Title of Essay

“The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil.” (John 3:19) Analyse the use of light and darkness imagery in John’s Gospel.

Commentary:

So this one was a bit challenging and it’s been suggested that I may be allowing perfect be the enemy of good with my longer essays. What that means is that I am digging very deep and worrying I miss something rather than staying on task and focussed on my key message. I also trip over my Christadelphian, “God Manifestation”, theology. We do not become the “light of the world” but rather, we become “Sons of light”. That’s an important distinction.

My “application section” which I have titled “Walk in the Light while we are able” is still fairly metaphorical and needs to be grounded in practicality. In his closing remarks, my lecturer points out that I fell into dualistic thinking at times (which is quite fair) but he notes that the argumentative edge of the essay was great. For reference, dualistic thinking is the approach of merely comparing the two themes of light and dark rather than the themes combining to create a paradox which is two companion ideas that seem to contradict themselves.

Definitional precision matters, and I think I fell down a little in applying Estes’ definition rigorously. All in all, the critique is more than fair and really assists with tightening me up going forwards. 83% for this one. I would like to start cracking the HDs, but won’t if I don’t start taking these cues!

Light and Dark in John’s Gospel

Abstract

The light and darkness paradox is a literary device used by the fourth Evangelist to teach an important truth about life and resurrection in the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Whilst the twin imagery of light and darkness in the Gospel of John could be simply seen as a juxtaposition of opposite concepts, such a simplistic interpretation misses the core of the Evangelist’s message of life out of death taught by the paradox of light not overcome by darkness.  For the original readers of this Gospel, light was inevitably overcome by darkness as fires ran out of fuel, lamps ran out of oil and night always followed day.  The Evangelist introduces the paradox of a light that will never end even if inevitably it would be withdrawn.  As such, it is a powerful lesson to us that we must walk in the light while we have opportunity and that though we go down into the darkness of death, yet we have hope in the resurrection and the life and light of Jesus.

Introduction

The paradoxical juxtaposition that the fourth Evangelist uses to teach of resurrection and life in Jesus Christ is light and darkness.  Light and darkness as mere opposites could be dismissed as a mere literary device used to aid in memorising what may well have been initially an oral transmission of the work.  This dualistic framing of the imagery, however, ignores the deeper message that the Evangelist seeks to convey.  Understanding the message through the lens of paradox, a then familiar concept used for teaching, greatly aids in teaching the key concept of enduring life in Jesus which is a core message of the Gospel (John 20:31[1]).

Using the imagery of light and darkness, the fourth Gospel takes us from our simple understanding of the cycles of day and night and impermanent light sources to discover an eternal light that will never be overcome.  Jesus is a paradox himself and so the Evangelist and indeed Jesus himself, uses something that is out of normal human experience to describe the God/Man to his audience.  No wonder, then, that Nicodemus found this concept confounding and confusing (John 3:9).

Is this Imagery Specific to the Fourth Evangelist?

The imagery of light and darkness in the fourth Evangelist’s Gospel is in line with that seen in most of Scripture from the creation account, through the prophets and into the synoptic Gospels and indeed through the remainder of the New Testament.  There are ninety-six occurrences in the ESV (for example) where the two concepts appear within the same sentence.  So as such, the use of the twin concepts is not particularly unique to this Gospel.

Any detailed analysis of these terms in the Gospel of John must therefore understand the device that underpins the imagery to better understand its effect on its audience and what it means for modern readers.  Mere dualism whilst engaging, does not necessarily impact in the way that paradox does.  An exploration of the use of the light and darkness motif, framed through the lens of paradox in the fourth Gospel yields much fruit in understanding the mission of the Word made flesh.

The Psalmist asserts “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119:105).  This imagery is used throughout Scripture to illustrate the enlightening life-giving revelation of God countering the spiritual darkness of unbelief that leads to death.  The writer of John’s Gospel draws on this rich imagery to emphasise and illustrate how the Word made flesh illuminates the world with a promise of enduring life and combats the darkness of unbelief and death that prevails.

