t he light t h at God gave it t h r o u gh t he < Wo r d. T h e world loved darkness r a t h er t h an light (cf. ch. 3:19") and chose d a r k n e ss wh en light was offered in t he pre-incarnation times just as it a f t e r wa r ds r e f u s ed to receive the Light when He came to His own. (v. 11). This has been t he history of m a n f r om the beginning, light offered by God; d a r k n e ss chosen by man. It is the his- tory of the race a s a whole today. The t r o u b le is not so mu ch t h at t h e re is no light as t h at man will n ot lay hold of the light. This is the t r o u b le in t he h e a t h en world. It h as not lived up to the light it had. Ev e r ywh e re since t he dawn of history light h as been shining, t he light of t he eternal Wo r d, b ut man will not have it. Soon a f t er t he fall, t he race sank so deep in darkness as to cease to desire light. We have h e re an appalling picture of t he desperate de- pravity of t he race. All of t he strivings of man a f t er intellectual and moral and spiritual good outside t he redemption t h at is in Christ have miserably and ut- terly failed, (cf. I Cor. 1 : 2 1 ). This ut- ter failure of the whole h uman race ma de necessary and prepared t he way for t he incarnation of the Wo rd of which we shall hear f u r t h er down. It has been suggested t h at the Wo rd rendered " c omp r e h e n d e d" in t he Au- thorized Version and " a p p r e h e n d e d" in t he Revised Version should be t r a n s- lated "overcame," and t h at t h e t h o u g ht of t he passage is t h a t t h o u gh t h e re was a conflict between light a nd darkness, t h e darkness was unable to get t he vic- tory'over and extinguish the light. Th is interpretation is impossible, t h o u gh it is supported by some of t he leading Greek f a t h e rs and by so high a modern authority as Canon Wescott. It is im- possible for two reasons: F i r st of all, t h è Greek word translated " a p p r e h e n d- e d " never means " o v e r c ame ": It does me an sometimes " o v e r t o o k" and in all t h e passages quoted by Wescott a nd others to support "Overcame" ( f or ex- ample, ch 1 2 : 3 5; Mk. 9.18; I Thess. 5 - 4) this is wh at it means, and this is quite different f r om "overcame." ( 2 ). It is impossible because of t he context as seen in V. 11. J o hn in t he passage before us is stating as a general fact wh at he a f t e r wa r ds states of t he ap- pearance of the incarnate Wo rd to His own T he whole t h o u g ht is t h at while t h e light shineth, t he darkness ( t h at is t h e whole h uman race) will not have it. Man chooses darkness r a t h er t h an light.
h uman is introduced and on ma n 's side (outside of Christ) all is " d a r k n e s s ." The eternal Wo rd who became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth was in t he world giving light before His incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth, b ut t h o u gh t he Light shone, it shone in a d a rk world. Wh en we look at God, one word describes Him " L i g h t ." (Cf. I J o hn 1 : 5 ), b ut wh en we look at t he world of ma n k i nd one word describes it, "Da r k n e s s ." By the e n t r a n ce of sin into h uman history, t he world became alienated f r om God, t he source of all light, and f r om t h a t day to this, t he world t a k en as a whole is " d a r k n e s s ." Th e re h as been knowledge of a certain sort. Th e re have been science and a rt a nd philosophy and cul- t u r e and civilization, b ut nevertheless t he history of all h uman society as a whole h as been a history of " d a r k n e s s ." It b as been well said t h at " T he Spirit of God did not find a deeper darkness on t he face of chaos t h an the moral gloom which the WORD f o u nd envelop- ing our race." It is t he wo rk of God to deliver us o ut of darkness and t r a n s l a te us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. (Col. 1 : 1 3 ). Christ comes as " t h e day-spring f r om on h i g h" "to shine upon t h em t h at sit in darkness and t he shadow of d e a t h ." The entire h uman race unilluminated by receiving the Light which t he Wo rd gives is " d a r k- ness." V. 5 r e f e rs to t he shining of t he Wo rd in t he times between t he fall of man and t h e incarnation of t he Wo rd in t he person of Jesus of Nazareth. In a similar way t he Apostle P e t er repre- sents the Wo rd of prophesy shining in a dark place. (II P e t er 1 : 1 9 ). In t he first a nd second verses we have the state of things before creation; in t he third verse we h a ve creation; in t he f o u r th verse ma n 's condition in Ed en before t he fall; in t he fifth verse t he state of t h i n gs a f t er t he f a l l— " d a r k n e s s ," b ut t he light of t he Wo rd shining in t he darkness. Dean Alford says, " Th is shining is not merely a historical present b ut de- scribes t h e whole process of t h e light of life in t he e t e r n al Wo rd shining in this evil and d a rk world, b o th by t he Old T e s t ame nt revelations, and (see ch. 10-16- 1 1 : 5 2) by all t h e Scattered f r a gme n ts of light glittering t h r o u gh t h e thick darkness of heathendom. But while t he light shone, t he darkness did not lay hold of it. I t did not mere- ly " c omp r e h e nd i t" as it h as been ren- dered in t he Revised Version. Huma n- ity as a whole refused to t a ke hold of
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