"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.' "

         Today we come to the last portion of the first chapter of John, which deals with Jesus' victory over the sin of the world. The God we believe in and proclaim is the God who forgives sin. That sets us free to be both an invited and an inviting people.

         We go back to verse 5 of chapter1 , "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it." That also gets translated as "the darkness has not understood it." Both are possible, but it seems the tide is turning again to use "overcome." It makes more sense, and fits best with how we would normally talk about light and darkness. You shine a light into a dark room, and it will illuminate something. The light does not get swallowed up by the dark room. But using "overcome" also fits best in the context of John's entire Gospel. The light of Christ is not defeated by death or evil or sin.

         John continues with a word of sober reality in verse 11: "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." This raises the possibility that sin does in fact overcome the light. So we read today Genesis 2 and 3. In Genesis 2, God builds the woman and brings her to the man, and the light shines brightly: "This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." Yet a few verses later, after an act of disobedience to God, this same man now says, "The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Blame and bitterness and evasion of truth so soon take the place of joyful celebration in the good creation of God. Has the light of God been blocked by sin, or even overcome?

         We are here introduced to a new word, and a play on words to ponder. The Hebrew word "arum": it means crafty, cunning, shrewd, or clever. The serpent is "arum." But change that word, ever so slightly, and it means "naked." The serpent is also naked; it has no feathers or fur. In the same way, the humans are naked, without fur, and after they disobey God, they know it and do not like it.

In the Old Testament, the word "naked" is never used in a positive way. It always is connected either to poverty – some people have so little in life they do not even have clothes to wear; or it is connected to humiliation – slaves and prisoners of war were given almost nothing to wear in order to humiliate them; or it means "dependency" – we come into this world naked, we are utterly dependent as babies.

         Adam and Eve do not like being naked, they sew fig leaves for covering, and they hide from God. But why do they hide? Is it became they have also become "arum," – crafty, deceitful, cunning. They act like it. There are no clothes they can sew to cover their new character.

         When Jesus came to dwell among us, light shining into the darkness, did the darkness, the character of deceit and craftiness, block the light, or even overcome it?

We know that forgiveness defeats sin. But the word "forgiveness" is only used once in John, and that not until chapter 20. John allows us to wonder about who really wins in this world. Then he takes fully half of his Gospel to describe the events of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus. Forgiveness is found in the cross. That is where sin and death and evil are defeated.

         The light is not overcome by the darkness.

         But are we so sure?

         Look at how John tells the story of Jesus.

• The Light comes into the world.
• John the Baptist sees the Spirit remain on Jesus and says, "The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."

(What lamb is he referring to? Perhaps he is thinking of the Suffering Servant song in Isaiah 53:7: "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth."

Perhaps he is thinking of the Passover, where a lamb was sacrificed as Israel remembered when they were in slavery and lambs were sacrificed and blood spread on the doorposts for their deliverance, so they could have life and be set free.

Whatever he is thinking, John the Baptist sees in Jesus the one who will take away the sin of the world, by his own death.)

• The light continues to spread in the world.
• Jesus calls disciples and they follow him.
• Water is turned to wine at a wedding and people see the glory of Christ.
• Jesus cleans out the temple and the light of God shines there again.
• Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the dark of night and Jesus leads him to new birth.
• Jesus goes to Samaria and there a number of women come to believe that he is the Messiah. They see him truly.
• Jesus goes back to Galilee and heals a royal official's son.
• Jesus travels to Jerusalem and heals a crippled man who lies by the pool at Bethsaida.

All this shows that the light has come into the world and the darkness has not overcome it.

But then, another part of the story is told, beginning in chapter 5. Will the light be overcome?

• First the Jewish leaders begin to persecute Jesus.
• The disciples lack faith in Jesus before the feeding of the 5,000.
• Then they fall into fear during the storm at sea.
• The Jews grumble, like they did in the wilderness, and then the disciples join with them. Many turn back and no longer follow him.
• Chapter 7 – The crowds are now divided, and some say "he deceives people."
• They try to kill him, they try to seize him; but others say, "He is the Messiah."
• Then Jesus says, in chapter 8 verse 12, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
• Chapters 9 and 10 are a series of conflicts and disputes, and they try to stone him.
• Then his dear friend Lazarus dies. Jesus is slow getting to the scene, and by the time he arrives four days later, Mary and Martha are deeply disappointed in him. "If you had been here, my brother would not have died."

         Does the darkness overcome the light? I guess in many observable ways, yes, it does. It seems in John's Gospel that the darkness is very active in resisting the light. That violates natural law, but it seems to be the way our world is. John does not want us to too easily turn to the conclusion of his Gospel. He forces us to look at a harsh and uncomfortable truth. We are in fact, "arum," deceitful, and cunning. We are in fact naked; defined by our poverty, our humiliation, our dependency. These things stick to us. We try to cover up with fig leaves. We wrap layer upon layer: money, image, education, success, competence, pride, family, tradition, law-keeping, good deeds. Yet we are still naked.

         Then John, in chapters 12 through 21, tells of the death and resurrection of Jesus. He concludes by writing (20:31), "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

         They hung him on a cross, naked.

         They humiliated him by placing a crown of thorns on his head.

         They left him with nothing, gambling for his garment.

         They left him there utterly dependent. Yet he even felt forsaken by God.

         And on the cross, the light of God shone forth, and the darkness did not overcome it.

         The forgiveness of God breaks the power of sin.

         The resurrection of Jesus took away the sting of death.

         The Holy Spirit brings life to our world.

         "To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

         Amen.