Theme of light and darkness in the gospel of john

There was a man sent from god, whose name was john. The gospel of john is now known to have been loosely based on lukes gospel, with some material taken direct from mark, the original new testament gospel. Light and darkness in johns gospel is an antithesis that has symbolic. Under blackout conditions, even a small light peeking through would be visible, and would seem especially bright in contrast to the darkness around. Get an answer for what themes appear in john s prologue that appear throughout his gospel that make it unique from the other gospels in the new testament. Gospel of john gjohn utilizing conceptual metaphor theory.

Participant handout guides if you are working with a class or small group, feel. What is the main theme of the gospel of john answers. Christian standard bible that light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it. If light in the gospel of john can show off whats true and good, darkness usually means something shady is happening. In particular, its dualistic themes such as lightdarkness can be found in the dead sea. There came a man sent from god, whose name was john. King james bible and the light shineth in darkness. Light of the world is a phrase jesus used to describe himself and his disciples in the new testament. This word of god logosmemra played an exclusive rule in the creation of the world, as we read in the verses above. Darkness and light in johns gospel the body is sacred. These assertions build on the christological theme of john 5.

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Its no surprise that judass big betrayal happens at night. Consistent with the old testament teaching on light and darkness outlined in my previous post the old testament background to the concept of light and darkness in johns gospel, the gospel of john clearly identifies jesus of nazareth as being the spiritual light of the universe. So i thought i would take a deeper look into the subject for this weeks lesson. John mark was the writer of gospel of mark acts 12. How many times does the word light appear in the gospel of.

This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all through him might believe. The story of the storytellers the gospel of john from. Tanner craun and aaron bellomo discuss the theme of light and darkness in the gospel of john. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. New king james version and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. A biblical theology of darkness and light feeding on christ. Lightin the gospel of john asbury theological seminary. The use of light and darkness as metaphors can be found in many ancient documents, such as one called the war scroll, or more properly, the war of the. The phrase is recorded in the gospels of matthew and john. To the author of the gospel, the word of god was both distinct from god and yet at the same time was in some way truly god. He came as a witness, to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him.

It is seen throughout the new testament and some of the old. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. As the gospel unfolds, its clear that the darkness that neither understands nor overcomes the light is the dark world of judaism, the nighttime. Our sunday school class discussion last week focused a lot on john 1. The gospel of john contains some of the profoundest truth.

Light is an almost universal symbol of god, goodness, and supernatural illumination hcbd, 607 and the author of the gospel of john readily. Motifs of light and darkness are woven throughout the gospel. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. The concept of light and darkness in johns gospel berith road. Craun and bellomo are students at roberts wesleyan college completing an honors option for. It wouldnt quite be the same if the sun was shining down, illuminating the evil. As we shall see presently, john derived the imagery of the dark world from the hellenistic circles he was trying to convert.