The Light in the Manger

Isaiah tells us “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

These are dark days. Darkness and dark times have been a part of life itself for as long as we can remember.

Darkness was upon the face of the deep and the world was formless and void.

And God said, “Let there be light!” and it was so.

Darkness prevailed over the Children of Israel as they were enslaved by the Egyptians. There was no relief and the feeling of helplessness abounded.

The Hebrews pleaded for remembrance. Over 300 miles to the east in the middle of nowhere, a light shown in the form of fire, from a bush; deliverance was coming!

Darkness and despair were due to the evil and wicked ways of the nation of Israel as the Midianites ravaged the land and the people over seven years.

The Israelites yearned for redemption. In a wine press a man would be raised up, and in the middle of the night jugs were broken by 300 men who surrounded the camp of the enemy, and light shown forth and victory was given!

Darkness permeated the land and the Romans oppressed the people and took away their authority. The scepter had indeed departed Judah as prophesied almost 4000 years earlier.

Where was the promise of the coming Messiah? Why had he been silent since the prophet Malachi told the people, “You have wearied the Lord with your words.”

Over 400 hundred years have passed when on a lonely hillside outside of the sleepy little village of Bethlehem which now had grown beyond its normal capacity due to a census, men were doing what their profession had called them to do. Minding sheep. Darkness had engulfed them.

When suddenly a light appeared and surrounded them! God’s glory abounded and the men were terrified. Now please don’t think these were just “lowly” shepherds. These were men. Manly-men as it were. They would have seen all kind of dangerous and life-threatening situations. Any and all kinds of wild animals looking for a delicious lamb chop stew needed to be repelled. A coward would not do. Other men may have been lurking to take advantage of an inattentive shepherd to enlarge his own flock. These were men prepared to do whatever was necessary to protect the sheep. Part of that is shown in verse 8 of Luke 2. It says they were “abiding in the field” and “keeping watch”. They weren’t asleep. They weren’t dozing. They were attentive to the task at hand. They were experienced and had probably “seen it all” as we would say today. So, when scripture says they were terrified it must have been quite a jolt.

‌

I believe that the angel knew they were terrified and that they probably need a minute or two to recover. I don’t think the angel showed up and immediately started to share information, but he probably gave the shepherds time to compose themselves.

What happens next changed the entire course of history. The angel says, “Fear not”. They had every right to be afraid. Can you imagine what was going through their minds? What would you be thinking? Feeling? I would bet we would be catching up on our prayer life pretty quickly!

Out of the darkness in the past, relief was given, deliverance was granted, and victory was secured. But this time, good tidings were presented along with GREAT JOY! For this was going to be different. What was happening within this light was going to different. This was not just for the Nation of Israel. Not just for the Shepherds. Not Just the Jews.

But the Gentile writer of this account stated that this is good tidings for ALL people! That includes you and I! We can see that in verse 11 “For unto YOU” who is the “you”? The personal pronoun “you” reflects back to the noun “people” along with the adjective “all”.

This Great Joy for All the People is that the promised Messiah has indeed come as foretold long ago by the prophets. And as an exclamation to the message there suddenly appeared a multitude of the heavenly host praising God!

See what’s missing? One angel shows up, they are terrified! A multitude shows up and they fear not! Why? Because the announcement of the Prince of Peace’s birth had just been told and they believed. How do I know? Because of what the shepherds said. “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing WHICH HAS COME TO PASS” not “to see if this is true”. They were told, and they believed, and they glorified God.

They came to Bethlehem and they saw the great I AM, The Way, The Truth, The Life. The one who came to show us the way back to God.

The shepherds which were in great Darkness looked into the manger and saw . . . a Great Light, The Light of the World which was given to all people, everywhere.

The Shepherds heard, they believed, and they praised God.

This Christmas Eve, are you struggling within your own great darkness, helpless, hopeless, oppressed, in great despair? Jesus came into this world of darkness for you. Listen to the words of the angel and Fear Not. Jesus is the good tidings of great joy. He came for you. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life! Just as the shepherds who were in great fear, they listened, they believed, they sought out that which was true, and found him just as they were told and went away praising God. If you will look into the eyes of the babe in the manger and see the light of hope he brings, you too can leave here tonight praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, and good will has been given to me this very night. What better gift to receive this Christmas season.

Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee!