STEPPING INTO THE LIGHT
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John’s Gospel uses the metaphor of light and darkness repeatedly and in several different ways. When Jesus met with Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish council, the story begins with the comment that this prominent, powerful leader “came to Jesus at night” (John 3:2), suggesting that he met with Jesus privately under the cover and anonymity of darkness. So when Jesus begins talking about light and darkness, it seems that He is inviting Nicodemus to “come into the light” with more than one possible meaning. Many of us—all of us?—have things that we would be embarrassed to have reported publicly. But this was not quite the point that Jesus was making here. Of course, He described those who choose evil as being afraid “that their deeds will be exposed.” But He described the dynamic of those who choose to “live by the truth” in a different way. It is the person himself who “comes into the light,” and it is not their deeds that will be thus revealed, but that what they did was “done in the sight of God.” In Jesus’ description of those drawn by truth into the light, the focus shifted away from them and their deeds to the fact of God’s presence with them. This was a significant shift, but it was a gradual process for Nicodemus. When he spoke up in the council meeting (see John 7:50) and when he publicly declared his allegiance to Jesus by assisting with His burial, Nicodemus was described as “the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night” (John 19:39).
That night had been a starting point, but perhaps two or three years later, Nicodemus had overcome his fears and stepped into the light as Jesus had invited Him to do.
