The Light that Overcomes the Power of Darkness

While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:47-53).

One of our biggest fears is the fear of the dark. Perhaps it’s because in the dark we feel insecure and vulnerable to what we cannot see going on around us. In the dark, we feel lost and unsure about which way to go. Darkness stirs up deep feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. But in truth, darkness is merely the absence of light. We can study light but not darkness. We cannot measure darkness. A single ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. We can know how dark a certain space is only by measuring the amount of light present. Darkness is a term we use to describe what happens when there is no light present. Jesus called the time of His betrayal the hour of “the power of darkness”. As the disciples kept their eyes on Christ in the midst of this dark hour they saw a brilliant revelation of His amazing light… “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). If we keep our focus on Christ in the midst of our journey through this dark and temporal world, we too will often see the light that overcomes the power of darkness.

There is the deception of darkness. Judas’ betrayal of his friend with a kiss, the religious leaders’ unwarranted attack with swords and clubs, and the disciples’ hasty surrender to the temptation to defend the Lord with their swords, all were evidence of the deception and darkness of this hour. The confusion and irrationality of the characters in this scene are convincing evidence that the spiritual enemies of Christ were flexing their muscles and exercising their powers of darkness in this hour… “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Diligent disciples can be sure that the same enemies of Christ will try to cover our lives in darkness whenever we are advancing the kingdom or growing in the faith, but we have a precious Holy Spirit inspired assurance and exhortation about our position in Jesus Christ for times like these… “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13). The darker the world around us, the brighter the light of Christ within us!

There is the dawn over darkness. The light of Christ broke through the darkness of that garden encounter in several ways. There was the revelation of the betrayer, the healing of the servant’s ear, the sovereignty of Christ as He surrendered to His Father’s will by surrendering to His enemies. This was a strange new experience for the first disciples, but we see the light of Christ when we revisit that dark scene because we have been walking with Him for some time now… “At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). The darker the world gets around a diligent disciple, the more sensitive to the light of Christ we become.

There is the destruction of darkness. The light of Christ shone brightly in the dark garden. As we journey through this dark world we are immersed in darkness from time to time, but we are assured that it cannot overcome us as we are filled with Christ’s life and light… “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5). The darker the world becomes the more brightly Christ’s light shines through the life of His disciple.

As we grow up into Christ, we reflect His light more clearly to this dark world because He is…

The Light that Overcomes the Power of Darkness.