The Revelation of Our Sin

In speaking of the visitation of the Dayspring from on High, Zacharias suggested His purpose, “To give light to those who sit in darkness” (Luke 1:79). One of the effects of a natural sunrise is the illumination of an otherwise dark world. Someone has observed that the darkest hour of night comes just before the dawn. There is certainly a spiritual reality in the application of this truth. The Greek word skotia is used in the New Testament not only of physical darkness but also of the spiritual darkness of sin. Of the various Greek words that describe darkness, this word indicates the darkest. So, the effect of sin in the life results in not a mere gloominess but a blinding darkness in which any measure of illuminating light is absent. So dark is the darkness of sin that even sin itself is hidden by the darkness. The cresting of the sun over the mountains along the eastern horizon first makes visible the shadows in the night and then that which the shadows hid in the night; so, the appearance of the Dayspring from on High produces first the light of conviction in a soul darkened by sin and then floods the soul with gospel light, so that we can understand spiritual truth (II Corinthians 4:4-6). When Jesus was challenged to pass sentence upon the woman caught in the act of adultery, He merely spoke the word that brought conviction to the conscience of each accuser (John 8:9). In that place John uses the verb eleochomenoi, translated “convicted” but literally meaning “to bring to light and expose.” Just as one might hold a letter up to the light to expose its contents, so Jesus exposed the sin of self-righteous people by His penetrating light.