes the Light” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2023.

Bob Russell, “Jesus Came to Be the Light,” PreachingToday, https://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/sermons/2005/august/1954.html.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.