The Light Breaks Through

Mark 1:1

by Pastor John

It was a long night of longing for sunlight to break the horizon and breach through my window.

In 2009, I took my first trip to West Africa to connect with church leaders in Liberia, Ghana and Togo. On my first night there, I had jet lag and I couldn’t sleep. My stomach was unsettled from adjusting to the food. I couldn’t get my body in a comfortable position so it wouldn’t touch the mosquito net draped over my bed. Then my friend started to snore in the bed across the room.

I tried to pass the night by listening to a podcast on my iPod (I didn’t have an iPhone yet) and fiddling with some gear. But it didn’t help. The darkness lingered for what seemed like days. I resigned that I wouldn’t get to sleep, and lay there longing for the sun to break through and the day to begin.

And then it did. Light shined through the streets and into our room as roosters crowed and people began to move through their yards.

The sun had come up. Light had breached into the darkness.

We live as broken people in a dark world. By dark, I don’t mean a lack of sunshine, but one where sickness and disease is rampant, where people are burdened & ostracized, where demonic forces oppress and beat people down. This makes us long for the healing touch of God.

Mark starts off his gospel, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Mark doesn’t start off with darkness. Rather, he announces that light has broken through. Mark will spend many chapters showing us how the light chases back the darkness, but for now, he just announces the light: Jesus, the Son of God.

And that is good news.

Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for being the light to us in a dark world.