“The
people who walk in darkness will see a great light; for those that live in a land
of deep darkness, a light will shine” (Isaiah 9:2, NLT )
It could be said that the world at the time of Jesus was a time that
mighty nation of Israel and the holy city of Jerusalem had lost their way. They were having a hard time understanding
that Jesus was the Messiah and he could release them from their bondage under a
foreign government. The past was
troubled and there were few possibilities of hope with many frustrations all
around them. The difficulties of their
lives were ever present and the answers were ever illusive. They were stumbling
in the darkness of their understanding and unaware that their feeling of
heaviness came from their own sinful pride.
It might be said even today: we cannot understand all there is to life,
as we struggle with the weight of the past, the difficulties of the present and
the uncertainty of the future. We
struggle with the darkness of not understanding the little frustrations in our
lives but also with the huge unanswerable questions. We drift into darkness with our flirtations
with sin and pride stumbling to find our way out of those places. We get
depressed with our failures, frustrated with our unfulfilled dreams and
saddened with our frailties as we face disease and death. We are staggered by storms in our lives and
constantly wish we could see ahead and grasp the future. In some ways our
understanding of things seems to be lit with an inadequate faltering light.
What will Jesus do with all this
darkness of unknowning and all of these lingering doubts? There is a constant inability in all of us to
see what is ahead and at the same time there is an endless desiring in us to
understand what is behind us, around us and ahead of us. It is the human condition. The ancient peoples struggled in the human
condition when God sent His Son and it remains a difficulty for us today.
The Son who was to be the Savior,
entered the world as a tiny child in the room fit for animals and this did not
seem to be the answer. On the surface it
looks like a most fragile of promises.
Yet this Jesus came as Light and Life.
He would shine in the darkest of moments bringing a new light to the
world. He shines now for all those who
will open their eyes to the hope He brings.
He is the One who knows everything and we should trust Him with our
past, present and future. He is the One
who could with His voice calm the sea and we can trust Him with our fears. He is the One who penetrates our darkness and
we should look to Him for understanding.
He was and is the Light of the world and in Him all will find a way in
our darkness. He is waiting to shine the
light of His presence towards you, behind you, in front of you and all around
you. In that light you find God’s wondrous
love that came as baby in a manger and later gave His life as the answer for
your sin and mine. The true light of
Christmas isn’t colored and electric but pure and powerful. The light that
Jesus Christ brings is able to penetrate the darkness that we all face,
providing true answers to every question and a love that heals our greatest
pain. May we always and forever be a
people who “see a great light.”
“Jesus spoke to the people once more and
said, ‘I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in
darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.’” (John 8:12,
NLT)
Suggested Reading … John 8
No comments:
Post a Comment