“Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!” (Luke 22:52-53 NRS)
When the chief priests and elders came for Jesus, they came under the cover of darkness. Jesus had walked among them openly in the daylight and they had not captured him. But when the populace was asleep and unable to defend him, the Temple police came armed to the teeth as though he was a fierce criminal.
Jesus said to them, “But this is your hour and power of darkness!” They weren’t honest in their motives and actions. They couldn’t present their opposition to Christ in an open, honest forum. They wanted the cloak of darkness to do their deeds. “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what they stumble over” (Proverbs 4:19 NRS).
“And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed” (John 3:19-20 NRS). Darkness is usually the cover for evil conduct and actions. People who practice wickedness love the darkness because it covers their behaviors. Darkness offers a plausible deniability. Darkness offers unrestrained freedom. Darkness obstructs the probability of being exposed.
“But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God” (John 3:21 NRS). It isn’t that truth-seekers like being exposed. Rather, we like being forgiven! We reject the night and walk in the light because we give glory to Christ.
In exhorting us to be ready for the Lord’s return, the great Apostle to the Gentiles wrote, “But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation” (1Thessalonians 5:4-8 NRS).
Dear Father, thank you for the light of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Empower us to live as children of light who bring glory to him. This I pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN
Be courageous today as a child of light,