John 1.1-5:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (4) In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (ESV)
I would like to focus on verse five. And in so doing zero in on two words in this verse. John’s use of the word “darkness” in the Gospel of John and the letters he wrote is for the most part in a figurative sense meaning sinful opposition to righteousness. Additionally, when Jesus said to the ones arresting him that “this is the hour and authority of darkness” prior to his crucifixion, he was most likely referring to the work of Satan and his forces of darkness. Judas was the one who led the soldiers to arrest Jesus, and the Bible says that Satan had previously entered into Judas.
I would also like to emphasize that verse five indicates that it is the darkness which has initiated the fight against Jesus. Darkness is the subject producing the action in the last clause of the verse, and it can be understood that darkness did not overcome it. The verb used to express that the darkness “has not overcome it” is in the form of past, completed action. In reality the fight is already over. Jesus has won the victory.