Unstoppable Light

To listen to the full sermon you can listen here: Unstoppable Light

After working our way through the gritty, prophetic text of Amos, we are shifting gears to embark on a new 20-week journey through the Gospel of John.

If you are expecting something light, easy, and straightforward… I apologize in advance. The Gospel of John is a magnificent, profound piece of literature. It is arguably the height of the literature found in Holy Scripture, and it operates very differently from the other accounts of Jesus’ life.

What Makes John Different?

Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels. They work together, tell many of the same stories, and follow a similar historical rhythm.

Mark is fast-paced and action-driven (perfect for short attention spans because his favorite word is “immediately”).
Luke offers an orderly, historical account.
Matthew is deeply theological but still firmly rooted in the sequential history of Jesus.

John, written much later (around 90 AD to a church facing severe hardship and persecution), does something entirely different. While Matthew and Luke begin with genealogies to root Jesus in human history, John bypasses the earthly timeline altogether and launches straight into eternity past:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John’s primary goal is to buoy the faith of a struggling church by hammering home one undeniable truth: Jesus Christ is fully divine.

The Roadmap Ahead

To help navigate this book over the coming weeks, it helps to understand its overarching structure. John’s Gospel beautifully breaks down into four distinct parts:

The Light Dawns: The Prologue (Chapter 1)
Signs of Life: Traditionally known as the Book of Signs (Chapters 2–12)
The Glory of the Cross: Traditionally known as the Book of Glory (Chapters 13–20)
Restored for Mission: The Epilogue (Chapter 21)

Throughout this journey, we will encounter seven primary signs (from turning water into wine to the raising of Lazarus) and seven brilliant “I Am” declarations (such as “I am the bread of life” and “I am the true vine”). Together, these signs and statements point to the ultimate reality of who Jesus is.

Looking closely at the opening verses of John 1:1-5, we can pull out three massive truths about the Christ we follow.

1. Stop Domesticating Jesus

We live in a culture where we love to create Jesus in our own image. If you look at church art throughout history, Jesus miraculously always looks like the culture painting Him. Turn on social media, and shockingly, Jesus always seems to love the exact same people we love and hate the exact same people we hate.

We have so thoroughly domesticated Jesus that we treat Him like a well-behaved dog on a leash, directing Him wherever we want Him to go. We talk about Him as our buddy or our pal—and while He loves us deeply, we forget that He is also the sovereign, transcendent God of the universe.

The brilliant author Annie Dillard captured this perfectly when she wrote:

“On the whole, I do not find Christians outside of the catacombs sufficiently sensible of conditions. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church. We should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares. They should lash us to our pews.”

When we gather, we are entering the presence of the Creator of all things. We cannot control Him. His love is vaster, His grace is more overwhelming, and His embrace is far bigger than our small categories allow.

2. He is the Face-to-Face Life Bringer

John tells us that “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” Jesus came so that we might have life, and have it abundantly.

But we must understand the difference between happiness and joy:

Happiness is fleeting. It’s like sitting down with a delicious slice of cheesecake. It feels great in the moment, but it ends when the plate is empty.
Joy is deeper. Joy is knowing the person who baked the cheesecake, sitting across from them, sharing stories, and building a lasting relationship.

Jesus brings us an abundant life marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. And He did not offer this transformation from a distance. God could have simply spoken our redemption into existence with a single cosmic word. Instead, He chose to save us by becoming face-to-face with us—by stepping into the neighborhood, taking on flesh, and entering into a relationship with us.

3. The Light Overcomes the Darkness

John is a master of language, and in verse 5, he uses a brilliant Greek double entendre: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

The Greek word used here is kattelabon. On one hand, it means to comprehend or understand—meaning the dark, rebellious world fails to perceive or recognize the light of Christ. On the other hand, it means to overpower, extinguish, or defeat.

When Christ hung on the cross, the world literally went dark. Evil thought it had won. But the darkness could not extinguish the light. Through the resurrection and ascension, the light remains active, unstoppable, and ongoing.

This is a vital reminder for us today because darkness is still very real. We see it in:

Economic anxiety: Sky-high prices, dwindling bank accounts, and hard decisions between buying groceries or putting gas in the car.
Physical pain: Failing bodies, chronic illness, and the heavy grief of looking at an empty seat where a loved one used to sit.

Platitudes and “good vibes” don’t pay the grocery bill or take physical pain away. But the light of Christ offers us a rooted, unshakeable hope that these hardships are merely temporary. There is an eternal season coming where sickness, sorrow, and want will be no more.

Two Challenges for the Week Ahead

As we begin this walk through John’s Gospel, challenge yourself in two specific areas:

Evaluate your picture of Jesus. Have you created a customized Jesus who aligns perfectly with your political, economic, and personal biases? Or do you worship the transcendent, pre-existent God who fundamentally disrupts your comfort zones?
Bring your hard seasons to the community. Many of us love to be the helper—to write the check, offer the tool, or provide the answer. But we absolutely hate being the one to admit, “I need help.” If you are walking through darkness, bring it to the body of Christ. The church exists to hold each other up, to weep with those who weep, and to reflect the unstoppable light of Christ into one another’s lives.