There are moments in life when darkness feels so complete, so heavy, that we begin to wonder if the light will ever return. Whether it’s battles with depression, grief over personal loss, or troubles in relationships with family, work, or friends, if you’ve found yourself wandering in the dark chapters of life, then you know how it feels — alone, confused, and anxious.

I’ve experienced real darkness before, and the feeling has never left me.

When Darkness Feels Overwhelming

When Ivey and I were newly married, we booked a cruise on Princess Cruiselines with a port stop in Belize, a tropical Central American paradise just off the coast of the Caribbean Sea.

One shore excursion caught our attention: cave tubing — floating down a jungle river on a tube through a network of dark caves just seemed to our younger selves like a good time. When we arrived at the port, we set off, boarded a bus, and away we went.

After a half-hour ride through the jungle, we finally got to the shoreline of the river. Our tour guides gave us an inner tube and a headlamp to wear so we could see the wonders of the caves we were about to explore. With everyone properly outfitted, our flotilla began drifting lazily through the cave river system.

The deeper we went, the darker it became. That’s when the tour leader suddenly shouted in a broken Belizean accent, “All lights off.” That was our cue to turn off our headlamps.

One by one, the lights started to disappear, and just like that, we were swallowed in darkness.

It was eerily dark but noisy.

Of course, everyone started laughing nervously as the sound of the river, along with the chorus of anxious tubers’ voices, echoed off the cave ceiling, but in those few moments of utter darkness, I felt the weight of the darkness.

As soon as the reality of the moment settled in, the river took a turn, and light emerged. At first, it was just a faint glow, but as we continued winding through the labyrinth of cave tunnels, we suddenly came to an opening in the ceiling where radiant sunbeams streamed in, and we were greeted by a breathtaking panoramic view of life that flourished even in the cave.

The Psalmist David reminds us that the good news of Jesus has been woven into the very fabric of nature, a stunningly beautiful reminder of God’s artistic, creative genius in the world.

It’s also hard not to see in that moment a reflection of a deeper truth: darkness never has the final word.

Death was defeated. True life had come.

“The Light Shines in the Darkness” (John 1:5)

The Gospel of John opens with this picture in mind: “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness…” (John 1:4-5 CSB).

John’s use of darkness and light points back to God’s creative order. Genesis says, in the beginning, God separated the darkness from the light. And he’s been doing it ever since.

The early Christians understood this far better than we do. In John’s letter to early followers of Jesus, he writes, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is absolutely no darkness in him.”

John’s message came from Jesus, who described himself as the true light and the true life.

That begs the question, then, what is darkness? John doesn’t answer, but instead seems to suggest that we all know what darkness is — lying, not practicing the truth, self-deception, etc. In other words, darkness is a metaphor for evil and shows up in the way we treat others and ourselves.

Prior to the life of Jesus, the spiritual conditions of the world were characterized as darkness and oppressively so. The Gospel of Matthew quotes the prophets, who describe the world as “people who live in darkness and living in the land of the shadow of death.”

In other words, death, darkness, and evil are all different ways of saying the same thing.

John says that the world did not recognize him (John 1:10).  And if we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t recognize him either because our lives are overshadowed by darkness. Our problem isn’t that we’re unfamiliar with darkness, but instead we’re unfamiliar with the light of Jesus. We say we know him, but our actions tell otherwise.

If darkness is evil, then what is light? Scripture is very clear. The light is personal, embodied in Jesus himself.

That is why the Gospel of Matthew prefaces the ministry of Jesus as, “they have seen a great light,” because “a light has dawned.”

Jesus, then, is the light that entered a dark world.

What Easter Reveals About Darkness and Light

Returning to John’s Gospel, he writes, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men” (1:4).

Both light and life are bound together in Jesus. To know Jesus is to know life because he was the light to a world filled with darkness.

Back in that jungle cave, the faint glow of the sun cut through the watery darkness that had briefly overtaken us just as Christ’s light interrupted the darkness of the world to the point it could do nothing but recede. “Darkness did not overcome it,” (John 1:5).

It tried. Darkness unjustly condemned Jesus to death and murdered him on a cross. However, because Jesus was the true light, it could not overcome it.

Even though Jesus triumphed over death, it seems that darkness still strives to prevail against the light. Holy Week is a reminder of this fact.

As the rhythm of holy week unfolds, we move from a crescendo of darkness to light, from death to life. It starts in a bloody death but ends in glorious resurrection. As the dawn of Sunday morning breaks the night sky, we’re reminded that the resurrected Jesus broke the bondage of sin and death. Darkness fades away, and the morning sun fills us with its radiant warmth.

The world today still seems filled with darkness. Every day we hear stories of wars, economic hardships, disease, climate troubles, as well as divorce, addictions, heartache, murders, and so on. With such despair, it would seem that darkness has yet to recede, that the light of Christ has yet to fill the earth.

But just as the sun’s cycle moves each passing day from darkness to light, the cycle of Holy Week reminds us that darkness will always give way to light. Indeed, light fills the void of darkness.

Therefore, we must remind ourselves each and every day of John’s words, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”

When we encounter the darkness of life’s caves, we must always remind ourselves that darkness doesn’t have the last word. Light has dawned.

So as we celebrate Easter, let us renew our faith. Let us rise from the dark waters of life’s troubles and challenges and be resurrected afresh in the renewing of our devotion and loyalty to our Lord Jesus, and allow God’s light to shine through us.

With Hope and Grace

Bishop Jonathan