A Revelation in Light

The imagery of light for the revelation of Jesus in the opening narrative of the fourth Evangelist is reminiscent of the portrayal of God’s glory in Ezekiel’s opening narrative (Ezek 1:4, 13-14, 27-28).  Brian Peterson argues that Ezekiel may have indeed been a source for the Evangelist’s use of this imagery, including the juxtaposition of light with darkness (Ezek 8:12a).[2]  Craig Keener aligns this revelatory commencement passage of the Gospel with the Creation account and the dawning of a new creation day (Gen 1:1).  He says, “Beginning like Genesis 1:1, John alludes to the Old Testament and Jewish picture of God creating through his pre-existent wisdom or word.”[3]  John’s introduction of Jesus is therefore very rich in overtones of Jewish thought about the revelation of God.  Alice Camille makes a penetrating observation that “in John’s view, Jesus, the eternal Word of God, is pitted against the primordial spirit of darkness…” noting that the other Gospels instead speak of “worldly power”.[4]  This aligns with the highly metaphysical flavour of Ezekiel’s opening imagery.  Not only was this a signal that a new day has dawned for the world, but a new creation has arisen out of the darkness that has overtaken the old creation. 

John’s Gospel as a Metaphorical Day

Michel Gourgues posits that the language in which the Evangelist refers to light throughout John’s Gospel, suggests a more overarching concept of a single day that stretches though the Gospel, starting with daybreak (“in the beginning” – John 1:1) in the prologue and ending with the dreadful night that ends with Mary Magdalene attending the empty tomb, “while it was still dark” (John 20:1). [5]  The text provides us with the way in which we are to understand this daybreak by the enlightening glory that comes from the Father, through the Son, and is exemplified in grace and truth and now tabernacles (“Literally, tabernacled, fixed, or had His tabernacle: from σκηνή, a tent or tabernacle.” [6]) among us (John 1:14).  Gourgues asserts that the term translated “glory” has an original sense of a luminous source, shining forth.[7]  This daybreak light motif is somewhat repeated in chapter 3 with the “… light has come into the world…” (John 3:19) to which we will shortly turn our attention.  The finite nature of Jesus’ appearance in this metaphorical day (John 12:35) against the assertion that the “darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5) is a paradox that needs exploration, and so we turn our attention to paradox as the foundation of the Evangelist’s teaching of light and darkness.

How Is the Text Usually Understood?

The twin English terms Light and Darkness fall within the same sentence five times in this Gospel in the English Standard Version, which is slightly more than in any of the synoptic Gospels.  Since the early Church, scholars have read these dual concepts as evidence of a form of dualism in the Gospel that may influence the interpretation of it.[8] From the earliest times, there was a school of thought that saw dualism in the fourth Gospel as evidence of a later, possibly Gnostic, influence and so, for example, Irenaeus wrote a detailed counter to dualism in John’s Gospel. [9] 

O. A. Piper, more recently, for example, argues that John’s “rather elaborate theology of light” reflects his Jewish-Hellenistic background which suggests both a cyclic (Jewish) and dualist (Hellenistic) worldview.[10]  Mark Strauss, argues that “John’s theological dualism… [leaves no room for] grey or middle ground” suggesting that the dualism is designed to clearly delineate those who follow Jesus from the followers of Satan.[11]  Whilst this may be an important element of this literary device, what if instead of the prima facie dualism, the fourth Evangelist is employing another, then prevalent, literary device (paradox), as a device to stimulate enquiry and intellectual reasoning?[12]

Why Paradox is an Effective Teaching Device

The fourth Evangelist clearly employs literary devices to engage and retain his audience.[13]  Paradox serves to enhance the proclamation of the Gospel by emulating (then) familiar concepts such as Eubulides’ “Masked Man” which is a paradox about uncertainty of identity (cf John 1:1) and “Heap” which is a paradox illustrating the concept of large numbers (cf John 21:25).[14]  The use of paradox as a literary device to bracket the Gospel, serves as a clue that the device may prevail throughout it.[15]  Paradox engages the mind of the reader in enquiry as a teaching tool rather than only as an aid to the memory and because of the allusion to concepts such as those employed by Eubilides, the teaching may have resonated more deeply with its first century audience.

Paradox is a “group of related propositions that, considered alone, are valid, but when considered together contains one proposition that is at odds with the others and as a result creates a seemingly true but uncomfortable solution for the group.”[16]  This discomfort causes a jolt to the senses that makes one examine the statements closely to reconcile the discomfort.  In other words, it is a teaching tool designed to spark enquiry.  Consider how the text poses an important paradox that might be missed by a modern audience which is removed from the finite nature of light by technology (John 1:4-9).  The light is not overcome by darkness (v5) despite the then understanding of a cycle of night following day and the impermanence of fires or lamps burning out.  The paradox posed is to question how a light can be eternal when in the experience of the audience light was always finite or at least a cycle of night delimiting day?[17]    

How Eternal Light Teaches us about Jesus

The posing of the paradox in this way was a potent tool for introducing the concepts of resurrection and life in Jesus through the imagery of light and dark.  Given that light is defined by this Gospel as life and by implication darkness as death (John 1:4), the paradox posed in the first chapter teaches a significant truth about resurrection.[18]  The life of Jesus could not be extinguished by death but was eternal – the light could not be overcome by darkness.[19]  This foundational principle of interpretation, using paradox rather than a contrast between the dualism of opposing ideas, is a valuable lens for the teaching posed by the imagery of light and dark in the fourth Gospel. Given that light is inconstant and at threat of extinguishment or subject to natural cycles of day and night, and modern readers understand that even the Sun has a finite period of life (though extremely long), the light that is eternal, never overcome by darkness, should pique our interest. 

The revelation of the Father through the Son is a central theme of the fourth Gospel through imagery such as light, life and sight.[20] The darkness dispelled through contest with this light is both the natural state of humanity and the spiritually blind state of those who turn away from the light.[21]  Though surrounded by darkness to this day, the believers have been blessed by the coming of Jesus to receive a permanent light in which they can walk forever in the revelation of Jesus Christ (John 12:46).[22]  This is a paradox that confronted all who encountered it, including Nicodemus.

Nicodemus Gropes his way from Night to the Light

The transition of those who are in darkness coming to the eternal light is illustrated in John 3.  Clearly, Nicodemus was confused by much of the paradoxical language that occurs here (John 3:9).  The challenges inherent in the concepts presented to Nicodemus, appear to have borne fruit in his later mild opposition before the other leaders (John 7:50-52) and stronger actions in company with Joseph of Arimathea (John 19:38-42).[23]  Here Jesus tells him that whilst the darkness could not overcome the light which has come into the world  (v19 cf. John 1:5), yet the spiritual blindness of the Jewish leaders would persist because evil ,exposed to the light, shrinks back into darkness despite the fact that it can’t avoid its exposing rays.[24]  

The Persistent Darkness of the Leaders Exposed

There is a close parallel between Jesus’ assertion that the “people loved the darkness” and that they do not come to the light “lest [their] works should be exposed” (John 3:19-20) and the “elders” of Israel in Ezekiel who operate in the darkness, believing that God does not see their wickedness (Ezek 8:12).[25]  Whether in how the Evangelist frames Jesus’ words or in how he picks up on Jesus’s own allusions to Ezekiel and Isaiah in the imagery he uses, the potential link to Ezekiel’s imagery is a reminder that Jesus was sent by Yahweh to the rebellious house of Israel.[26]  “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isa 9:2 cf the blindness of Zedekiah Ezek 12).  Barbara Reid observes that “we all do wicked things that we want to hide, while at the same time we carry that spark of divine light that urges us toward truth.”[27] 

Nicodemus comes to the Light, Judas Pursues Darkness

Nicodemus comes out of the dark unbelief of “night” (John 3:2), drawn to the light and is introduced immediately to the paradoxical “… unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (v3).  The very sad contrast is Judas who embraces Satan’s influence, leaves the light and confidently strides into the night to betray the Lord (John 13:27-30).  Nicodemus hesitantly gropes his way to the light, but Judas embraces Satanic darkness.

Do the Leaders “Know”?

