Jesus gives a reason why “people loved the darkness.” He says it’s “because their works were evil” (John 3:19). They preferred the realm that corresponded to their actions and decisions. The wicked man “does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (3:20). This rebel loves the darkness not only because it corresponds to his actions (which are evil) but also because it provides a kind of cover for his deeds. Darkness covers, yet light uncovers.

There’s a line in John 3 that I’ve always found jarring. In John 3:19, we’re told that “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” In fact, the wicked person “hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (3:20).

Think of it: people love the darkness and hate the light. The very opposite should be true. But in a fallen world, we can observe tragic things that we wish didn’t happen. One such tragic thing is the hating of what should be loved and the loving of what should be hated.

When Jesus teaches that “the light has come into the world” (John 3:19), the reader of John’s Gospel has seen this kind of language before. In John 1:4, Jesus was “the light of men,” in 1:5 this “light shines in the darkness,” and in 1:9 the “true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”

Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12), and by his incarnation he has come into the world, shining in the darkness with the glory of his person, his teachings, and his mission. This backdrop informs what Jesus teaches in John 3. A major manifestation of people hating the light and loving the darkness is their rejection of Jesus. They don’t just resist some kind of nebulous notion of “light.”

Read More