“Evil is a mutation, a parasite, an interloper. It is an ancient Darkness that fears and despises the Light. At war with the good, it is an immensely powerful force in human life and human societies…A veil of darkness – the fire of the worldly spirit – surrounds the heart preventing . . . the soul from praying, believing, and loving the Lord as it desires to do…we must look to Christ to contend with the dark forces of evil that otherwise would overpower us. Of all the visible and invisible forces that surround us, only He has won the victory over them. Therefore, we must put our faith in Him as our champion in our fight against the rulers and powers of darkness. And all that we do should be done in His Name.” (Joseph Loconte, Saint Makarios of Egypt, Fr. Basil)
“ ‘Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons’ (Luke 8:1-2)… In the Scriptures, the number seven often symbolizes totality and completeness, indicating that Mary called Magdalene had been thoroughly given over to darkness before her healing…yet she was healed and became ‘equal to the apostles.’ This shows that any of us can be healed of our personal darkness no matter how great it is and what we can become. We just need to turn to Christ.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Luke 8:2, Sacramental Living Ministries)
“What prevents people from uniting themselves to Christ as King and God? Evagrios the Solitary observes that “...illusion results from the passion of self-esteem...” The self-assured have no place for the Son of Man “...to lay His head” (Lk. 9:58). Self-reliant hearts are fully ready to abandon the grace of God and fall into darkness (Rom. 1:21).” (Dynamis 7/20/2020)
“Every founder of a new organization recruits followers for himself with the promise of good fruits and many pleasures but deliberately remains silent about the hardships and labors which lead to those fruits and pleasures. Our Lord Jesus is the only one Who spoke the whole truth to His followers, both the bitter and the sweet side of the truth. He did not promise fruits without service, nor glory without suffering, nor ultimate rest without the thorny path, nor victory without struggle, nor pleasure without bitterness, nor the kingdom without tears and self-denial. Although our Lord counted the many difficulties which would befall His followers, in the end He does not abandon them without comfort. He gives meaning to their sufferings and does not leave them in darkness.” (St. Nikolai Velimirovich)
“The warning Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you [John 12:35] operates on at least two different levels: (1) To the Jewish people in Jerusalem to whom Jesus spoke, the warning was a reminder that there was only a little time left for them to accept him as their Messiah. (2) To those later individuals to whom the Fourth Gospel was written, and to every person since, the words of Jesus are also a warning: There is a finite, limited time in which each individual has opportunity to respond to the Light of the world (i.e., Jesus); after that comes darkness. One’s response to the Light decisively determines one’s judgment for eternity.”…He who speaks is the Light of the world. He also is the Way, and we are groping to find our way to Him. The eye that the Lord Jesus heals is the sightless eye of our hearts and souls. He restores us by opening the eyes of our spirits. To all who know that they are in darkness, He gives the uncreated light of eternity.” (NET Bible, John 12:35, Dynamis 9/24/2020)
“ ‘Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons’ (Luke 8:1-2)… In the Scriptures, the number seven often symbolizes totality and completeness, indicating that Mary called Magdalene had been thoroughly given over to darkness before her healing.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Luke 8:2)
“Throughout Scripture, we find this pattern of radical change repeating itself. When the Holy Trinity intervenes in human life and history, nothing remains the same. In Saint Paul’s case, a man once caught up in the darkness of hatred and self-righteousness found his soul illumined, and God made an apostle of him. Immediately after his baptism, however, Saint Paul withdrew into Arabia, avoiding the centers of Christian activity and teaching. He had come face to face with the Lord Jesus by the will of God the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit. He needed time to assimilate what had transpired inside him in a single moment on the highway.” (Dynamis 12/30/2018)
“The Bible never counsels indifference to the forces of darkness, only resistance, but it supports no illusions that we can defeat them ourselves. Christianity does not agree with the optimistic thinkers who say, “We can fix things if we try hard enough.” Nor does it agree with the pessimists who see only a dystopian future. The message of Christianity is, instead, “Things really are this bad, and we can’t heal or save ourselves. Things really are this dark—nevertheless, there is hope.” (Pastor Timothy Keller)
“No matter how dark things seem or feel, there is always hope. This hope is not a fool’s hope or wishful thinking. It is real. We see in the Bible people who were completely given over to darkness and despair being completely healed. Some of them even became saints. This hope is not a concept, nor can it be achieved through human effort alone. It is a person and can be realized only through union. The person of Christ is the uncreated light (John 14:6) in which no darkness is possible. It is through heartfelt prayer and persistence in seeking union with Him through all of the means the Church give us that we invite His light into our life to dispel our personnel darkness. It may take time and we may have many stumbles. We may even feel like the darkness will never end, but we have the promise of hope and His assurance that He is with us.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“The Gospel of Jesus Christ reveals an amazing God to our bewildered hearts, for He is ever offering light and love to us in place of the darkness of human thought.” (Dynamis 6/27/2019)
“…just because you have Christ, just because you repent, and even though you may experience God’s kingdom frequently that does not mean there won’t be difficult days or dark times. With Christ though, those dark times never defeat the Light that is Christ.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis)
“The dark moments of our life will last only as long as is necessary for God to accomplish His purpose in us.” (Charles Stanley)
“Jesus doesn’t allow us to solve our own or other people’s problems through blame. The challenge He poses is to discern in the midst of our darkness the light of God. In Jesus’ vision, everything, even the greatest tragedy, can become an occasion in which God’s works can be revealed.” (Father John Zeyack)
“The emphasis on light in darkness comes from the Christian belief that the world’s hope comes from outside of it....the world is a dark place, and we will never find our way or see reality unless Jesus is our Light.” (Pastor Timothy Keller)
“When we go through times of darkness and difficulty, it sometimes seems that God is not giving us what we need. However, God is far wiser than we can ever be, and He never withholds what is good from us. When it seems that He does, we must assume that what we want would not actually be a good thing for us to have.” (Foundation Study Bible, Psalms 84:11)
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