The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.
God’s first command, was that there should be light, and there was light. But darkness continued to exist as well and, setting the principle for his creative programme, God imposes order giving darkness its name and time and place –as Night, and light its identity as Day. Thus at the same moment time starts. At the other end of the Bible, in the last pages of Revelation time comes to an end and with it the alternation of night and day. The New Jerusalem is illuminated by the Lamb and there is no more Sun or Moon, day or night.
God creates light and so must be greater than light. Light is the first ordered creature and among the most fundamental. Not only is light essential for life, but without light there is no sight and if a thing cannot be seen, or otherwise perceived, it not obvious how it can exist. So light is a precondition for life and existence and thus becomes symbolic of God himself, by whom everything is brought to life. We heard how Moses recognised God in the flames of burning bush; a little later God will lead his people out of danger as bright pillar of fire. We heard this morning how the three disciples began to recognise Jesus for what he was when they saw him transfigured into dazzling white on the mountain. The resurrected Christ is associated with white brilliance in sharp contrast to the darkness which descended at the crucifixion. Paul’s experience of the resurrected Lord is, literally, a blinding brightness.
In all this, blindness, darkness and night are never far away. The Israelites in the desert sense without seeing God, as light within a dark cloud, the same thick obscure cloud into which the ascending Christ disappears.
Light is the primary positive element and God’s first commentary on his creation declares it to be “Good”. Just as darkness is associated with death, despair and sin, so light is the companion of life and hope. In the night crime thrives; day is for honest and constructive activity; sin is the characteristic of absence from God; in the daylight we can see and do God’s will. Enlightenment and wisdom require the light of day; obscurity, deviation and stumbling are nocturnal faults. Like night and day, there is a constant oscillation between good and evil; obedience and disobedience of God’s Law, acceptance and rejection of his will. These are particularly themes in the Psalms and in the Book of Job where reality and metaphor are understandably and inextricably mixed together as language expresses matters which go beyond words.
A development of significance for the Gospel writers, and for us, occurs in Isaiah for whom light, the force for life and goodness, is also a sign of salvation. In the Psalms, light is most often a symbol of personal salvation; in Isaiah the light illuminates peoples; “those who lived in a land of deep darkness, on them has the light shined.” And further than the chosen people, the light shines out bringing salvation to all nations. These are the themes familiar from Epiphany; “the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising”. Isaiah is the prophet most frequently mentioned by the Gospel writers, and Jesus himself, in the first sermon in Nazareth, declares expressly that he is fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy in bringing salvation. Earlier on, as we have just heard in the Nunc Dimittis, Simeon recognised the international element of the Gospel as he declared the baby Christ would be “a light to lighten the gentiles and the glory of his people Israel”
Alongside this message of the light of salvation, the Gospel writers retain a sense of the oscillation between light and dark; Christ’s presence on earth has a temporary character; he brings light but darkness will follow. There is to be rejoicing while Christ is with is, but his stay is temporary. There is an urgency about the Gospel; it must be accepted before it is too late. And even when the physical Christ has left the earth, St Paul is still hurrying to convert, to bring in the crop before it is too late.
This is all by way of rather lengthy introduction to the ideas and vocabulary that John is using in our second reading. The passage looks both forward to the crucifixion- starting with an echo of the agony in the garden of Gethsamane. But it also looks back to beginning of John’s Gospel and quotes exactly the same phrase about the darkness not overcoming the light as occurs in the first few verses of the Gospel. Those first few verses are also, of course, themselves echoing the first verses of Genesis which I mentioned at the start.
In the last verses of our reading this evening,” Walk while ye have the light”, Jesus is encouraging his followers to hold on to the light that they have seen in him; the darkness threatening them is clearly that of his impending death. That is a dark moment indeed, and it is not immediately obvious what the heavenly voice can mean by saying that it will be a glorification of God’s name.
Some explanation can, I think, be found in what I have said about the meaning of light. While symbolising God’s creative force and the power of life, goodness and salvation, light is nevertheless fragile and never far from dark, as night and day constantly change places. God’s submission to grotesque suffering demonstrates his power to sympathise with and to understand fully the human condition. In it he becomes literally and completely mortal. That understanding, which is only capable of demonstration in suffering itself, nevertheless shines through as a profound enlightenment, illuminating the compassionate nature of God. That is the glorification of God’s name. That is why the crucifixion will be like Isaiah’s light, something that draws all people to God.
But John understands how easy it would be to misconceive the crucifixion and its paradoxes. As Jesus says he will draw all people to him, he is being deliberately contrary; he is referring to the abhorrent nature of crucifixion for the Jews. A crucified man, was repellent and accursed, the opposite of attractive and drawing in. To break though the paradox, however, requires faith. For some that comes in sudden recognition for others preparation and preliminary understanding are needed. This is why Jesus enjoins his followers to walk in the light while it is with them and to put their trust in it, so that they may become children of light, children capable of recognising their father even in the darkest circumstances.
It is perhaps easier for us, as we can view the crucifixion knowing the resurrection is to follow. But to appreciate the deeply comforting glorification, as John sees it, we need to imagine ourselves back to those excited and dangerous days of the first Holy Week when darkness and disaster were close at hand and yet Jesus was insisting that the light would prevail. We too experience dark times; when we do we need to hold on to the words: “While you have light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light.”
Amen.