Light Has Pierced the Darkness

1
00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,440
Christmas time is here.
Almost.

2
00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:07,920
Yeah, it's, it's it's nice.
Every Christmas, the day after

3
00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:12,080
Christmas, they have a tradition
where Chloe started this.

4
00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,040
We go into a place where there's
a mirror, it's off in the

5
00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,480
bathroom and we look into the
mirror and we say Christmas will

6
00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:21,560
be here before you know it.
So.

7
00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:24,800
It's it's true.
Wiser words.

8
00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,680
Man, that's pretty, pretty
profound.

9
00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,640
And so you, Michael, had this
great idea.

10
00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:34,600
You know, leading up, we've been
doing a lot of bonus episodes.

11
00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:37,080
So why stop now?
We can't stop the train.

12
00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,120
Yeah, keep, keep it rolling
through the holidays.

13
00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:45,160
You know, I think it's good to
have, you know, an Advent type

14
00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:49,520
of reminder, you know, to be
thinking about, you know, 'cause

15
00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:51,880
this time is a busy time here.
So busy.

16
00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,120
Yeah, there's lots of a lot of
good things that go on during

17
00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:56,680
this time.
You know, we often complain

18
00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:58,320
about the over
commercialization, but there are

19
00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,000
good things that also take over
time, whether they're Christmas

20
00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:06,240
programs for lower school or
they are, you know, parties or

21
00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:07,760
whatever that you're trying to
get to.

22
00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,520
So many parties, it's all all
good stuff, a lot of white

23
00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:13,480
elephant things going on, you
know, get all those gifts.

24
00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,280
And I, I think you're right.
Like I've got, I've got cousins

25
00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:20,640
of the Anglican tradition.
Sometimes I am jealous of they

26
00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,400
stay with the church calendar.
So they're always emphasizing

27
00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:24,240
things.
And they're like, oh, it's

28
00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:26,160
March, so we're emphasizing this
or April.

29
00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:27,960
And they're always, you know,
doing that.

30
00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:32,280
I think it is good to take time
to emphasize certain things.

31
00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:34,160
I think the other side of it,
you get into some of these, you

32
00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,480
know, reform groups that are
like, we, we never celebrate.

33
00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,720
We don't celebrate Easter
because every day is every

34
00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:41,360
Sunday is resurrection Day.
And why are we gonna?

35
00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:43,920
And it's like, well, we're not
trying to say you only can do

36
00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,720
this in certain times, but
emphasis is there.

37
00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,960
Was thinking about our church,
just got this Paul trip everyday

38
00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:54,840
gospel Advent thing.
And it's been like you're

39
00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,200
saying, it's just good to have
resources this morning where it

40
00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,280
was able to talk, talk with the
kids.

41
00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:01,160
And it's like just packaged up
nicely.

42
00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:03,640
A source I can trust.
It's like 2 pages.

43
00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,120
And so it's a good jumping off
points just to keep us focused

44
00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,479
day after day after day leading
up.

45
00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:12,040
And and the nice thing about our
bonus episodes, it will be

46
00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:14,080
leading up to a Wednesday
Christmas.

47
00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,680
That's right.
So these are on Wednesday and

48
00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,120
Christmas is Wednesday.
So, you know, you gather up, I

49
00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,000
know the kids are going to be
anxious to open up gifts.

50
00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,280
Be like kids.
We we got to put things in their

51
00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:28,960
proper place.
Like, let's get out an iPhone,

52
00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:34,800
put it on a Bluetooth speaker,
open up this you know, our

53
00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,200
advent for that morning.
Gather everyone around.

54
00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,360
It'll be great.
Got a good How about this idea?

55
00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,960
Have a gift with the Bluetooth
speaker and if they open it up

56
00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:48,320
our voices start playing but.
The gift of Christmas.

57
00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,520
Take to theology, she'll.
Be like, oh, I want the, you

58
00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,040
know, whatever the game system.
But yeah, so hopefully this is

59
00:02:55,040 --> 00:03:00,320
an asset as you we, you know,
you lead up to celebrating

60
00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,440
Christmas and we're going to
park in a passage that that

61
00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:05,520
Michael kind of emphasized in
our worship service this

62
00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:06,360
morning.
Yeah.

63
00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,560
So we thought we'd start out
with this opening passage from

64
00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:14,080
John One.
Clearly John had Genesis 1 on

65
00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:18,960
his mind when he wrote this and
starts out the same way and so

66
00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,000
we'll just read through it and
we'll maybe talk about it a

67
00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,880
little bit.
So it says this is opening of

68
00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:27,120
the Gospel of John.
In the beginning was the Word

69
00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:32,320
and the Word was with God and
the Word was God.

