Darkness To Light Series

Several years ago (1995), a middle-aged man robbed two Pittsburgh banks in broad daylight. He didn’t wear a mask or any sort of disguise. And he smiled at surveillance cameras before walking out of each bank.

Later that night, police arrested a surprised McArthur Wheeler. When they showed him the surveillance tapes, Wheeler stared in disbelief. “But I wore the juice,” he mumbled.

Apparently, Wheeler thought that rubbing lemon juice on his skin would render him invisible to video cameras. After all, lemon juice is used as invisible ink so, as long as he didn’t come near a heat source, he should have been completely invisible.

Police concluded that Wheeler was not crazy or on drugs—just incredibly mistaken (Kate Fehlhaber, “What Know-It-Alls Don’t Know, or the Illusion of Competence,” Aeon, 5/17/17; www.PreachingToday.com).

Some say, “Ignorance is bliss,” but ignorance can get you into a lot of trouble, especially ignorance about spiritual things.

So how do you move from ignorance to insight? How do you move from darkness to light? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to John 12, John 12, where Jesus shows us how.

John 12:27 Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour (ESV).

The prospect of the cross troubled Jesus, literally, it stirred Him up. It caused Him acute emotional distress. After all, the cross was cruel punishment for someone who knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). But also, as Jesus bore our sins on the cross, His relationship with the Father would be broken (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34) for the first time in all eternity. God would be punishing Jesus for our sins, not His own.

Most certainly, the prospect of the cross troubled Jesus, but the profit far outweighed the pain.

When French impressionist painter Auguste Renoir was confined to his home during the last decade of his life, Henri Matisse was nearly 28 years younger than him. The two great artists were dear friends and frequent companions. Matisse visited him daily. Renoir, almost paralyzed by arthritis, continued to paint in spite of his infirmities. He had to hold his brush between his thumb and index finger. As he painted, students often heard him crying out in pain.

One day as Matisse watched the elder painter work in his studio, fighting torturous pain with each brush stroke, he blurted out, “Auguste, why do you continue to paint when you are in such agony?”

Renoir said, “The pain passes but the beauty remains” (Martha Teichner, “Late Renoir: A master ages, and shuns reality,” CBS News, 8-8-10; www.PreachingToday.com).

That’s why Jesus went to the cross. He knew there would be extreme physical, emotional, and spiritual pain, but He also knew the beauty that would follow and remain forever.

First, the cross would lift up the Father and put down the devil. His crucifixion would glorify God and cast Satan out. In verse 28, Jesus prays…

John 12:28-31 “Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out (ESV).

On the cross, Colossians 2 says, “[Jesus] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame” (Colossians 2:15). Hebrews 2 says that Jesus became like us so that “through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). The cross put Satan down and elevated God, the Father.

Harold Miller from Corning, New York, says, “Suppose you are alone in your house with your preschool children, and an intruder enters. If you doubt your power over the intruder, your house becomes a place of terror. But if you have undisputed control, you don't fear someone coming into your house.

“The universe is God's house, and an Intruder has entered and is even now desecrating the house. Many times, when we see him walking around, we are on the brink of terror. We need not fear, however, since he and our Father met head-on in combat [when Jesus died on the cross. There,] God emerged the undisputed Victor, [which He made clear by raising Jesus from the dead]! We are [now] safe from the Intruder, [because our] most fearsome enemy… has been overpowered by the One who loves us (adapted from Harold N. Miller, Corning, New York, Leadership, Vol. 11, no. 1; www.PreachingToday.com).

No matter what’s going on in the world around you, no matter what’s going on in your own life, please remember that God overcame Satan on the cross, and so set aside your fear. Jesus faced the pain of the cross, because He knew the cross would lift up the Father and put down the devil.