Isaiah 9.1-2 1 But there will be no more gloom for her
who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the
land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the
way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. 2 The
people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark
land, the light will shine on them.
Matthew 4.13-16 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and
settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and
Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: 15
“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond
the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 “The people who were sitting in
darkness saw a great Light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow
of death, upon them a Light dawned.” (NASB)
Jesus didn’t splash upon the scene in Jerusalem the
center of Jewish culture and thought. Jesus’ birth wasn’t heralded by great
lineage and heritage (although that is from where He came). Jesus was born in
obscurity and poverty to lowly parents from a lowly village in – of all places –
a barnyard. But fanfare aside, Jesus came to shine God’s light in darkness; and
where He lived and ministered was a place of great darkness, for His people had
all but forgotten God and had assimilated much of the customs and culture of Greece
and Rome.
Isaiah’s prophecy was that the people who lived in a dark
land – a place of misery, a place of superstition and uncertainty, a place of
aberrant theology – would have a great Light shine upon them. That Light lived
in the region of Galilee: the land of the
Gentiles. That Light shown upon them and ministered to them, was hated by
them, and crucified before them. That Light died in front of them and rose
again to show them that the Light cannot be quenched by the dark.
The people in that dark land
were no different than the people who live in our dark land and who search for
answers to problems that seem to them, insurmountable. The Light is shining.
The deeds that men do are done in the dark, behind closed doors, and with care
so that no one knows. The Light shines on them. What is done in the dark will
be shouted from the rooftops. John the Apostle said, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend
it.” (John 1.5 NASB)
And John also said, “There
was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was
in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know
Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as
many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even
to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will
of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1 9-13 NASB)
This is the Light that shines upon every man in every
dark place and brings freedom and admittance to the Kingdom of Light and
entrance into the power, presence, peace, and provision of God. This Christmas
season, the True Light is already shining: will you respond? Advent is the
Coming of the Light – will we see, will we receive, will we believe?
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