70
00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,640
He was in the beginning with
God, verse 3.

71
00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:41,560
All things came into being
through him and apart from him,

72
00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,760
nothing came into being that has
come into being.

73
00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,960
So just a quick comment, you
know, this is, you know,

74
00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,160
everything that came into being,
everything that was created was

75
00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:57,160
created through the work and
power of God the Son.

76
00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:02,360
He's the uncreated creator.
So verse four in him was life,

77
00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,600
and the life was the light of
men.

78
00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:08,920
The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness did

79
00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,240
not comprehend it.
Wow, Very, very powerful

80
00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,200
opening.
Like you said, parallels Genesis

81
00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:17,959
so well.
I was reading this for a class.

82
00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:20,560
I had to read a few articles and
I really can't.

83
00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,640
Maybe it was on Christology and
they were pointing to a lot of

84
00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,240
different essays where where
this is basically a midrash that

85
00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:29,760
you would see in Hebrew
literature.

86
00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:33,360
Almost lines up perfectly with
how you would read commentary on

87
00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,320
the Old Testament pointing to
Genesis one.

88
00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,640
This familiar beginning and the
beginning guy created the

89
00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,920
heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form and

90
00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,640
void and darkness was over the
face of the deep.

91
00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:48,000
So you see the state of chaos.
John's kind of picking up on

92
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:49,240
that.
He's going to run with this

93
00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,720
darkness and light theme.
He hits it hard.

94
00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:53,920
And 1st John, you know pretty
stark terms.

95
00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:56,240
You're either walking in the
light or you're not walking in

96
00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:57,800
the.
Light he also mentions it.

97
00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,400
It's and, and so it's something
it's, you know, John likes to

98
00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:05,240
talk a lot in the stark contrast
where if you love me, keep my

99
00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:06,800
commandments.
If you don't keep commandments,

100
00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:08,760
you don't love me.
And it's, it's kind of black and

101
00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:12,160
and white.
And, you know, he would go on to

102
00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:16,880
say a lot more about the lights
really culminating, I think,

103
00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,320
when we think of incarnation.
Verse 14 talks about the word

104
00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,960
becoming flesh.
This, this light Into Darkness.

105
00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,160
And that's just a good, good
word picture to think about.

106
00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:30,240
And, and you know, how is Jesus
the light?

107
00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:32,640
Where is darkness 'cause I think
we all would agree.

108
00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:35,960
You look out at the world and
it, it can be very dark,

109
00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,080
chaotic, void.
You kind of these Genesis

110
00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:41,840
terminology kind of makes a lot
of sense.

111
00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:44,040
And then boom, this light kind
of changes everything.

112
00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,480
Yeah, no, it does.
And and so if you look back at

113
00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,120
kind of the history, the the
setting, historical setting of

114
00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,880
what's happening here, Israel's
kind of in a dark place as well.

115
00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,440
They've gone 400 years without a
prophet.

116
00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:00,920
So a lot of people call these
the silent years.

117
00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:03,720
There's no true prophet there
that's speaking on behalf of

118
00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:07,360
God.
They were, you know, conquered

119
00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,920
by these different nations.
You know, it went from Babylon

120
00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,800
to the Medes and the Persians.
And then Alexander the Great

121
00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:17,960
came through, had a little bit
of independence.

122
00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:23,200
I think it was the Maccabees
that rose up maybe for a few

123
00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:25,640
years.
And Rome goes, ah, and then they

124
00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:27,600
come conquer them.
It's like now they're, they're,

125
00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,600
they're conquered again.
They're not independent that

126
00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,360
that, you know, so the lot of
darkness coming out of their

127
00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,960
captivity, you know, you see
this renewed vigor for keeping

128
00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,840
the law.
You see Ezra really trying to do

129
00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:42,160
this.
And I think they probably do

130
00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,320
well for a while, but then that
starts going off the rails

131
00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:50,000
because they're trying to earn
their righteousness through

132
00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:51,920
keeping the law.
And, you know, Paul has a lot to

133
00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:53,400
say about that.
And listen to some of our other

134
00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,200
podcasts.
So this really dark place and

135
00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:59,560
this light's going to shine in.
It's going to, you know, punch

136
00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:03,040
in through that and, you know,
help shed light on on yeah,

137
00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:05,240
that.
That's so good.

138
00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,360
You think of Ezra, Nehemiah and
it was like cerebral came, built

139
00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,800
the temple, things are great.
And then just like 30-40 years

140
00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,640
later, things are not great.
Ezra comes in some reform, then

141
00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,360
Ezra's gone maybe for 10 or 20
years and then Nehemiah comes.