Nicodemus’ (as representative of the religious elites) has a last glimmer of confidence in the patronising “we know” (John 3:2)[28], but this is immediately turned on its head.[29]  Nicodemus is made uncomfortable immediately, and it gets worse for him.  He approaches Jesus with an assertion that indicates that Jesus is bound by a category of teacher and is not more than this.[30]  Jesus disregards the inherent limitations of Nicodemus’ proposition, cuts to the heart of his mission (the revelation of life – the Kingdom of God – John 3:15)[31] and poses a challenge that Nicodemus has come from the darkness of the Jewish leadership into the true light of the Truth of God, and that though the leaders try to hide from it, the light will find them and expose them.[32] 

The Challenge to the Darkness of the Pharisees

This is a theme that Jesus picks up again, where he declares to the Pharisees “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).  Craig Keener suggests that this may be a reference to Isaiah 42 and 49, which both represent Israel (as reconstituted in the New Testament in Jesus) as the light of the world (Isa 42:6; 49:6).[33]  To walk in the darkness is to stumble and to be unable to work (John 9:4; 11:9 cf Isa 59:10; Jer 13:16).  Jesus reminds his disciples of the work that they must engage in: “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming…” (John 9:4).  In this work, it appears he is referring to Isaiah “… to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” (Isa 42:6-7).  Israel, reconstituted in Jesus was called “in righteousness… [as] a light for the nations…” and Nicodemus, as a teacher of Israel, was in the darkness and ill-equipped for the task.  Nicodemus was clearly groping his way out of darkness, stumbling out of the night into the dawning of the day.  The irony is that whilst he asserted “we know” (John 3:2), he was too much in the darkness to do more than “know” that he needed to find his way to the light.  Nicodemus, though a leader in Israel, was subject to challenge: “Are you a teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? … If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:10, 12).  This challenge to the Pharisees, as represented in Nicodemus, exemplifies a broader challenge to all who would lead.

Lesser “Lights”

It is important that we don’t see this challenge to Nicodemus as necessarily, a rebuke.[34]  There are parallel forms of approach in other parts of the Gospel.  Consider Jesus’ questions about John the Baptist, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” (Matthew 11:7-9).  The people were genuinely confused about John, and Jesus dispelled their confusion, “Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.” John was a witness who bore testimony to Jesus (John 5:33) “He was a burning and shining lamp and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light” (v35).  It was a confusing time for the people and for their leaders.  Jesus notes this confusion for the leaders “are you a teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” (John 3:10). Judgement was coming where the light would illuminate and dispel forever this confusion of darkness which would nevermore prevail (John 3:19-21).  It is interesting that considering Jesus’ later reference to John as a lamp, immediately after the meeting with Nicodemus, John the Baptist’s role is clarified: “he must increase but I must decrease” (John 3:30).  The progressive revelation of the Word made flesh as the true light now eclipses all other lights. 

Jesus refers to John as a lamp (John 5:35) and Craig Keener notes, “Some Jewish teachers referred to a great person, such as a patriarch or a great rabbi, as a “lamp” or light in the world.”[35]  Robertson’s Word Pictures comments that “when the Light comes, the lamp is no longer needed” but that “all believers are in a sense, ‘the light of the world’”.[36]  In contrast to the eternal light of Jesus, believers individually are only lights “for a while” (John 5:35).  Jesus asserts that his testimony is greater because it is from the Father and is thus eternal (v37).  To drive this point home in relation to the Jews, he points out that the light of truth is not “abiding in you, for you do not believe…” (v38) and that they are seeking “eternal life” (v39) but are ignorant of Jesus’s abiding eternal life (v39) and the glory that comes from God (vv41-44).

Time is Limited

Jesus ominously notes “as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5).  This implies that his absence might bring darkness.  He picks this theme up in chapter 12.  “The light is among you for a little while longer.  Walk while you have the light lest darkness overtake you…” (John 12:35-36).  This appears to be in contrast with chapter 1 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

Is there a contradiction here?  The Gospel itself provides a clue to solving this paradox.  As long as Jesus is in the world (John 9:5) and as long as his servants continue to walk in his light (John 8:12; 12:35-36), they will have light. “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).  The paradox is that for mortal humans, darkness is also the state of death (implied in chapter 1 by the link between light and life), therefore as all humans die, they will experience darkness, but that those who walk in the light can face that darkness without despair because even the darkness of death cannot overcome the light of life in Jesus.[37]

This is illustrated in the real-life parable of the death and resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:17-53).  Lazarus dies and the light appears to depart from him in death (John 11:13).  Jesus gives a clue as to the real message of this event: “This illness does not lead to death.  It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (v4).  It is a paradox.  How is God’s glory (brilliance[38]) revealed by the death of one of his friends?  It is another lesson that we walk in the light (life of Jesus) but inevitably, we must die.  Jesus is the resurrection and the life and even though believers fall into the darkness of death, they will live (John 11:25-26).[39]  The Glory of God will be manifest in the revealing of life and light in believers in the resurrection.

