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God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
Jesus was the life that was the light of men (see John 1:4). He who came into the world was the true light who gave light to everyone (see John 1:9). This sort of light did not imply that he was well illuminated or that he glowed in the dark. It did not mean that he had some supernatural spotlight shining on him or that he had any prideful need to be in the limelight. The sort of light that the life of Jesus revealed was the opposite of supernatural darkness. And it was a light that that darkness could not overcome or comprehend.
When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi,
he became furious.
He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity
two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Herod was just one manifestation of this darkness on earth. His response to the possibility that a king might threaten his rule was so excessive and evil as to give evidence reality of the darkness, to demonstrate something so vile and broken as to cry out for the light that was absent. The slaughter of the innocents was such a heinous act that we might easily imagine that Herod had been led to it by the Evil One himself, since to eliminate the child was a goal which they shared.
God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
The fact of tragedies like the loss of innocent life is often used as evidence against the goodness of God. If he were all powerful and all good, the thinking goes, he would permit no evil to occur. But what John learned from Jesus Christ, what he witnessed in the life that was the light of men, was one who made absolutely no compromise with the darkness. The life of Jesus continued to be a shining light even in the hour of darkness. Jesus thus vindicated the righteousness of God. He would permit the existence of darkness stemming from the abuse of his gift of free will. But that darkness would not and would never be permitted to have the last word. It would be illuminated even, as it were, from the inside out.
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (see John 12:32).
The tragedies we see in our own world don't often neatly align with obvious experiences of the resurrection power of Jesus. We can't always or even usually say that such and such an evil was allowed to happened so that such and such a good could come. This was certainly the case in Bethlehem. No mother or father in that time in place could have easily contemplated any positive from the loss of their little ones.
A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more.
And yet we see that there was a higher purpose at work, making saints of the children of these parents, in spite of them being too young to perform a single act of merit or work of charity. Before the darkness was able to taint them, as it does taint all touched by original sin, they were able to give witness to Jesus by their entire lives. They drew out the Evil One to overstep his hand and reveal the darkness at work against the prophesied Messiah so that he was, as it were, caught in the act. This darkness called out for the light. And the light had come, Jesus himself. Does this neatly account for the death of so many children? Perhaps not, but we hope at at least gives credence to the idea that if we were able to see it from God's perspective we would understand how the testimony of these Holy Innocents was a greater light than the darkness of Herod.
If we say, “We have fellowship with him,”
while we continue to walk in darkness,
we lie and do not act in truth.
The challenge to us is to prefer the light of God to the darkness of sin, and to accept no compromises with the darkness. We ought not, then, use the darkness of the world as an excuse for the compromise of our souls. We should not think that since this or that tragedy or difficulty befell us that we are entitled to indulge in sin in order to self soothe. Rather, when darkness presses in, we should move even to closer to he who is the light of the world.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
then we have fellowship with one another,
and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
It is true that we never perfectly attain to the light in the way that Jesus did. But he cares more for the light that we are meant to be than the darkness which we sometimes let ourselves become. He is ready and able to restore us when we fall and to forgive us when we sin. For our part we must desire it, must desire the light, and must never be content with the darkness.
If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just
and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.
If we confess our sins we will come more and more to resemble Jesus who is himself the light of the world. If we content ourselves with darkness we will come rather to resemble Herod and the dark powers which he served. These are the only two paths. But do not have to walk alone. The Devil may draw sinners down into darkness. But Jesus himself desires to illuminate our path.
But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous one.
Let us learn to listen to God in the way that Joseph did so that we can avoid the trials that God does not intend for us. Certainly we will not escape all trials by doing so. But if we listen and discern well we can act in such a way as to reveal the light of God in our own lives.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.
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