Jesus framed his betrayal and arrest in the garden of Gethsemane as the exercising of authority. Jesus asked the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come out against him, “Have you come out against a robber with swords and clubs?” (Luke 22:52). The religious leaders were treating Jesus like a dangerous criminal, but he said to them, “When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me” (Luke 22:53). The chief priests and officers of the temple and elders wanted to put Jesus to death, but they feared the people (Luke 22:2). Jesus had become well-known among the Jewish people and his miracles were recognized as signs of his divine power (Luke 23:8). Jesus acknowledged the religious leaders authority when he said, “But this is your hour and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). The phrase your hour indicates that the authority of the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders was temporary and it had been given to them from the power of darkness. It says in Paul’s letter to the Colossians that God delivers believers from the domain of darkness and transfers them “to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). The Greek word that is translated domain, Exousia (ex-oo-seeˊ-ah) is also translated power in Luke 22:53. Exusia refers to “the power of doing something, ability, faculty…with the meaning of strength, force, efficiency” (G1849). Exusia also refers to the power of doing something or not doing something in the sense of “license, liberty, free choice.” Acts 26:18 associates the power of darkness with Satan. Jesus told Paul when he was on the road to Damascus, “I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those to which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:16-18).

Jesus said that our eyes must be opened in order for us to turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:18). From this we can assume that the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders were not aware that they were acting under the authority of Satan and had come out against Jesus because they actually believed he was breaking God’s law. Luke tells us that “Satan entered into Judas” and then, he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Jesus to them (Luke 22:3-4). Satan and the demons who follow him (Luke 8:32) have the ability to enter into people and take control of their bodies and minds (Mark 9:22; Matthew 16:23). In these kinds of situations, the power of darkness is in complete control of a person’s thoughts and actions. Jesus told Peter, “’Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.’ Peter said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Jesus said, ‘I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me’” (Luke 22:31-34).

It says in Genesis 1:1-2, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The initial state of the earth when it was created was darkness. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God told his people, “I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all things” (Isaiah 45:7). The Hebrew word that is translated calamity, ra’ (rah) means “bad or (as a noun) evil…This word combines together in one the wicked deed and its consequences. It generally indicates the rough exterior of wrong-doing as a breach of harmony, and as breaking up of what is good and desirable in man and in society. While the prominent characteristic of the godly is lovingkindness (H2617), one of the most marked features of the ungodly man is that his course is an injury both to himself and to everyone around him” (H7451). After God created the heavens and the earth, we are told in Genesis 1:3, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. The fact that darkness preceded light, suggests that it is was the combination of light and darkness that produced a good result.

The Apostle Paul viewed the interaction between light and darkness from a human perspective to be a struggle that he described as a type of spiritual warfare. Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Paul said that believers need to be able to stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:11). Standing against the schemes of the devil means that we do not let him trick us into believing a lie. Paul identified six pieces of spiritual armor that enable believers to stand firm when the power of darkness confronts them: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit (Ephesians 6:14-17).

Jesus’ conversation with a man named Nicodemus led to a clarification of what it means to be born again. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Jesus went on to say, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:16-19). Jesus later told his disciples, “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). The Greek word that is translated light in this verse is phos (foce), which means “to shine or make manifest” (G5457). Jesus was speaking of himself as “the great Teacher and Savior of the world who brought life and immortality to light in His gospel,” but also, figuratively of “moral and spiritual light and knowledge which enlightens the mind, soul or conscience; including also the idea of moral goodness, purity and holiness, and of consequent reward and happiness.”

Jesus said “people loved darkness rather than light because their works were evil” (John 3:19). Typically, we don’t want our sins to be revealed to others because of the shame and guilt we will feel as a result of the truth being made known to them. Paul explained in his second letter to the Corinthians that preaching the gospel is like shining a flashlight into the darkness of people’s consciences, but sometimes people don’t see anything because “the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Paul went on to compare the gospel with the light that shined out of darkness when God first commanded, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). Paul said, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake. For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:5-6).

The scribes and Pharisees tried to convince Jesus’ followers that he was casting out demons by using the power of darkness against Satan’s own kingdom (Matthew 12:24; Mark 3:22). Christ answered the accusation that his power to cast out demons came from Beelzebub, the prince of demons be asking the question, “How can Satan case out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand .but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house” (Mark 3:23-27). With this statement, Jesus was making it clear that light and darkness do not come from the same source and that one has to overcome the other in order to prevail. Jesus encouraged his followers to overcome the power of darkness so that others could draw closer to God. Jesus said, “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light” (Luke 11:33-36).