142
00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,520
It's like bad again.
And it's like, you know, you

143
00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,080
think of the contemporaries of
that time are leading up to it.

144
00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,440
You read a lot, you know, you
got Jeremiah and Ezekiel kind of

145
00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,800
prophesying this new spirit.
I'm gonna write a law on your

146
00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:31,920
hearts.
And it's like they think that's

147
00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:33,720
coming and they're but they're
keeping it by the law.

148
00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:34,800
It's like, oh, they're not
getting it.

149
00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,560
And then then this is the light
'cause that's what changes

150
00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,280
everything.
Because without that, I mean,

151
00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,440
man, who even thinking comparing
us to Ezra, DMI, man, they were

152
00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:45,840
really trying to nail it worked
really hard.

153
00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,560
And you know, we see even in our
Roman series how that's

154
00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,640
continuing and, and Jesus Christ
actually became a stumbling

155
00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:58,280
block to to them because they
don't see him for, for what he

156
00:07:58,280 --> 00:07:59,560
is.
They they're still trying to

157
00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:01,760
earn their salvation.
So I think, I think that's a a

158
00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,880
lot of good, good way to be
thinking.

159
00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,080
We think about this light and
this darkness and so much

160
00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:11,000
darkness we see in Israel's past
and even up to date.

161
00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,680
But that's not just Israel.
Yeah, no, you know, even all of

162
00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:19,280
us in our culture and like every
individual person were born in

163
00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:21,000
sin.
So there's this darkness that

164
00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,240
that comes along with us and
that that rebellious, you know,

165
00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:28,040
prideful me centered, you know,
focus on ourselves.

166
00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:30,120
That's darkness.
It doesn't want to come to the

167
00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:31,240
light.
And I was thinking, you know, we

168
00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:33,440
were talking about, you know,
this theme of light and

169
00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,880
darkness, you know, right after,
you know, it talks about men not

170
00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:40,200
want coming, wanting to come
into the light so their deeds

171
00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:42,600
are not exposed.
Yeah, Yeah.

172
00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:44,640
And that's kind of all of us
where we are.

173
00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:48,240
And then, you know, we're
thinking about America.

174
00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,960
And lots of times you think of
America being a Christian

175
00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,200
nation.
We're in the, you know, someone

176
00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:55,280
said the Bible Belt the other
day and was like, what do you

177
00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,600
mean by the Bible Belt?
And I guess it's kind of losing

178
00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,720
a little bit of its.
But if you look at a map, most

179
00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,440
of Christians you know the
densest populated still in in

180
00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:07,520
the formerly so-called Bible
Belt.

181
00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,400
It's like less strong than a
belt, but still kind of looks

182
00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:11,880
like that.
What can we name it, you know,

183
00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:13,040
next?
It's the Bible.

184
00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:15,560
Yeah, circuit or something like
that and.

185
00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:20,240
The Bible sash something.
But yeah, yeah, even with some

186
00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:23,760
of that, you can either have a
false sense of security or it's

187
00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:25,400
so watered.
Yeah, it's so watered down.

188
00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:27,360
You're like, well, my parents go
to church, right?

189
00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:29,480
I'm good.
And it's like, oh, that?

190
00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:31,880
That's like some sort of
blindness where you really don't

191
00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,040
see, don't see your knee.
That's a scary place to be.

192
00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:37,960
Yeah.
And so, you know, the take away

193
00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:42,840
from this is to to one, if you
know, examine your own self.

194
00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,000
I'm sure if you're listening to
this podcast, you're probably a

195
00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,120
believer.
But if if you're not, you know,

196
00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:53,520
just to examine, you know, have
I come to the light?

197
00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,800
And if I come out of darkness
into his marvelous light, as

198
00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:00,200
Paul would say in Colossians,
and it'd be transferred from the

199
00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,480
the Kingdom of darkness into
light.

200
00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:08,120
And you know, to take time to
think Jesus, you know, whether

201
00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:10,600
you're a believer or not or just
became a believer or wherever

202
00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:14,320
you're at, take, take, take time
to thank Jesus for the

203
00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:18,080
incarnation, for his coming into
the world, speaking light.

204
00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:22,600
And John would also say life
into the darkness and the decay

205
00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:25,360
of our world.
Now that, that, that's great.

206
00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:27,600
Short little paragraph kicking
up, John.

207
00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,440
Big implications.
Good thing to think about as we

208
00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:36,640
lead up each week to Christmas.
So that's episode, bonus episode

209
00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:38,840
#1 be on the lookout for a few
more headed your way.

210
00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:43,120
That's our take.
Thanks for listening to Take 2.

211
00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:46,400
Find us wherever you find
podcasts and on YouTube for

212
00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:48,120
those who want to watch our
video cast.