With the advent of the Christ, the opposing forces of good and evil, light and dark, make war against one another. But when standing against the darkness, light isn’t simply light; it’s brilliantly victorious. According to Christ, “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:19-21)

In the preface to the third edition of Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens addressed his English critics who took offense to his use of unsavory characters such as prostitutes and thieves in a book written to a “civilized” audience. The novelist’s response, like the novel itself, is a splendid lesson on the relationship between good and evil:

I confess I have yet to learn that a lesson of the purest good may not be drawn from the vilest evil. I have always believed this to be a recognized and established truth, laid down by the greatest men the world has ever seen, constantly acted upon by the best and wisest natures, and confirmed by the reason and experience of every thinking mind. I saw no reason, when I wrote this book, why the very dregs of life, so long as their speech did not offend the ear, should not serve the purpose of a moral at least as well as its forth and cream. (1841)

That which Rembrandt illustrated with his brush, Dickens described with his pen: light is never so radiant as when contrasted with darkness, good never so virtuous as when juxtaposed with evil. In the Gospel itself, the very same principle described by Dickens comes to the fore. With the advent of the Christ, the opposing forces of good and evil, light and dark, make war against one another. But when standing against the darkness, light isn’t simply light; it’s brilliantly victorious. According to Christ, “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:19-21) The specific verb John uses is ϕανεροω (phaneroō), meaning “to become public knowledge,” or “become disclosed” or “become known” (BDAG, 1048). Thrown into beautiful relief against the darkness, the light unveils. It shines and stands apart. And the brilliance of the Gospel is only multiplied through the backdrop of evil: life wrought through death, blessings through suffering. Thankfully, this accentuating interplay between light and dark isn’t by chance; it’s part of God’s wonderful design.

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