Advent 2025, Week 4: John’s Light of Christmas Past/Present/Future, Part 4
Jesus, the light of Christmas present, can bring healing to our broken relationships. Do you have any broken relationships in your life?
John elaborates on this in his epistle, his letter, 1st John, chapter 1, verse 5, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”
Notice how the light of Christmas present comes out, as John continues writing in verse 7, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
We walk in the light, and that walking in the light, in Jesus’ light, means that we are purified from sin. I love that thought, because it reminds me that I am not the one who can purify myself. Jesus did the work of purifying us, by giving his life for us when he died. John is using Old Testament imagery here. In the OT sacrificial system, the blood of the sacrificial animal was like a detergent that washed away the sins of the people. Similarly, Jesus’ blood is a detergent for the whole world. Our response to that amazing gift, is the we walk in the light, as he is in the light.
Notice too that we walk in the present light of Jesus together, with each other. Fellowship. We have the beautiful gift of not only walking with Jesus, but with each other. This is the beauty and necessity of a local church family. We help each other walk in the light with Jesus. This requires connection. Vulnerability. Checking in with one another. Walking through the darkness of life together. It’s not shallow. It gets real. Study the life of Jesus in the four Gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and you’ll see how deeply he engaged with people.
John goes on to get practical again. He writes in 1 John 2:8–10, “Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.”
Notice the theme of fellowship in the light again. We are together, walking in the light together. But if we claim to be in the light, and yet have hatred for our brother or sister, we are actually still in the darkness.
What does that mean: “Still in the darkness”? So often we don’t see ourselves accurately. We are in darkness if we hate. It seems to me, though, that when we have hate in our lives, we have a hard time seeing it in ourselves, admitting it, and doing something about it. Be reflective. Ask God to show you your true self. Ask people who are able to be honest with you. Confess any hatred, contempt, bitterness, or grudge or other negative feeling or action you have toward another person or group of people. Call out the darkness in your heart, mind, and actions. Ask Jesus to bring his light to dispel that darkness. Confess, repent, ask for forgiveness.
We need the present light of Jesus’ love to fill us, and transform us. We don’t need to be best friends with everyone in our lives, including those who used to be best friends, but we do need to forgive.
Photo by Thiago Barletta on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 