Walk in the Light While we are Able

Barbara Reid observes that “Whatever fears keep us from coming to the Light can be allayed by the mercy and compassion to be found there.”[40]  For all of our sins and our failings, our darkness, in the light we have mercy, grace and compassion and ultimately life.

Those who are alive have a window of opportunity to come to the light and indeed to walk in it.  The later proclamation of Jesus (John 12:35-36) echoes broadly his earlier language (John 1:5) but with a slight twist.  “… Walk whilst you have the light lest darkness overtake you…”  Indeed, this passage summarises much of the imagery through John relating to Light and Dark.[41]  When Jesus is introduced in the prologue (John 1:5), there is no question that the light was eternal.  He is the light of the world who is eternal; but now that light is accessible only through action on our part.  We must walk in the light and believe that we may be the children of light.  When we believe, we do not remain in darkness even if we die (John 12:46).  We have access to life through the Lord of Light.  Douglas Estes notes, “The paradoxical thought is [here] restated, in a more evident way: the light is the life of the Word, which can never be extinguished; though people may try to remain in darkness, by his resurrection the Word shows that even death cannot keep people from this life.”[42]

Conclusion

The fourth evangelist uses the imagery of light and darkness to stand for life and death to powerfully reveal the Lord and his purpose.  Jesus’ purpose was to break the cycle of life and death (John 11:25-26).  The paradox of eternal life is illustrated in eternal light contrary to natural experience.  As the darkness inevitably snuffs out light, so death inevitably brings a close to life, yet Jesus asserts that this natural cycle is broken by his revelation to the world.

With this revelation comes an imperative.  Those who would dwell in this eternal light must take action in their brief sojourn in life to walk in belief, shining with that light for all the world to see.  To echo Martha’s words, to proclaim “Yes, Lord; I believe that you the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” (John 11:27).  That belief is manifest by the paradox “whoever loves his life loses it and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also.” (John 12:25-26).  Therefore, “walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you… while you have the light, believe in the light that you may become [children] of light.” (John 12:36)

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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved

[2] Brian Neil Peterson, John’s Use of Ezekiel: Understanding the Unique Perspective of the Fourth Gospel (Augsburg Fortress, 2015), 41, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt13wwx2w, http://www.jstor.org.theoref.idm.oclc.org/stable/j.ctt13wwx2w.

[3] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014), 249.

[4] Alice L Camille, “Got a Light?: The Gospel of John Proposes a Heavenly Remedy to Dispel Earthly Darkness,” U.S. Catholic 74.3 (2009): 40–41.

[5] Michel Gourgues, “The Superimposition of Symbolic Time and Real Time in the Gospel of John: The Symbolism of Light as Time Marker,” Irish Biblical Association.31 (2008): 55.

[6] Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Accordance electronic., 4 Vols. vols. (Altamonte Springs: OakTree Software, 2004), ¶ 7627.

[7] Gourgues, “Symbolic Time,” 56.

[8] Douglas Estes, “Dualism Or Paradox?: A New ’Light’ on the Gospel of John,” The Journal of Theological Studies 71.1 (2020): 93–94, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flz168; Mark L. Strauss, Four Portraits, One Jesus, Second Edition. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2020), 372–73.

[9] There are at least four possible candidates for the alleged dualism in the Gospel – Zoroastrian, Gnostic, Qumranic or Platonic Dualism. For example, Irenaeus wrote to counter Gnostic Dualism in the fourth Gospel. Estes, “Dualism,” 93–96, 111; Keener appears to favour Qumranic by his reference to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Keener, IVP Commentary, 256–57.

[10] George Arthur Buttrick et al., eds., The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (Nashville, Tn: Abingdon Press, 1962), K-Q:132.

[11] Strauss, Four Portraits, 395.

[12] Estes, “Dualism,” 101.

[13] Estes, “Dualism,” 108.

[14] The beginning and end of John’s Gospel utilising familiar paradoxes help John to present unfamiliar concepts such as the idea of infinity or a very large number for example. Estes, “Dualism,” 102–8.

[15] Estes, “Dualism,” 94.

[16] Estes, “Dualism,” 98.

[17] Estes, “Dualism,” 112–13.

[18] Estes, “Dualism,” 113.

[19] Estes, “Dualism,” 113.

[20] Strauss, Four Portraits, 396.

[21] Buttrick et al., Interpreter’s Dictionary, K-Q:132.

[22] Buttrick et al., Interpreter’s Dictionary, K-Q:132; Strauss, Four Portraits, 385.

[23] Barbara E Reid, “Coming to the Light,” America Magazine 200.9 (2009): 38.

[24] Estes, “Dualism,” 114; Brendan Byrne, Life Abounding: A Reading of John’s Gospel (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2014), 51, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dtl/detail.action?docID=4546224.

[25] Peterson, John’s Use of Ezekiel, 41.

[26] Peterson, John’s Use of Ezekiel, 202.

[27] Reid, “Coming to the Light,” 38.

[28] Byrne, Life Abounding, 75; Peterson, John’s Use of Ezekiel, 15–16; Alexander James Reedrow, “From Darkness to Light: Nicodemus, ‘the Jews’, and John’s Gospel,” Theological Interpretation 18.1 (2024): 81–82, https://doi.org/10.5325/jtheointe.18.1.0077.

[29] Reedrow, “Darkness to Light,” 79.

[30] Byrne, Life Abounding, 75; Reedrow, “Darkness to Light,” 79.

[31] Reedrow, “Darkness to Light,” 83.

[32] Estes, “Dualism,” 114; Reedrow, “Darkness to Light,” 79–80; Byrne, Life Abounding, 76.

[33] Keener, IVP Commentary, 273.

[34] Reedrow, “Darkness to Light,” 80; Byrne, Life Abounding, 77.

[35] Keener, IVP Commentary, 264.

[36] A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Accordance Electronic. (Altamonte Springs: OakTree Software, 2001), ¶ 6079.

[37] Estes, “Dualism,” 114–15.

[38] Gourgues, “Symbolic Time,” 56.

[39] Estes, “Dualism,” 115–16.

[40] Reid, “Coming to the Light,” 38.

[41] Estes, “Dualism,” 116.

[42] Estes, “Dualism,” 116–17.

Bibliography

Buttrick, George Arthur, Thomas Samuel Kepler, John Knox, Herbert Gordon May, Samuel Terrien, and Emory Stevens Bucke, eds. The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Vol. K-Q. Nashville, Tn: Abingdon Press, 1962.

Byrne, Brendan. Life Abounding: A Reading of John’s Gospel. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2014. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dtl/detail.action?docID=4546224.

Camille, Alice L. “Got a Light?: The Gospel of John Proposes a Heavenly Remedy to Dispel Earthly Darkness.” U.S. Catholic 74.3 (2009): 39–41.

Estes, Douglas. “Dualism Or Paradox?: A New ’Light’ on the Gospel of John.” The Journal of Theological Studies 71.1 (2020): 90–118. https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flz168.

Gourgues, Michel. “The Superimposition of Symbolic Time and Real Time in the Gospel of John: The Symbolism of Light as Time Marker.” Irish Biblical Association 31 (2008): 54–65.

Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. 2nd ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014.

Peterson, Brian Neil. John’s Use of Ezekiel: Understanding the Unique Perspective of the Fourth Gospel. Augsburg Fortress, 2015. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt13wwx2w, http://www.jstor.org.theoref.idm.oclc.org/stable/j.ctt13wwx2w.

Reedrow, Alexander James. “From Darkness to Light: Nicodemus, ‘the Jews’, and John’s Gospel.” Theological Interpretation 18.1 (2024): 77–96. https://doi.org/10.5325/jtheointe.18.1.0077.

Reid, Barbara E. “Coming to the Light.” America Magazine 200.9 (2009): 38.

Robertson, A. T. Word Pictures in the New Testament. Accordance Electronic. Altamonte Springs: OakTree Software, 2001.

Strauss, Mark L. Four Portraits, One Jesus. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2020.

Vincent, Marvin R. Word Studies in the New Testament. Accordance electronic. 4 Vols. vols. Altamonte Springs: OakTree Software, 2004.